After President Rodrigo Duterte signed a proclamation last December declaring the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) a terror organization, a move backed by Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon, Jr., who said, “It has long been overdue,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a petition before the Manila City Regional Trial Court earlier this week seeking a formal classification.

According to the petition, “[The] CPP and NPA are merely buying time by deceiving the Philippine government in entering into peace talks, while their main purpose is to mobilize all their forces in preparation for the ‘people’s war’ aimed at overthrowing the duly constituted authorities, seizing control of the Philippine government, and imposing a totalitarian regime.”

Duterte’s proclamation cited RA 10168, or the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012. According to the law, terrorist acts include causing death or serious bodily harm to a civilian for the purpose of intimidation or in defiance of the government; along with any act that defies international treaties the Philippines is associated with.

Meanwhile, the DOJ petition cites RA 9372, or the Human Security Act of 2007, which also defines what constitutes a terror organization, but also dictates all judicial processes and penalties associated with specific violations.

Last month, following the president’s proclamation, the Negros Occidental chapter of the National Democratic Front (NDF), the political arm of the CPP, on two occasions, likened Duterte to infamous German dictator Adolf Hitler and called for the Philippine president’s ouster.

NDF-Negros spokesperson Ka Frank Fernandez claimed the president has “no more legitimacy” and called on religious leaders, particularly the Roman Catholic dioceses throughout the island, to protest the Duterte administration and demand the president be removed from office./PLL, WDJ