Ni Francis T. Wakefield
Ibinunyag ni Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana na nakakakolekta ang New People’s Army (NPA) ng aabot sa P1.2 bilyon kada taon sa extortion activities ng mga ito, sa Eastern Mindanao pa lamang.
Ito ang ibinunyag ng kalihim nang dumalo siya sa Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) General Membership Meeting sa Makati Shangri-la, kasama si Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, nitong Martes ng hapon.
Sinabi ni Lorenzana na nakaaapekto ang pangingikil ng NPA sa pagnenegosyo sa Mindanao, partikular sa Eastern Mindanao—na binubuo ng Agusan del Norte at Sur, Surigao del Norte at Sur, Davao, Compostela Valley, at South Cotabato.
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“The amount of money that the NPA is extorting—I refuse to call them revolutionary tax, those are not tax, those are plain and simple extortion—the amount of money that the CPP-NPA collecting from Eastern Mindanao alone, is P1.2 billion pesos a year,” sabi ni Lorenzana.
Kasabay nito, inamin ni Lorenzana na siya mismo ang humimok kay Pangulong Duterte na itigil na ang peace talks sa mga rebelde dahil sa napakaraming karahasang ginagawa ng mga ito.
“That is why I was the one, they are correct. I was the one who was blocking the talks because I said ‘Mr. President let us stop the talks with the CPP-NPA as it is not going anywhere,” pag-amin ni Lorenzana.
