SENATOR Loren Legarda’s assertion that the “CPP/NPA’ is not an Enemy of the State and that ‘ I have worked with the Left and there’s nothing wrong with that’ during an impassioned speech on Tuesday naturally earned him the support of leftist groups amid a barrage of protest from ‘hawks’ in the government and others who have served the country with distinction.

Those who have protested her stance are active and retired soldiers and policemen and government officials and countless people who have experienced the pain of losing a son, a daughter, parents, brothers and sisters, a colleague, a subordinate, a relative or a dear friend to NPA ambuscades, even banned rebel landmines in the countryside.

Former PNP chief, now retired Senator Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson said it all when he courageously made a statement regarding his friend and colleague’s opinion. “Well said. I could not agree more with the statement of the NTF-ELCAC,” the former top cop said.

“Senator Legarda is a friend and I respect her opinion but I cannot for the life of me agree with her stand, apparently articulated by her statement that the CPP-NPA-NDF is not an enemy of the state. Simply put, an armed terrorist group —already designated not only by the government of the Republic of the Philippines but also by the European Union, the United States of America and four other countries (Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand)—is unequivocally an enemy of the state,” the veteran former lawmaker said.

“That being said, any attempt to amend the Anti-Terrorism Act is a disrespect to our comrades-in-arms as well as the countless civilians who fell victims to the atrocities of this terrorist group that has lost its ideological principles over the years – they murder, they rob, they extort, they harass and intimidate and worse, indiscriminately,” Citizen Ping said.

“Having authored and sponsored and almost single-handedly defended the legislative measure in the Senate plenary, as well as in the battle for public opinion in many fora including the media, I will not hesitate to be part of the opposition to thwart moves to amend this law in its substantive form which no less than the Supreme Court has declared as constitutional,” he added.

For many, the Senate President Pro Tempore was making a political speech now that the political season is over with President Bongbong Marcos enjoying the full trust and confidence of the public with his landslide victory during the May 9 polls. That comes with the question: would Legarda make the same ‘pro-CPP/NPA statement’ during the campaign period?

“If election period started today, will she trumpet her pro-CPP/NPA stand,” a retired police general told me. Of course, the answer is no for many other active and retired officials of the armed services. No politician in his right mind would dare to say he is a friend of the CPP/NPA during a campaign period lest he wants to be rejected by majority of Filipinos in this country, a known security analyst told me.

What aroused the anger of many in the security forces is Sen. Legarda’s assertion that she has “worked with the NDF and I’m not ashamed of it.” She also said she won’t judge Commission on Higher Education chief Prospero de Vera III whose sister, Adora Faye tagged as a ranking officer of the CPP/NPA , was arrested by PNP intelligence agents under General Jun Azurin last week on the strength of a 2006 non-bailable warrant for multiple murder and frustrated murder.

Legarda made her impassioned speech after Sen. Francis Tolentino, in a privilege speech suggested that public officials must divulge any ties with terror groups, including the Abu Sayyaf Group and CPP-NPA-NDF. De Vera said that he has not seen her sister for more than 25 years prior to her capture in Quezon City.

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) meanwhile claimed that Sen. Legarda’s sugar-coated pronouncements” show that the lawmaker does not consider the CPP-NPA-NDF a terrorist organization or an Enemy of the State.

“If the CPP-NPA-NDF is not an enemy of the state, then, be informed that the government of the Republic of the Philippines considers them as enemies not only of the state but of the Filipino people. The military establishment that you say you are proud to be a member of also considers the CPP-NPA-NDF as the enemy of the peace and security of this country,” the NTF-ELCAC said in a statement. For those who still don’t know it, Sen. Legarda is a reserved full-fledged Colonel of the Philippine Army.

NTF-ELCAC also warned that if Legarda continues to push for the review of RA 11479, she will betray her oath of office. “Your proposal to review the anti-terror law is definitely not for the good of the Filipino people. At some point in your political career, Senator Legarda, you must make that most difficult choice of doing what is right at the expense of trying to please everyone,” the NTF-ELCAC said.

However, Bayan-Muna party-list came to the defense of Legarda whom the group claimed was immediately ‘red-tagged after she contested Sen. Tolentino’s suggestion that public officials must divulge any family members who may be part of a terrorist group.

The progressive party-list group which has long been trying to dispel claims by the Armed Forces that it is not a CPP/NPA legal front while still refusing to call an AFP challenge to condemn NPA atrocities in the countryside, last May failed to win any Congress seat for the first time since 2001.

Those who argue with Sen. Legarda’s pro-CPP/NPA stance are simply growing although she definitely won’t lose the backing of several groups, the left-leaning, the progressive groups and the rebel movement itself. However, expect the same issue to hound our political system during the mid-term election which is still 34 months away.

At the moment, what the public should know is that very recently, criminal charges have been filed by the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group against a group of New People’s Army guerrillas responsible for a series of recent deadly attacks on the police in the countryside.

Gen. Azurin said that five of the accused, one of them identified as Jonathan Balimbingan were charged with murder and violation of Republic Act 9851 or an act defining and penalizing crimes against international humanitarian law, genocide and other crimes against humanity in connection with the killing of a policeman in Samar.

The NPA gunmen ambushed the group of Patrolman Mark Monge as they were conducting a humanitarian activity at the boundary of San Jose de Buan and Gandara municipalities in Samar last July 16. Pat. Monge died in the attack and was conferred the posthumous PNP Medalya ng Kadakilaan or PNP Distinguished Conduct Medal before being given a hero’s burial.

PNP-CIDG director, Brigadier Gen. Ronald Lee said that they also filed criminal complaints against suspected NPA members Friday before the Ilocos Sur Provincial Prosecutor’s Office in Vigan. Charged for violation of RA 9851were Lupito Wigit Dawala alias ‘Ka June,’ Avelino Cruz Jr. alias ‘Ka Lee’ and Flores Baluga alias ‘Ka Bram.

The three were accused of firing at members of the PNP Special Action Force who were conducting a test mission along the boundaries of Sitio Bab-asig in Barangay Patiacan in Quirino, Ilocos Sur and Sitio Malitem in Bgy. Panabungen in Besao, Mountain Province on February 29, 2020.

Add to that the countless stories of soldiers and policemen as well as innocent civilians who have been killed in recorded NPA attacks in Bicol, Samar, and other provinces in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao through the years which eventually prompted the Anti-Terrorism Council to formally designate the National Democratic Front 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.