DILG to prevent attempts to humiliate, disrupt Marcos inauguration

MANILA – The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) will not tolerate any scheme by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) or its allied and front organizations to humiliate or disrupt the incoming administration.

DILG Undersecretary and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) spokesperson Jonathan Malaya issued the statement after the declaration of former cadres of the CPP-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) that the communist terrorist group is targeting to disrupt the oathtaking of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on June 30.

Former rebels Orlando “Ka Warly” Baluyot, now chairman of Tinang Samahang Nayon Multi-Purpose Cooperative, and Ka Pong Sibayan, a farmer from Hacienda Tinang in Concepcion, Tarlac stated in a press briefing organized by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) on Monday that the radical left has started mobilizing farmers in their province for this purpose.

Apart from Hacienda Tinang, they said officials and members of CPP-NPA-NDF front organizations have also been meeting with farmers from nearby Hacienda Murcia and Barangay Central inside Hacienda Luisita.

“Ayaw talaga nilang maupo si Marcos. Iyon ang nakita natin na gagawin nila sa June 30 bago maupo si Pangulong Bongbong Marcos (They really don’t want Marcos to assume office. That is what we have seen as their act on June 30 before President Bongbong Marcos takes oath),” Baluyot said.

“We are taking these intelligence reports seriously and we will do what is necessary to thwart any attempt to embarrass or discredit the forthcoming inauguration,” Malaya added.

The DILG and other security agencies, he said, have finalized all security preparation for the inauguration, including mobilizing around 6,200 police officers around the National Museum in the coming days.

He mentioned that it is not a surprise that the communist terrorist groups (CTGs) are planning something to embarrass the incoming administration.

“That’s part of their playbook. Whoever sits in Malacanang is their enemy because ultimately, all they want is to overthrow the government through violent means to be followed by a socialist revolution,” Malaya said.

He claimed that in recent weeks, leftist organizers have been mobilizing in Tarlac, Cavite, Pampanga, and Laguna to further their nefarious objectives.

“They are even misleading the youth to join them in their protest actions,” he added.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) will have additional mobile forces on standby should radical leftist groups attempt to disrupt the inauguration, he noted.

“We respect the people’s rights to free expression, peaceably assemble, and the exercise of their democratic rights but this has to be done within the bounds of the law. Therefore, we advise all protesters to hold their peaceful demonstrations in Manila’s designated freedom parks such as Plaza Miranda, Plaza Dilao, Plaza Moriones, and Liwasang Bonifacio. There are so many to choose from,” he said.

Earlier, incoming Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile warned of a credible plot to humiliate the incoming administration.

“I just picked up what I consider to be credible information that there are groups in America and in the Philippines planning and preparing to cause serious embarrassment and trouble for our newly-elected President. Caution is the name of the game. You are just starting you[r] travel in troubled waters. Your adversaries have not stopped. To borrow a phrase from someone, right now ‘they are hiding their brightness and biding their time,’” he said.

“I have humble unsolicited advice for the national security officials of the new regime. Instead of making soft and pacific statements seemingly intended to quiet and to gain the cooperation, trust, and confidence of the habitual troublemakers in this country, I suggest that they should sharpen their intelligence information,” Enrile said.