Newly-elected government officials who continue to support the New People’s Army (NPA) can be charged with financing terrorism, the top official of the 61st Infantry Battalion (61IB) of the Philippine Army (PA) warned yesterday.

61IB commander, Lt. Col. Joel Benedict Batara, said they monitored 37 politicians, who ran for the mid-term polls and were also backing the NPA.

Fifteen of these officials were elected as either mayors or Sangguniang Bayan members in the provinces of Iloilo and Capiz.

He added that 15 is still a “running number” because there were additional elected officials suspected to be supporting the rebels, based on the reports of other government agencies.

The communist rebels demanded money from the candidates for them to enter and campaign freely in a certain area.

“We continue our monitoring on these officials and if we have concrete pieces of evidence, there would be appropriate cases to be filed against them,” Batara said.

Violations of Republic Act 10168 or the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012 can be filed against these officials, he said.

Furthermore, Batara said the local government units (LGUs), particularly the local chief executives, should spearhead the efforts to end the insurgency in the country.

He appreciated the move of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) in submitting a letter to the Sangguniang Panglungsod and recommending the declaration of the NPA as persona non-grata. (PNA)