URBAN poor settlers initially lauded by President Duterte are now accusing each other as enemies of the state.
Jeffrey Ariz accuses his former comrades in the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) of sympathetic to or are even members of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
Ariz claims to be the leader of the less than 300 families who broke away from Kadamay, and were occupying the housing project intended for members of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Pandi, along with at least 100 remaining members of Kadamay.
On Saturday Ariz, 31, and another member of his group, Vilma de la Cruz, 22, claimed that the NPA has penetrated the BFP housing project at Barangay Cacarong Matanda, Pandi, and transformed it into a recruitment hub for armed fighters.
Ariz said on Sunday that not only one, but all six mass-housing projects of the government in Pandi, Bulacan, that were already occupied by members of the urban poor group have been reportedly infiltrated by the NPA.
Lt. Col. Eugenio Julio Osias IV, commander of the civil-military operations of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division, said they are validating the claims of Ariz, de la Cruz and their colleagues who have been tagged as “defectors” after turning away from Kadamay.
Osias said they could not yet come into the “picture,” unless otherwise asked by the Philippine National Police, since the issue is still considered by Bulacan police officials as a “police matter.”
Chief Inspector Manuel de Vera Jr., chief of police of Pandi, said they have their own intelligence report of what is going on in the housing projects and they will take actions accordingly, noting that Ariz’s group is pitted against Kadamay.
Ariz said on Sunday that aside from the BFP, the NPA has penetrated Pandi 3, Villa Louise, Padre Pio, Villa Elis and Atlantica housing projects, all in Pandi, wherein it recruits armed members, with particular interest on children as young as 11.
“All of the housing projects have been penetrated by the NPA,” Ariz said, noting how individuals with red bandanas have been freely rooming the BFP housing, asking the villages to “join the rebels.”
On the other hand, de la Cruz claimed that people, with bandoleers (bullet magazine holders), were even bolder at night, visiting every houses for the recruitment activity and with particular interest on children as young as 11.