EU to hold funds for Philippine NGOs with link to Reds

MANILA, Philippines — The European Union will hold for now the funds for nongovernment organizations (NGOs) in the Philippines deemed to be legal fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), a military official said Wednesday.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) deputy chief of staff for civil-military operations Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. said this developed as military and government officials met with officials of the European Union, the European Parliament, and the European Commission to request Belgium and EU member countries to stop giving aid to NGOs with links to the communist rebels.

“Yung na release nila ina-audit nila. Yung di pa nila na-rerelease, hinohold muna nila, hanggang kaya nila kasi naka-program na yun e  (They are auditing the funds that have been released, but they are holding, for now, those that have not been released),” Parlade said in a briefing in Malacañang.

Parlade said the EU was surprised that some of the organizations they were funding have links to the communist rebels.

“They were so surprised to know that these organizations are actually part of the… this terrorist organization. So of course, we have to show proof,” he said.

“But we didn’t go there actually to file a complaint or what, it was an exploratory engagement kaya very ano sila, maganda iyon response nila. At noong naintindihan nila, nagbigay sila ng commitment na they really have to stop this because they don’t want to be seen as, you know, providing support to these terrorist organizations,” he added.

(But we didn’t go there actually to file a complaint. It was an exploratory engagement, and they have a good response. When they understood the issue, they committed to hold the funds because they don’t want to be seen as, you know, providing support to these terrorist organizations.)

Asked if the EU would no longer fund the NGOs deemed to be legal fronts of communists in the Philippines, Parlade said the EU wanted more evidence.

“They wanted us to provide more evidence, and then to file the formal complaint,” he said. “So they wanted to make sure that they have these documents before they release the succeeding tranche of [funds].”

“So its actually ang bola nila nasa atin para ipakita sa kanila yung mga documentations na hinihingi nila (So the ball is in our hands to show proof and submit the documentation that they requested),” he added. /ee