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The Secretary of Defense, Delfín Lorenzana. PHOTO DND (File)
MANILA, Philippines – The Duterte government wants the Makabayan bloc removed from the House of Representatives to “disable” its machinery to campaign for the opposition in the 2022 elections, progressive lawmakers said Sunday.
His comments came after Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the government was adamant in seeking to disqualify the Makabayan bloc.
Lorenzana said in a radio interview that the continued representation of the Makabayan bloc in Congress only strengthens the communist rebels.
“His plan to present a disqualification / ban / designation case is aimed at harassing Makabayan and using these cases as black propaganda with the aim of defeating Makabayan in the next elections,” Bayan Muna representative Carlos Zarate said in a statement.
“They also want to deactivate the Makabayan electoral machinery that will campaign against the administration’s presidential candidate in 2022, because they know that we will campaign strongly in favor of the opposition,” added Zárate.
In a separate statement, ACT Teachers representative France Castro said [the bloc] The House will not defeat the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
Castro said that the members of the Makabayan bloc were “lists of parties duly elected and voted by the people for our firm position for higher wages, genuine agrarian reform, for the respect and protection of the rights and well-being of teachers, workers , students and all Filipinos. “
“The statements of Secretary Lorenzana saying that he was firm in causing the Makabayan legislators to be disqualified or removed [from the House] it shows the true agenda behind the wave of red labels unleashed by the Duterte administration, ”he said.
Suitable forum
“Taking off [from the House] It will not weaken or defeat the CPP-NPA if that is what they want to happen, “he added.
Castro said that “attacking us through disqualification is proof of how this administration disparages legitimate calls from representatives of our sector” such as the salary increase for teachers and government employees.
Zarate previously told the Inquirer that the group would challenge any disqualification case brought against it in the appropriate forum.
Aside from Lorenzana, national security adviser Hermógenes Esperon Jr., who is also vice chair of the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac), previously said that the government would take steps to disqualify lawmakers because I don’t believe in condemning the NPA for its violent actions ”.
President Duterte had previously accused the Makabayan of being a front for the CPP-NPA and of being in a “grand conspiracy” with communist rebels to overthrow his administration.
Zárate said, “despite its vicious and malicious claims, what is clear is that, as the Senate hearings have shown, the NTF-Elcac does not have sufficient evidence to present criminal cases, so it will resort to disqualification, proscription and appointment by these procedures require a lesser amount of evidence. “INQ
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