Revolutionary organizations condemned and rejected the newly established national federation of “former rebels,” supported and instigated by their National Task Force (NTF)-Elcac and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) masters.

“It is laughable that the NTF-Elcac is boasting of using former rebels who have betrayed the masses, sold out the people’s aspirations for national freedom and democracy, and who are now paid instruments of the Marcos puppet government and its fascist affiliates,” Communist Party of the Philippines information officer Marco Valbuena said.

The group, which they called Buklod Kapayapaan, was officially formed in the last week of April at the 2nd National Peace Advocates Summit and its national congress held in Quezon City. It gathered 47 leaders from 17 regional federations. The First National Peace Advocates Summit of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) framed the group’s formation.

Buklod Kapayapaan claims that the aim of their group is “to serve as the former rebels’ collective national voice”, to participate in the government’s development efforts and actively join peace initiatives.

“It is pitiful that NTF-Elcac has picked up these discarded remnants of the revolutionary movement,” Valbuena said. In the eyes of the masses they have abandoned, these traitors have zero credibility,” he said.

“People do not trust traitors,” said Valbuena.

Elected as Buklod Kapayapaan national president is the traitor Noel Legaspi. Legaspi previously served as spokesperson of the National Democratic Front-Far South Mindanao who decided to step back because he could no longer bear the heavy responsibilities of the revolution.

Later, he decided to side with the reactionary government and actively serve as a paid agent to the detriment of his former comrades and the masses who once sheltered him. Numerous cases of his direct actions reportedly harmed comrades and the masses, which led to their deaths.

Aside from him, the group appointed Arian Jane Ramos as head of legal affairs. Ramos also serves as president and main spokesperson of the group Kalinaw Southeastern Mindanao. Ramos is one of the most ardent mouthpieces of the NTF-Elcac and Bato de la Rosa’s accomplice in targeting the youth and their organizations and struggles. Elected as vice president for Luzon is someone named Danmer de Guzman, vice president for Visayas is Noel Alerta, and vice president for Mindanao is Aljun Intano.

According to Valbuena, “These traitors make themselves useful to the fascist Marcos regime in exchange for a comfortable life far removed from the status of the masses who once sheltered them.” He added that the traitors now sit as the leadership of Buklod Kapayapaan, selling their supposed “expertise in the revolutionary movement” for “handouts and favors provided by the military.”

Valbuena mocked these individuals, saying “they even beautify their self-designation as ‘former rebels’ when in truth they are simply traitors to the toiling masses.”

“In reality, these traitors have fully embraced a fascist and militarist mindset. They parrot all the fascist Marcos regime’s garbage rhetoric. They are mere minions of big compradors and foreign companies grabbing the lands of farmers and national minorities,” Valbuena added.

“Some leaders among these traitors are favored and showcased by NTF-Elcac, while many of the farmers paraded as ‘surrenderers’ who were promised a better life are now imprisoned in military camps and are used as slaves by the soldiers,” the CPP official added. “Some have been repeatedly forced to surrender so that battalion and division commanders can profit. Some have been completely imprisoned or killed after losing their value to the military.”

Valbuena compared the traitors to the ‘makapili’ who collaborated with Japanese soldiers to identify revolutionaries. However, he noted a significant difference. “Unlike the ‘makapili’ who wore bags on their heads to hide their identities, these new traitors openly serve the puppet and fascist Marcos regime in oppressing and torturing the people.”

Kabataang Makabayan, Pambansang Katipunan ng Magbubukid, and National Democratic Front secretary general Elias Dipasupil, also expressed condemnation of the federation.

According to KM, the said group will clearly be used to attack the just struggle of democratic sectors in urban and rural areas. “This attempt to weaponize “former rebels” in the information war is a desperate move in the face of growing international exposure and condemnation of human rights violations under their “counterinsurgency” programs as well as the mounting call to abolish the NTF-Elcac,” the revolutionary youth group added.