Vice President Sara Duterte has reopened the debate over accusations that members of the Makabayan bloc have ties to the terrorist group New People’s Army (NPA), saying there is evidence showing partylist activists joining the communist armed group.
In an interview with news station SMNI, Duterte referenced her tenure as mayor of Davao City and the city’s Peace 911 program, which targeted local party groups accused of having links to the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing.
“From the work that we did in Davao, we targeted party‑list groups that we knew [that have] links to the CPP-NPA-NDF, and that was the Makabayan Bloc,” she said, adding that some former rebels were allegedly recruited from those ranks.
Duterte also cited a comment by Makabayan Representative France Castro earlier in August last year about the use of confidential funds, saying it made her reconsider the bloc’s stance toward the administration.
She challenged critics who label her actions as red‑tagging, insisting the government’s evidence shows a clear link between some party‑list members and NPA activity.
The Makabayan Bloc, of course, has consistently denied any connections to the armed insurgency and has previously filed complaints against officials for red‑tagging — a term used to describe unfounded accusations of communist links.