Communist rebels target OFW kin

Communist guerillas have devised a new 'taxation' scheme. According to the military, the rebels are 'extorting' money from families of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).

Major General Rodolfo Garcia, Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM) Chief said, "We are monitoring such illegal activities, especially in remote villages in northern Luzon.

"There is a desperate attempt of the communist movement to generate funds from the relatives of the OFWS. These families are the new victims of extortion. Families of OFWs are very prone to such tactics because of the fear of reprisals from the rebels."

The families of the OFWs living in far-flung areas have ready cash unlike farmers, who can only give goods like rice to the communists.

He said the communists start the campaign by writing a 'demand letter' to the family of an OFW. They follow up their letter and directly confront their would be donor. Families which resist are harassed until they give in. "We cannot blame the victims, the families (of OFWs), because it is a matter of life and death for them," Garcia said.

The government has used paramilitary volunteers to assist the police and the military in fighting the communist rebels in far-flung provinces. The communists are still collecting 'taxes' from local politicians, businessmen and even government employees, in cash or in kind like guns, ammunitions, hand held radio transceivers and uniforms.

Garcia said village leaders give in easily, compared to mayors, Congressmen and governors. They have been asking town mayors to allocate funds for 'the revolutionary movement' from their own Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).

He said the collection of the communists from imposed taxation could run to hundreds of millions of pesos a month.

Meanwhile, a seized document from a camp of the New People's Army (NPA) - the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines - in Ilocos Sur, that was overrun,on June 16 last year showed, lowly farmers, businessmen and politicians as 'contributing' to the communists, Garcia said.

"In that particular document, there was an entry which showed that a single unidentified tax payer gave one million pesos. It could be a big corporation or an individual."