Rep. Elago is a CPP-NPA, proof to disqualify Kabataan Partylist in 2022 elections

Kabataan Partylist Rep. Sarah Elago is a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines -New People's Army (CPP-NPA) according to witnesses in a petition to cancel the registration of the Kabataan Partylist and stop them from participating in the 2022 congressional polls.

In a special "virtual" press conference of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), lawyer Marlon Bosantog, NTF-ELCAC spokesperson and National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) Regional Director for CAR, said the filing of the petition with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for disqualification of Kabataan Partylist is based on the ground that it does not adhere to the country's constitution since the goal of the CPP-NPA is the violent overthrow of the democratic government.

Based on the petition, the witnesses—former members of the Kabataan Partylist and former cadres of the communist terrorist group (CTG) CPP-NPA—confirmed that the supposed youth sector representative is just one of the many organizations of the CPP-NPA.

"This also confirmed that Kabataan Partylist is a creation of the CPP-NPA to overthrow the government," Bosantog said.

Alms Gabin, former education department secretary of the CPP-NPA Visayas Regional Party Committee, said she was one of the founding members of the then Anak ng Bayan before it became the Kabataan Partylist in 2001, but it did not succeed to get a seat in Congress in the elections of 2004 up to 2007.

Gabin narrated that she was part of the decision making, crafting of the party's constitution and the processes to choose party nominees, even becoming one of them as the fifth (5th) nominee along Katrina Castillo in 2010 who was then the second nominee, with the main objective of pushing "the CPP-NPA ideology in the House of Congress and destabilize the government."

She added that with regards to the involvement of Kabataan Partylist with the CPP-NPA, the partylist is just an above ground organization as a means to recruit the country's youth and eventually train them as fighters for the so-called “National Democracy” attached to the basic principle of the CPP-NPA.

Gabin also revealed that Elago does not keep her salary from Congress. "She only gets PhP 3,000 as allowance, the rest of the pork barrel goes collectively" to the CPP-NPA, which is then used for recruiting young people in rural and urban areas.

Jade Sinco, 26, of Samar, on the other end said he was recruited as a member of Kabataan Partylist to organized youth organizations and later became the party's Secretary General in the province, to direct youth organizations to recruit more and campaign for the election of CPP-NPA underground organizations as a partylist like Gabriela and Bayan Muna.

Sinco said he met Elago in February of 2018, telling him, he should get to the top of "armadong pakikibaka" or their armed group NPA.

Jayson Dizor, also from Samar said he was just a president of one of the youth groups in their province who got recruited and became the Kabataan Partylist representatives in election campaigns telling youth organizations to vote for Kabataan Partylist and to "farmers to vote for Bayan Muna."

Secretary Allan Capuyan, NCIP Executive Director said Kabataan Partylist is "a tool of recruiting youth to join CPP-NPA,” mostly victimizing young IPs in far flung communities.

Bosantog said the filing of the petition is also a "challenge accepted" from the Makabayan Bloc's constant call that if NTF-ELCAC has all the evidence linking their representation to CPP-NPA, it should file formal charges against them backed by solid evidences.

"This will expose their deceptive practices. Kabataan Partylist is created by CPP-NPA with its nominees are high ranking officials," Bosantog explained, adding that the filing of the petition is not against the youth of the country "but to stop the deceptive recruitment" of the said Partylist. Other cases are also being readied against the Makabayan Bloc representations.

Luisa Espina of the Hands Off Our Children (HOOC) said the Kabataan Partylist's "deceptive recruitment" must be stop and the political misrepresentation in Congress must not be allowed anymore calling other parents not to vote for other CPP-NPA fronts like the Makabayan Bloc partylist members.###