Not the NPA but Arroyo's AFP, PNP and bureaucracy are in cahoots with drug syndicates -- CPP
July 6, 2003

The Communist Party of the Philippines strongly belied Macapagal-Arroyo's claim yesterday that the NPA is engaged in illegal drug operations and maintains marijuana plantations in its guerrilla zones.

Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal, spokesman of the Communist Party of the Philippines said that "it is Arroyo's AFP, PNP and top bureaucrats who are actually behind the drug business in the country".

"She is totally dishonest in hurling such a false accusation at the NPA. She hypocritically hides the fact it is her own AFP, PNP and civilian bureaucracy from top to bottom, which are the ones steeply engaged in and behind the illegal drug business," Rosal said in a statement.

"In fact, not a single one of the more than 215 big drug syndicates in the country operate without the protection of and conspiracy with the AFP, PNP and civilian government from the national down to the local level," Rosal added.

Ka Roger also ridiculed the recent hype of Arroyo to pretend that her government is seriously solving the drug problem. "They have only been arresting hundreds of small-time pushers and users as well as innocent victims, all for show."

"They can arrest all of the tens of thousands of pushers they want, yet the drug problem will not be solved because the ones making the arrests are the ones behind the illegal drug business in the country and not one of the big syndicates and their high military-police-bureaucratic connections are touched at all," added Rosal.

"The NPA, on the other hand, has since its inception, been waging a persistent and effective campaign to eradicate the drug problem in the country, especially so in its areas of operation," Ka Roger emphasized. He asserted:

"In areas where Red political power exists, especially in the guerrilla bases and consolidated guerrilla zones, the drug problem has been decisively minimized if not totally eradicated."

Ka Roger said that "This is due to the efforts of the CPP-NPA and the revolutionary movement to actively launch mass political campaigns and education against the use of drugs."

"The young people in the guerrilla zones are inspired to undertake worthy endeavors in the interest of the masses, effectively leading them away from drugs and other influences of the prevailing decadent culture nurtured by the military and politicians", Rosal said.

He cited the constant work of the NPA to raise the people's consciousness and replace the decadent culture with a scientific, progressive and patriotic culture.

"Millions of young people are organized to help raise rural production, promote the people's health, and other programs to help change people's lives," added Rosal.

Ka Roger also said that in some farflung mountainous areas adjacent to but not yet under the effective jurisdiction of the NPA guerrilla bases and consolidated zones, some marijuana plantations continue to persist. He said this is despite decisive campaigns of the CPP-NPA and the revolutionary movement to encourage and help the people involved to shift to another means of livelihood.

"The biggest problem in those areas," Ka Roger asserted, "is that it is the AFP, PNP and government officials in collussion with big drug syndicates, who are actually the ones behind these marijuana plantations. The AFP, PNP and government officials have full knowledge, give full protection to these plantations and also plant numerous spies and heavily arm counterrevolutionary elements to resist the NPA in the area."

Rosal added: "The AFP and PNP raiders know when the plants have grown mature so that they would come and pretend to uproot and confiscate the plants. But when brought to the AFP camps and police stations, they only burn a token amount and pass the plants over to their contact drug syndicates. Their top officials always make big money out of every `confiscation operation' in marijuana country."#

Reference:
Anne Buenaventura
Media Officer
Cellphone Number: +63910-240-3553

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Not the NPA but Arroyo's AFP, PNP and bureaucracy are in cahoots with drug syndicates -- CPP July 6, 2003

Not the NPA but Arroyo's AFP, PNP and bureaucracy are in cahoots with drug syndicates -- CPP
July 6, 2003