CIDG, ex-rebel file another rap vs. Sison, NPA cadre
By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan / Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) on Friday said it has filed another criminal case against Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria "Joma" Sison and another communist cadre before the Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier this week.
"Another case for violations of Section 3 in relation to Sec 3(a)(b) of RA 9208 as amended by RA 10364 and Section 4(i) of RA 10364 (Expanded Ant-Trafficking in Person of 2012), and of Section 10 (a) in relation to Section 3(d) (4) of RA 7610 (Special Protection of Children against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Acts) was filed on September 1, 2021, at about 10:30 a.m. before the DOJ in Manila docketed under NPS Docket No. XVI-INV-21I-00280," CIDG chief Maj. Gen. Albert Ignatius Ferro said in a statement.
The CIDG Anti-Fraud and Commercial Crimes Unit (AFCCU), Task Force Makabayan, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, and 10th Infantry Division together with the complainant, a former cadre of the CPP-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (NPA-NDF), surfaced at the DOJ to file the case before Sison and a certain Vince Hugo Villena.
In his statement, the 24-year-old complainant with aliases "Ka Ugnay," "Ka Dima," "Ka Intoy Karagatan," and "Job Paolo Valencia," said he was a freshman Journalism student of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) when a certain JR Valencia alias “Bimbi” first tried to recruit him to join the League of Filipino Students (LFS).
In May 2015, as part of the Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) Urban Operation, he joined the other LFS members in their protest action from Liwasang Bonifacio to Mendiola.
He was the managing editor of the PUP’s university publication “The Catalyst” when he joined the Kabataan Makabayan (KM), an underground movement organization. He was made the team leader of the CTG’s own “The Catalyst” paper and became instrumental in the propaganda movement of the CPP in PUP. During those times, he studied Lipunan at Rebolusyong Pilipino and Basic Party Course.
Sometime in December 2015, while still a minor, he was immersed with the CTG under the Leo Cawilan Command of the CTG in Kalinga headed by a certain "Ka Batid".
In the same month, he took his oath as a candidate member of the CPP and after a year, he became a full-fledged communist terrorist. He continued and undergone other radicalization courses and even recruited students of National University in Valenzuela City.
In October 2017, he joined the Sub-Regional Guerilla Unit (SRGU) of Sub-Regional Command 5 (SRC 5) in Sitio Bolo, Talaingod, Davao del Norte, and a month after, he was transferred to Guerilla Front (GF) 34, SRC 5 in Agusan del Sur and became its political instructor and intelligence officer until September 2018.
He was later transferred to GF 55 in San Fernando, Bukidnon, and became a staff of the Regional Politico-Military Academy (RPMA) of Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (SMRC).
While with the SMRC, he was promoted as the deputy secretary of SRC 5 where he served as Front Secretary of GF 3 and 34 of SRC 4, until his surrender to the government on November 28, 2020.
The complainant said he finally realized that he was deceived by the communist movement.
"They have exploited my vulnerability as a child being a minor at that time with the ultimate purpose of engaging myself in the armed revolution. The systematic recruitment of the CTG denied me of my development, from a proficient government scholar I dropped out from my studies to join the armed revolution. I experienced the tremendous suffering I had to bear while being an active member of the CTG in the mountainous parts of Southern Mindanao, which could have been prevented if the Group’s urban operations within school grounds were disallowed and if the permissive environment provided by school administrators was at least regulated”, the complainant said.
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 NDF has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and separate part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973. (PNA)