The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) responded to the filing of the resolution by Sen. Robinhood Padilla in the Philippine Senate on August 20 pushing for an investigation into alleged cases of rape and sexual violence within the revolutionary movement. The Party said that this is clearly just a “diversionary tactic” after Padilla’s inanity and anti-women stance was exposed in an earlier hearing.

Padilla filed Senate Resolution 1162, which purportedly aims to investigate cases of rape within the ranks of the Party and the New People’s Army (NPA). He based this on the accusation of women supposedly former Red fighters who allegedly experienced rape, molestation and acts of lasciviousness within the people’s army.

Marco Valbuena, chief information officer of the Party, pointed out that even if the senator wants to push for such an investigation, “the CPP and NPA are not covered by the power of the senate or his government.” He said, Padilla will only turn the senate into a circus, being a clown himself, in collaboration with the NTF-Elcac and AFP who are experts in weaving stories against the CPP and NPA.

Valbuena emphasized that in the laws of the people’s government, the Party, the NPA and the entire revolutionary movement strictly implement policies that protect the interests of women, including gender minorities, against discrimination, abuse and violence.

“Rapists are not allowed in the CPP and NPA, unlike in the reactionary government where they even get elected as president and legislator,” he said. Valbuena said it is the policy of the Party and NPA to discharge and punish anyone found guilty of rape.

Valbuena joined Sen. Padilla said that the senator certainly knows the policies of the revolutionary movement regarding women because “he has already mingled with the NPA.”

“In the revolutionary movement in the Philippines, the rights of women and men, even gays, lesbians, and other genders, are equal in leading and performing duties in various fields of struggle, including being NPA commanders,” Valbuena concluded.

Padilla said he wants to investigate the case and statement of Lady Desiree Miranda in 2020 in a senate hearing that she was raped by a commander in 2016, molested by her squad leader in 2017, and experienced a sexual assault in 2018 while inside the NPA.

The revolutionary movement in Central Luzon has long refuted Miranda’s statement. In the January 2021 special issue of Bigwas, a revolutionary mass newspaper in West Central Luzon, it laid out what happened to Miranda while an NPA fighter in the mountains of Caraballo.

“Miranda’s allegation is false. She was not a victim of rape within the people’s army, and there was no violence against women during the time she was a member of the NPA,” said Ka Leyan, a female Red fighter and political officer within the same unit as Miranda when she was still in the front.

She emphasized that a rape case is a major crime in the NPA. Such cases are tried in the people’s court where they go through a thorough and careful process for justice to the victims.

Ka Leyan narrates Miranda left her unit in 2018 as she was in need of medical attention. Facing a mental health problem, the Caraballo Party Committee decided to give her time to rest and to seek medical attention. In her examination, the comrades discovered that Miranda was sexually abused before she entered the people’s army, affecting her mental health.

The comrades were infuriated at the military for holding Miranda and forcing her to be used in the psywar and defamation campaign against the revolutionary movement. Ka Leyan said “instead of having her treated…the AFP took advantage and manipulated Miranda’s condition.”