Among the persistent political groups that never went far in the ballots is the Makabayan coalition.

As the surveys reflect, left-wing candidates gain little support from voters due to their duplicity, particularly in denying something that the whole nation is aware of.

The Makabayan bets, who many associate with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), had the temerity to urge the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to entertain their complaints that they are victims of disinformation.

Bayan Muna Partylist nominee lawyer Kristina Conti, who doubles as the International Criminal Court (ICC) assistant to counsel, was among those who filed a complaint against an official of the National Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) for allegedly peddling “disinformation.”

Conti, along with Liza Maza, France Castro, Amirah Lidasan, Arlene Brosas and Raoul Manuel, all candidates in the May midterm polls, are alleged to have links to the CPP-NPA-NDF (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front).

For what the left-wing candidates claim, they now rationalize that the government must dismantle the NTF-ELCAC for red tagging.

Denying the link is necessary for the radicals since the CPP, with all the democratic space, continues to opt for a revolutionary struggle, which Filipinos have never embraced.

The CPP maintains its armed wing, the New People’s Army, to carry out its aim of violence.

The NDF component of the misleading triumvirate includes the parliamentary struggle as an option in propagating its call for social upheaval.

Instead of acting on the Makabayan complaints, the Comelec should review the qualifications of the CPP-NPA-NDF fronts that masquerade as partylist groups.

Putting Makabayan members in the House of Representatives is being complicit in luring more Filipinos into joining the communist armed struggle.

The NTF-ELCAC has been active in proving that the Makabayan bloc has been involved in the disappearances of students and indigenous peoples. The disappeared then would later show up as members of the NPA, if not slain in an encounter with rebels.

The partylist system was designed to allow representation for social sectors, but groups with ties to communist terrorist organizations have hijacked it.

The Comelec faces a critical responsibility to act decisively by disqualifying these fronts, as their participation in the political process is deceptive and a direct threat to national stability.

They must not be given a chance to take positions and serve in the government because then they expand their capability to destroy Filipino families, one of the petitioners against the rebel-influenced organizations said.

Since the NPA is on the wane and has broken into bandit groups after the death of CPP founder Jose Maria Sison, the CPP has resorted to exploiting legitimate political spaces, masquerading as advocates for the marginalized while promoting division and violence.

Allowing the terrorist-affiliated fronts to exploit the partylist system, in turn, cloaks the NDF organizations with undue legitimacy, resources and influence.

Instead of representing the causes of the marginalized sectors, the Makabayan partylist groups manipulate students, workers, indigenous groups, and others to serve a discredited ideology.

The government’s offer of amnesty and reintegration, as highlighted by NTF-ELCAC programs, has drawn former rebels to abandon the CPP’s futile struggle and contribute to nation building.

By doing away with the NTF-ELCAC, the front organizations seek to remove the hurdles to their ultimate aim, which is to create a situation conducive to an armed uprising against legitimately elected public officials.