Manuel, CPP member, ex-Reds bare

A Senate probe on Wednesday uncovered a young lawmaker's surprising link to the communist party.

Ariane Jane Ochate Ramos alias Marikit, former secretary of the New People's Army's Guerrilla Front 55, Sub-Regional Committee 5, Southern Mindanao Regional Committee, said Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raoul Manuel is a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Ramos, during a Senate panel inquiry on radicalization and recruitment of the youth for the armed revolution, said she facilitated the integration into the CPP of members from the youth and student sector, including Raoul Manuel, Daniel Dellosa, Kurt Sosa, Angelie Fortich, and others, within their area of responsibility in Sitio Bol, Barangay Dagohoy, Talaingod, Davao del Norte.

"Raoul Manuel is a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines but not a member of the New People's Army," Ramos said.

Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, who presided over the hearing, asked if the person named by Ramos was the same person leading the Kabataan Partylist group in Congress.

Ramos replied: "He will deny it, like we always do, because it is our responsibility to hide our identities as members of underground mass organizations and the CPP."

Her revelation was backed by another CPP-NPA cadre, Kate Raca, who said she worked directly with Manuel in recruiting for the Kabataang Makabayan and the CPP at the University of the Philippines.

"In addition, I also worked with Raoul Manuel when he was still a UP student regent. We were together recruiting for the KM and the CPP, and we facilitated NPA recruitment in the University of the Philippines, so I am sure he will deny this, my good old friend and workmate Raoul Manuel," Raca said.

She added that they worked within UP in planning, executing, and implementing the recruitment for the NPA.

"We decided how many the NPA should recruit from the KM, from each UP college," she said.

Raca said Manuel did not join the NPA revolution, unlike her, who joined the armed struggle in the hinterlands.

"I swear under oath that I would tell the truth, and that is the truth. That Raoul Manuel is also a recruiter for the NPA," she said. "He was implementing recruitment programs for the NPA."

Irate Bato

The revelations irked Dela Rosa.

"My blood boils as I look at this person (Manuel)," he said in Filipino.

"We might be laughing now, but for all we know, this is a serious matter. You can just imagine a congressman of the Republic of the Philippines, enjoying all the perks, enjoying everything, at the same time undermining this government, undermining the state," Dela Rosa said.