DUTERTE: Allow gov’t operate ‘if you can’t help’

 President Rodrigo Duterte urged the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), to allow the government to operate amid the pandemic and calamities.

“I am directing this [message] to the Communist Party of the Philippines. This time of our national life, we are having a serious problem. If you cannot cooperate, if you cannot help, then, maybe you can stand aside and allow the government to operate,” Duterte told the CPP-NPA during his prerecorded Talk to the People aired Thursday night.

This, after Duterte received reports that the NPA terrorists continue to extort the people’s cash assistance from the government

“Kasi yung ayuda ng gobyerno, balita ko lang pinupuntahan ninyo (I heard that you are going after the assistance from the government),” Duterte said. “That’s stupid, tulong yan sa kapwa tao, maghingi lang kayo maski PHP500. Okay na iyan, huwag niyo na kunin ang lahat ng pera ng tao (that’s assistance for the people, you can ask them PHP500. That’s fine, but don’t take all their money).”

In a report in government-owned PNA, Duterte offered the communist groups to partake in the government’s program for the sake of the people on the ground.