MANILA – Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong denied alliance with the communist terrorist groups nor with any legal front organization linked with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
In a media briefing on Tuesday evening, Magalong said he was invited to an activity by a youth group identified with the left, but his presence does not mean that he is forming an alliance with them.
“I was there to educate the kids, to empower the voters to choose the right leader,” Magalong said. “Different party-lists come to my office and would want to have a picture with the mayor, that happens every day”.
Magalong was referring to pictures of him together with the Kabataan party-list that circulated on social media prompting netizens to question him.
On Monday, the League of Parents of the Philippines issued a statement expressing alarm over Magalong’s friendly stance toward the Kabataan party-list.
The parent’s group also questioned Magalong’s directive to forbid the posting of so-called red-tagging posters and tarpaulins in the city of Baguio.
Magalong said he was just doing this to effect good governance, which he believes is the best way to defeat the insurgency.
He said he had already sent a text message to National Security Adviser Secretary Hermogenes Esperon as well as to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana asking for a face-to-face meeting with those who accuse him.
Magalong assured that he will never side with the communist terrorist groups.
“Kami pa na nagsakripisyo (Not us who sacrificed), we were wounded in Abra, for so many years, 1982 to 2005 nakikipaglaban kami (we were fighting), risking our life so much time and effort to fight insurgents,” he said.
Before entering politics, Magalong served in the Philippine Constabulary and the Philippine National Police (PNP). He was the former chief of the Cordillera regional police office, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, and the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management.
Magalong, who is a graduate of Philippine Military Academy Class 1984, is presently the vice-chair of the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) in the Cordillera Region, which he said, can vouch for his integrity and passion in fighting communist terrorists.
NTF-ELCAC’s unprecedented accomplishments
Magalong, a member of Philippine Military Academy Class 1984, also expressed extreme regard for President Rodrigo R. Duterte and the NTF-ELCAC for their accomplishments in fighting insurgency in the country.
“I was attending the ELCAC because I believe in the program, unprecedented yung accomplishments dun eh I myself can attest to that because I’ve been fighting the insurgents ever since I was a lieutenant, nakita ko kung paano talagang nag unify ang government, it’s a whole of government approach to really fight the communist terrorist group at kung titingnan mo yung mga accomplishments talagang(their accomplishments are unprecedented and I can attest to that because I’ve been fighting the insurgents since I was a lieutenant. I saw how the government unified, it’s a whole of government approach to really fight the CTGs, and if you look at their accomplishments) it never happened before, the entire government moving in one direction,” Magalong said.
He said his resolve in fighting communists did not diminish and assured that he will continue to fight for what is right to protect the government and the country from the communist insurgents.
He also expressed hope that the next administration will continue the NTF-ELCAC and its programs.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the NDF as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973. (PNA)