The reactionary election period in the country officially began on January 12. Candidates will compete and lock on each other’s horns to vie for at least 18,000 government positions and exploit the bureaucrat-capitalist system. Big warlords and political dynasties will engage in confrontations and trample on the welfare of the people. They have their armed goons, police and military forces at their disposal.

Amid all this, the revolutionary movement will be strictly enforcing standing policies during the reactionary elections within their areas of operation. In line with the Party’s orders, the New People’s Army (NPA) will ensure the protection of the welfare, rights and interests of the people.

All candidates vying for seats in the reactionary government are reminded that these policies will be strictly enforced by the NPA within its revolutionary areas. Candidates and their supporters will be allowed to campaign in accordance with established guidelines.

Politicians are prohibited from bringing armed goons and police and military escorts that are used to terrorize the people. Other forms of coercion, use of armed violence will not be tolerated, especially by bureaucrat capitalists who use public funds against the people. The NPA has standing orders to seize the weapons of candidates and their armed goons. If necessary, it will be implemented through checkpoints and other means.

The NPA must target AFP and PNP units, as well as reactionary politicians’ armed goons, who will use the election campaign on guerrilla fronts as cover for surveillance operations against the Party, the NPA, the democratic people’s government and the revolutionary masses.

Before campaigning in revolutionary areas, politicians are required to inform and communicate with local NPA units. This coordination is important to avoid any incident, including confrontations between armed escorts of opposing politicians.

It is certain that the AFP will take advantage of the reactionary election to intensify its combat operations, political repression and control of rural barangays within the framework of its counterinsurgency war. On the other hand, this will also overstretch the AFP and PNP which will need to spread its units to different towns considered “red, orange and yellow-risk” based on the intensity of conflict between local politicians, as well as the “presence” of the NPA. AFP combat units are legitimate NPA targets.

The Party strongly urges candidates to refuse offers of armed security by the AFP, as these are only being used by the military to carry out political repression. Often, bureaucrats favored by the military are complicit in the fascist campaign of repression in the countryside. Their operations aim to suppress people’s resistance and protect the interests of large landlords, large enterprises and foreign mining and plantation companies.

Despite repeatedly declaring that the NPA now has only a single “weak guerrilla front”, the Philippine Army announced that they “remain alert and will still conduct operations for internal security” to ensure “peace and order” of the election. These operations institutionalize the “guns, goons and gold” tactics that characterize past reactionary elections.