Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte urged the people not to support the progressive party-lists under Makabayan Bloc which she identified as the supporters of the rebel New People’s Army.
The lady chief executive was obviously upset after the group of Kilusang Mayo Uno members blocked the national highway in Barangay Lasang which caused inconvenience to motorists and commuters on Monday afternoon.
Duterte identified these groups namely Bayan Muna, Alliance of Concerned Teachers or ACT Teachers, Anakpawis, Gabriela, Kabataan, and Migrante.
“We all know now that these militant groups, who masquerade themselves as pro-people, only want to sow hostility and chaos, especially to those who reject them and the terrorist groups they support — the NPA, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP),” the mayor said in her statement released to reporters on Tuesday morning.
“In the 2019 elections, please be reminded of what happened yesterday and the previous incidents involving these militant groups,” she added.
She said the roadblock of KMU in Barangay Lasang was an example of how these groups intend to govern should they be given the power to lead the government and the country.
“They terrorize, engender lawlessness, create confusion, disrespect fellow human beings, put lives in danger, and disregard any authority altogether,” she said. Duterte said the extreme inconvenience they created to the transport of goods and people was the reason why they SHOULD get no support from the Dabawenyos.
“We are all victims of these terrorist-loving militant organizations who do not seem to know what they really want from society,” she said.
The mayor said the city and its people were once again the target of these groups but the Dabawenyos stood tall.
Anak Pawis Representative Ariel Casilao shrugged aside Duterte’s call against his group.
Casilao said during their rally here on Tuesday, it is the right of Duterte to campaign against them but they are still confident they could still get the mandate from the people “Time and again, many have tried to discredit, disenfranchise, vilify, red bait and red tag the Makabayan Bloc since 2001, our entry in national politics but they all failed,” he said.
He said their track record would tell how they served all oppressed sectors such as the farmers, workers, indigenous people, the teachers, the youth and women. “Our track record in Congress will speak that our legislative measures, our bills and resolutions that we passed since 2001 represents the very sectors that are oppressed,” he said.
