Reds issue ‘permits’ to politicians — AFP

Communist insurgents are demanding cash from politicians in exchange for “permit cards” that will allow them to campaign unmolested, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday said.

Security forces captured a bag containing permits allegedly issued by rebels to candidates who had paid them protection money, the military said in a statement.

More than 500 signed “permit to campaign cards” were found in the bag of an insurgent, killed in a battle on Catanduanes Islands in the Bicol region last Friday, the statement added.

Most parts of the Bicol region, especially Masbate and Sorsogon, are the reported areas where the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), usually intensifies its activities every election period.

The color-coded permits charged local candidates according to the position they were running for with one candidate for Congress being charged as much as P2.2 million, the statement added.

It did not reveal the name of the candidate.

It was not possible to independently verify the reports.

The military said it was intensifying efforts to stop such extortion in the approach to the May 10 national and local elections when positions from president to village councilor will be up for grabs.

Both the military and police leaderships have urged electoral candidates to seek government security forces protection instead of yielding to the permit to campaign of the communist rebels.

The CPP-NPA has been waging a campaign in the country since 1969.

The military said in December it had been shrunk the territory of the Maoist insurgency, leaving four central islands free of guerrillas for the first time in decades, bringing their numbers down to below 5,000 from a peak of 26,000 in 1987.

In the face of declining overseas support, the insurgents have stepped up their efforts to extort money, usually from rural businesses. AFP