Candon disputes Army claim of communist influence in city

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — Candon City has not been "infiltrated" by communist front groups as the military claims, city officials said Wednesday.

 

Citing official police assessment, city information officer Leoncio Balbin Jr. said Candon — the only city in the first district of Ilocos Sur — is not being threatened by communist influence despite claims by the Army's 81st Infantry Division.

 

Balbin Jr. admitted that there have been a few lightning rallies by a tobaco farmers' group "but such did not affect or interrupt government operations or proceedings at the city in general."

 

Superintendent Reynaldo Lizardo, city police chief, also pointed out that the city continues to have a "conducive peace and order situation."

 

In a report earlier this week, Lt. Col. Julio Osias, commanding officer of the 81st IB, said "we cannot deny the fact that Candon City has been infiltrated by left-leaning organizations." He did not name the groups but warned that "if this will remain, the economic growth of the city will be affected as the peace and order becomes unstable."

 

READ: Army holds youth summit vs 'communist fronts' in Ilocos Sur

 

Osias made the remarks in relation to a youth summit that the Army held over the past weekend to recruit future soldiers and to counter the supposed influence of the groups.

 

Osias said "(we want to) promote awareness on deceiving issues and activities of lawless groups and organizations particularly the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People's Army, National DF, and to prepare the youth to become active responders to (emergencies)."

 

President Duterte has recently threatened to have members of so-called communist front organizations arrested as terrorists, a move that activists fear will mean a crackdown on dissent in the country.

 

The national democratic movement believes that imperialism, a feudal agricultural system, and "bureaucrat capitalism" —  the use of government resources and structures by the ruling class to enrich themselves at the expense of the rest of the people — has kept most of the Philippines poor despite the country being rich in natural resources.

 

Membership in or support of a national democratic activist organization does not mean membership in the Communist Party of the Philippines or the New People's Army.