Kabataang Makabayan (KM) strongly condemns the recent statements made by National Security Adviser Eduardo Año and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac), which once again weaponize so-called “former rebels” to prop up the discredited narrative of a so-called “spent revolutionary force.” What Año parades as “raw, unfiltered testimonies” are, in truth, manufactured scripts extracted through coercion, bribery, and threats, designed to mislead the public and justify the militarist crackdown on democratic dissent in the Philippines.
The formation of organizations composed of alleged “former rebels,” organized under the close direction of the military and intelligence agencies, is a state-sponsored ploy aimed at legitimizing repressive policies, red-tagging, and the silencing of legitimate criticism against the Marcos Jr. regime’s corruption, foreign subservience, and anti-people programs.
Año’s recycled lies and fear-mongering narratives do more than insult the intelligence of the Filipino people—they actively obscure the real, deeply rooted causes of the armed conflict in the Philippines. Landlessness, joblessness, widespread poverty, fascist state violence, and a foreign-dominated economic system that denies the Filipino people sovereignty and justice are still the norm today.
Año’s 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. It also exposes the regime’s failure to crush the revolutionary movement, which continues to persevere and grow.
It is not the revolutionary movement but the ruling classes and their security apparatuses who exploit the urban poor, workers, farmers, and indigenous peoples—through demolition, union-busting, land grabbing, environmental plunder, and killings of rights defenders. Far from being deceived, the Filipino masses experience firsthand the crushing poverty, joblessness and lack of access to basic services that further foment their resolve to join the armed struggle in the countryside. The people’s democratic revolution is a rational, collective response to a system that offers no meaningful future to the youth, urban poor, workers, and peasants.
Kabataang Makabayan reiterates its commitment to a just and lasting peace—one that addresses the fundamental issues of land reform, national industrialization, and democratic rights. We call on all Filipino youth, students, migrants, and professionals, to reject the fascist propaganda of the AFP and NTF-Elcac, and instead join the struggle for genuine change and national and social liberation.
Source: https://ndfp.info/anos-recycled-lies-meant-to-obscure-real-roots-of-armed-conflict/