BY: Francis Wakefield
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana yesterday revealed that the New People’s Army (NPA) is able to get some P1.2 billion each year as part of their extortion activities in Eastern Mindanao alone.
Lorenzana made the revelation as he attended the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) General Membership Meeting at Makati Shangri-la together with Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, on Tuesday afternoon.
Lorenzana said it strikes to the heart of doing business in Mindanao especially those in Eastern Mindanao affected by the extortion activities committed by communist rebels.
Eastern Mindanao, it was recalled, comprises Agusan del Norte and Sur, Surigao del Norte and Sur, Davao, Compostela Valley, and South Cotabato.
“The amount of money that the NPA is extorting, I refuse to call them revolutionary tax, those are not tax, those are plain and simple extortion. The amount of money that the CPP-NPA collecting from Eastern Minda-nao alone, is R1.2 billion a year,” Lorenzana said.
Lorenzana, at the same time, admitted that he was the one who encouraged President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to stop the peace talks with the Reds due to the numerous atrocities committed by communist rebels.
