General Alliance of Workers Association (GAWA) Secretary-General Wennie Sancho criticized President Rodrigo Duterte after considering a ‘crackdown’ on militant and progressive groups supposedly connected with the New People’s Army (NPA).

In an interview with Watchmen Daily Journal yesterday morning, Sancho said Duterte’s plans are not only unconstitutional but a suppression of free speech, the right to organize, and collective bargaining.

Sancho said, as a labor group leader, he always has to align himself with “the left of the center,” claiming that political side “wants genuine change.”

He asserted, most militant groups are not connected with Communist rebels.

“This is [an] assemblance of dictatorship,” Sancho said. “We are living in a democratic form of government and we have freedom of expression.”

Sancho said they will continue to assert their rights despite, what he characterized as, “the president’s threats.”

Diocese of Bacolod Bishop Patricio Buzon, meanwhile, said the president should accept criticism “on a positive note,” saying it is “for their own good.”

Over the weekend, Duterte threatened to crackdown on militant groups, stating he is tired of their tirades.

The statement stemmed over Duterte’s plans to declare the NPA a “terrorist group,” following an ambush on a police convoy in Bukidnon last November 9, which resulted in the death of a four-month-old baby and two civilians.

The NPA claimed responsibility over the incident.

Incidentally, NPA spokesman Jorge ‘Ka Oris’ Madlos issued an apology over the incident, claiming the rebel group provides the “highest regard to the rights of civilians” and ensures “civilians are protected from harm.” However, just last month, a civilian was injured when the NPA set off an improvised explosive device (IED) in Janiuay, Iloilo. Earlier, two foreign nationals also incurred injuries following the NPA’s ambush on police officers in Cauayan.

In an NPA-led attack back in July in Guihulngan City, an aide to a city councilor was killed, alongside six police officers./DGB, WDJ