NDF Denies CPP-NPA Involvement in Manila Pen Siege

By LUIS G. JALANDONI
Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel

We have verified from the National Executive Committee of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the National Operational Command of the New People’s Army (NPA) that neither the NDFP, the CPP nor the NPA has anything to do with the planning and implementation of the takeover of the Manila Hotel Peninsula by the group of Brig. General Danilo Lim and Senator Antonio Trillanes Iast 29 November.

At the same time, the CPP, NPA and the NDFP praise the group of General Lim and Senator Trillanes for denouncing the puppetry, exploitativeness, corruption,
mendacity and brutality of the Arroyo regime and for urging the people to rise up to oust the regime and the military to withdraw support from the regime. However, they consider the Lim-Trillanes group as overoptimistic in expecting the people and military to come to their support in a matter of a few hours.

It is the view of the NDFP, together with the CPP and NPA, that the takeover of the Manila Peninsula Hotel is not an act of coup d’etat or rebellion but is merely a protest action, like the Oakwood incident in 2003. A real coup d’etat would have involved an attempt to capture the fake president Arroyo, seize the main installations of her political power, and thereby disable the regime. The Arroyo regime is crazy for misrepresenting isolated hotel takeovers as a coup d’etat or rebellion.

We wish to condemn in the strongest terms the patently false accusations made by officials of the Arroyo regime, including executive secretary Ermita and General Avelino Razon, that the presence of NDFP political consultant Mrs. Elizabeth Principe-Velasco in Quezon City on 28 November and that of Mrs. Myrna H. Buendia at the Manila Peninsula Hotel are proofs of a “left-right conspiracy” and CPP and NPA involvement in the protest action of the Lim-Trillanes group.