Sison slams Duterte’s claim of ‘gay’ NPA rebels

By Vince Angelo C. Ferreras
COMMUNIST PARTY of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria C. Sison took issue with the claim of President Rodrigo R. Duterte that almost half of New People’s Army (NPA) rebels are “gay.”
Mr. Duterte said over the weekend that his son Sebastian was allegedly “abused” by rebels when they handed over in Agusan del Sur last week two soldiers and six militiamen in their captivity.
“Alam ba ninyo 40 percent ng NPA ngayon na sundalo bakla?” Mr. Duterte said at a campaign rally by the ruling PDP-Laban in Laguna province last Saturday. (Did you know that 40 percent of NPA soldiers are gay?).
“Pagdating sa bukid, dinala ako ng apat na NPA doon sa niyogan. Gihalik-halikan ako tapos ‘yung lahat…’” the President quoted his son as saying. (I was molested by four NPA rebels).
“Most unbelievable part of the joke of Duterte is the claim that 40 percent of NPA fighters are gay. How can he make such a survey finding when his military and police minions cannot locate the thousands of Red commanders and fighters in more than 110 guerrilla fronts?” Mr. Sison said on Monday, Feb. 25.
Mr. Sison for his part said, “In making a joke, Duterte has obviously invented the story that gays in the NPA brought his son Baste to the woods to be subjected to kissing, mashing and other acts amounting to molestation.”
“There is a strict NPA rule of discipline against sexual molestation and taking sexual liberties against the will of others. It is up to the NPA command concerned to inform us how Baste was treated,” the exiled communist leader also said.
He added, “If indeed anyone in the NPA molested or took liberties with Baste, he or she would face disciplinary action, aside from experiencing the discomfort in discovering the truth of what Duterte had earlier said that he and Baste are congenital stinkers because the sewage system of their bodies cannot dispose of the waste of their food intakes and they suffer long periods of constipation.”
“The position of the CPP and the revolutionary movement has always been not to discriminate against women and the LGBT in the recruitment of fighters by the NPA,” Mr. Sison also said.
“The men, women and LGBT are qualified to become Red commanders and fighters so long as they are 18 years or older, and are able-bodied, have revolutionary commitment and are willing to undertake politico-military training, to do mass work and to fight the enemy with firearms.”