There is absolutely no truth to the false information irresponsibly being circulated by the AFP that members of the NPA took away distributed relief goods in some villages in Balangiga, Samar. Even the local barangay captain and police officers interviewed by the media deny that there were such incidents in their areas. This false information is being circulated by government broadcast media and websites.

It is despicable and condemnable how the AFP has resorted to outright lies and perverse propaganda at a time that the Filipino people are confronted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The AFP desperately wants to discredit the NPA’s public health campaign to raise people’s awareness and enable them to adapt the necessary measures to prevent the spread of the Covid-19. The NPA’s information drive, mass clinics, and other activities are well received by the masses, especially in the rural areas. There are also efforts to raise food production to prepare for an imminent shortage.

We anticipate the AFP to come up with more lies against the NPA in the days to come. The objective is to justify its counterinsurgency drive relentlessly carried out despite Duterte’s ceasefire.