A top official of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday vowed to expose the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) as the “greatest scam of the century” and which also engendered most of the country’s woes.

The CPP-NPA should be afraid. They will hear more from us regarding their deception

Newly installed AFP deputy chief of staff for civil military operations (J7) Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. said the CPP-NPA exploited all sectors possible to advance their goal to take over the government but failed.

However, Parlade, who assumed as J7 only last Friday, said the communist group “succeeded” in dividing the country through deception.

“We will expose what their revolutionary dual tactics are, how they have exploited all sectors of the society for so long to advance their revolutionary goals, how they have deceived our young, our IP (indigenous peoples), our women, our teachers, our peasants, our workers to revolt against government,” Parlade said.

“We will expose the CPP as the greatest scam of the century. They are the reason why poverty persists. They are the reason why our rural areas remain undeveloped,” he added.

“They (CPP-NPA) should be afraid…They will hear more from us regarding their deception,” said Parlade, who last year tagged the CPP-NPA as behind the “Red October” plot designed to oust President Duterte.

No less than Mr. Duterte publicly revealed the “Red October” plot last September.

Initially, Parlade said the CPP-NPA, under instruction from Jose Maria Sison, forged an alliance with the yellows identified with the previous Aquino administration.

The plot, however, did not materialize after its civilian component, supposedly led by the Movement Against Tyranny, failed to muster support.

“We have to share to the people the correct narrative of everything. We are on the side of the truth. The people do not know the evils of NPA, their (communists’) narrative is the dominant one, so I think CMO will play the big role,” he added.

Parlade also blamed the CPP-NPA for placing the entire country in a bad light before the international community, particularly with the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) through their relentless propaganda.

He said the communists “manufactured” issues like alleged human rights violations, supposed abuses against IP and extrajudicial killings to solicit support from the EU and UN and other foreign organizations.

“Now we have a very fragmented society, weak government institutions, stunted growth and a poor image of all sitting in government in the eyes of the world. We will expose how they have manipulated international organs like the EU and the UN in order to solicit billions of funding from them through their bogus front organizations,” Parlade said.

“Poverty is not the cause of this insurgency. Poverty is the result of this communist insurgency. This mindset has to change. We have to educate our people and workers in government about these realities and this falls under my shop,” he added.

As J7, Parlade will be at the forefront of the AFP’s campaign in educating the public about the evils of communist insurgency through civil military operations.

“There is no better opportunity to end this insurgency than now, with a hard-working and decisive Commander in Chief,” he said.

Localized peace talks were also the reason for the increase in the number of rebels who wanted to go back to normal lives, according to Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

“Because of hard work and perseverance of our local officials, the covers on the eyes of former rebels have been removed,” Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said.

He cited President Rodrigo Duterte’s creation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict for the dwindling number of communist rebels.

Just last week, according to DILG chief, about 114 former members and supporters of the CPP-NPA pledged their loyalty to the government in Bacolod City.

He said oaths of allegiance were facilitated by the Philippine Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion with the presence of the city mayor and the city chief of police, officials from various barangays and a representative from the DILG.

“The government will work together to put an end to the communism and terrorism in the country. That’s why (we are addressing) Joma Sison’s henchmen — renounce your ideologies and support instead the government in helping the country,” he said.

DILG had launched the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) that offers assistance to former rebels and their immediate family members.

E-CLIP is one of the main components of the interagency Task Force Balik Loob Program that serves as the central coordinating body in supervising the government’s reintegration efforts for the members of the CPP-NPA-NDF and their immediate family members.

Under the program, former rebels receive P15,000 in immediate cash assistance, P50,000 in livelihood assistance, firearms compensation, psycho-social support, skills training, shelter and other forms of help such as legal, employment and medical assistance.

In 2018 alone, DILG has disbursed around P488 million just for E-CLIP.