Western Visayas cops doubt authenticity of NPA extort letters to bets

ILOILO CITY, Philippines – Police authorities are doubting the authenticity of the permit-to-campaign (PTC) letters supposedly sent by the New People’s Army (NPA) in Western Visayas, saying these were written in English.

Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr., Region 6 police director, said the NPA usually uses poetic prose in writing its letters and in the local dialect where it operates.

But in the case of PTC letters sent to some politicians in Antique province, for instance, the letters were written in English and have “no greeting like the usual salutations made by the rebel group,” Cruz said.

Still, he said they are investigating these extortion activities.

He said some politicians could have actually received these extortion letters and did not report these to the police or military.

Maj. Ray Tiongson, public affairs chief of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, however, said they have not received information on the NPA’s PTC racket.

“But we are doing continuous monitoring, especially in areas identified as election hotspots,” he said.

In a recent meeting of the Regional Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Council, 40 areas in Western Visayas were placed under the election watch list.

Negros Occidental has 13; Iloilo, 11; Antique, seven; Capiz, five; Aklan, three; and Iloilo City, one.

No potential poll hotspots were identified in Bacolod City and Guimaras.

Earlier, Malacañang had warned candidates against falling prey to the NPA’s extortion scheme through PTC fees.