Hindi “goodwill,” kotong ‘yan

May 7, 2025

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) pathetically insists that candidates who “coordinate” with the New People’s Army (NPA) are simply showing goodwill. This would be laughable if it were not such a blatant affront to the intelligence and common sense of the Filipino people. That “coordination” is nothing more than the same old permit-to-campaign racket, a cash-for-access shakedown run by an armed group that long ago forfeited any claim to political authority.

Only the Commission on Elections and duly constituted local governments can regulate campaign activities. Any demand to clear itineraries with the NPA is plain political racketeering. Candidates who surrender funds, food, or logistics to an outlawed organization do not buy peace; they bankroll violence. Let us call it what it is: kotong, plain and simple.

The CPP’s press releases try to conjure up “revolutionary power” in so-called guerrilla zones, but those zones exist only in their nostalgia. Whole-of-nation governance has replaced fear with service delivery—from farm-to-market roads, classrooms, health stations, and other important social services. The NPA’s numbers have plummeted, its fronts dismantled, its remnants pushed deep into hunger and desperation. What clout remains is the barrel of a gun pointed at civilians during election season.

Extortion is no secret. In Cawayan, Masbate, local candidates were told to pay or risk armed harassment, a documented incident the CPP now tries to shrug off. Former rebels have laid bare how the racket works: collect “fees” for convoy security, promise “command votes,” then funnel proceeds to CPP-founded partylists. The group that boasts of guarding the people actually siphons resources away from the barangays it claims to liberate. Ano ‘yan—service fee para sa sariling bulsa?

We therefore urge all candidates: stand firm, do not yield to empty threats or worn-out slogans. Report any solicitation, intimidation, or “permit” demand to the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Coordinate only with COMELEC and duly-constituted local authorities, not with a terror-listed organization. Doing otherwise risks criminal liability, legitimizes armed coercion, and insults voters who deserve a free choice.

To the CPP-NPA-NDFP: stop pretending you still hold sway over Philippine democracy. The ballot belongs to the people, not to extortionists hiding behind “revolutionary authority.” Every peso you force out of local campaigns is proof of irrelevance and depravity, not influence. And every candidate who says “hindi puwede” chips away at the last fragments of your fading racket.

The message is simple: elections must be governed by law, not by the gun. Kotong, no matter how you spin it, is never goodwill.

Undersecretary Ernesto C. Torres Jr.

Executive Director, National Secretariat

National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict