NPA collected P62-M ‘poll fees’ in Samar

CATBALOGAN, Samar — The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), through its military arm, the New People’s Army (NPA), collected some P62 million from politicians in the Samar provinces alone during the recent elections.

NPA units in the region, based on reports from so-called "deep penetration agents" of the military intelligence community, effected a systematic collection of "poll fees" without exposing themselves to authorities.

The military said the NPA’s Sergio Lobina Command, led by Amante Labrador and which operates in Eastern Samar, collected P20,930,250, while the Rudante Urtal Command in Northern Samar, under the leadership of Amado Pesante, generated P21,231,000.

In Western Samar, the Arnulfo Ortiz Command, under Vicente Magbuhat, for its part, reportedly collected about P20 million.

In Leyte Island, however, the collections of the Aman Dewin Command Leyte Front Committee 1 operating in Leyte town and the Evelyn Dublin Command Leyte Front Committee 2 are still unaccounted for.

The military attributed this to the conflict among leaders of the units of the two NPA commands who were submitting "dishonest reports" about their collections.

Capt. Juanito Lucas, commanding officer of the Army’s Civil Military Office in Eastern Visayas, said the CPP’s political arm, the National Democratic Front (NDF)," encouraged the collection of poll fees through agents of the different NPA commands.

The military said the NPA agents wrote politicians, assuring them of victory in NPA-controlled communities if they were satisfied with the amount and firearms the candidates would give to the underground movement.

The poll fee and caliber of firearms depended on the positions the candidates were seeking.