Manila: The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) scored the Makabayan bloc over what it described as the group's 'deafening silence' on sexual assault allegations involving a leader of the Kabataan party-list. In a statement Sunday night, NTF-ELCAC executive director Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr. said the bloc's failure to condemn the alleged rape of a former member of the party-list 'exposes the deep hypocrisy and rot within their ranks.'
According to Philippines News Agency, Torres accused the group of prioritizing its interests over the pursuit of truth, justice, and the safety of vulnerable members. He criticized the Makabayan bloc for its silence, stating, 'For a bloc that screams murder over even the slightest perceived injustice, the silence over one of their own being accused of rape is not just cowardly-it is unconscionable.'
The victim, once a member of Kabataan, reportedly endured harassment and abuse from a party leader, only to be failed by the group's internal grievance mechanisms. She later went public with her account. The party-list group later claimed the matter was being handled 'internally' and offered to 'help' file a case. However, Torres said this is part of a 'playbook' long practiced by the underground Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF), in which sexual abuse is routinely covered up through internal 'rectification' or 'criticism and self-criticism' processes designed to suppress, not resolve, such crimes.
The NTF-ELCAC cited the 2024 report of the United Nations Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, which confirmed the rape of a 15-year-old girl by an NPA fighter after she was forcibly conscripted into a guerrilla unit. The incident, it said, was never publicly disclosed by the group. The same report warned that such abuses are 'vastly underreported' due to fear, shame, and the lack of external accountability.
In another case, a 14-year-old girl from the indigenous community was reportedly assaulted by a CPP cadre posing as a pastor inside the United Church of Christ in the Philippines Haran in Davao City. Despite notifying organizations such as Gabriela-SMR, Kabataan, and Salugpungan, the victim was met with silence. However, charges have since been filed against the abuser with the help of Kalinaw SEMR and some UCCP pastors.
Torres said this pattern of shielding abusers while preaching social justice reveals 'not just selective outrage, but systemic moral failure.' He urged current and former members of Makabayan-affiliated groups to speak out and seek redress through legal institutions instead of internal party mechanisms, which he said are designed to protect the movement rather than the victims.
