Demand to punish graft, don't sabotage community services, Anakbayan told

MANILA — A former Anakbayan member, who later became a guerilla fighter in Southern Tagalog, called out his former national democratic organization in denouncing the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) by vilifying the gains of the Barangay Development Program (BDP).   

“BDP should be seen as an investment in our barangays, not as corruption. In reality, these projects are sustained and even driven by the people themselves in their communities,” says Ka Kim, who left the armed struggle of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front of the Philippines in late 2023 .

Ka Kim says former rebels like him want serious audits and consequences for wrongdoing in government. But he also urges scrutiny of organizations that, in his personal experience, exploit corruption narratives to radicalize. 

“If Anakbayan truly wanted to address the roots of armed struggle, why discredit a program that empowers communities after years of violence and neglect?" Ka Kim asks.

"In the end, it is not really about demanding accountability," Ka Kim says. It is about vilifying a program and a government agency that have quashed the armed insurgency of the CPP-NPA." 

As someone who once organized for Anakbayan, he adds that hot-button issues like corruption and militarization were often used to stir the youth toward the belief that armed struggle is the only solution, instead of helping fix services on the ground.

"Without these programs, far-flung barangays remain vulnerable to CPP-NPA influence. Is that what Anakbayan wants—to keep communities weak, abandoned, and ripe for recruitment? If that is their so-called ‘solution’ to armed conflict, then it’s no solution at all,” he says.

‘Accountability on both fronts’

"The problem with our old organization is that, when called out for espousing violent radicalism as the only way to solve the problems of Philippine society, they automatically cry out 'red-tagging,'" Ka Kim reflects.

He also said that objectively seeing the BDP, particularly its strengths and not just focusing on aspects to improve on, is neither a defense of the NTF-ELCAC nor an attempt to excuse corruption in government. "We former rebels want full accountability in public spending, in the same manner that we want accountability from groups that use corruption issues to recruit for the CPP–NPA–NDFP."

In its recent  statement, Anakbayan said, “NTF-ELCAC is riding on the corruption issue not to demand accountability, but rather to advance their red-tagging agenda.” The group further branded the task force as “one of the main culprits of corruption in the government, and of terror in the communities,” and called the BDP “bogus,” alleging it is a channel for kickbacks and state terror.

Ka Kim remembers that when the BDP first rolled out in the areas where their NPA unit operated, community sentiment shifted. “We felt its impact on the ground. Communities that once openly welcomed us began to turn away, and it became harder to mobilize the masses,” he recalled.

A former enemy's POV: What the BDP is (and isn’t)

In his experience, Ka Kim describes BDP as a post-clearance package of basic services such as schools, health stations, roads, and livelihood intended to prevent the return of insurgent influence. 

“Declaring a barangay ‘cleared’ from the NPA doesn’t mean the threat is gone forever. What truly prevents the return of the CPP-NPA is sustained social investment in education, health, infrastructure, and economic support. With these areas cleared, services can now reach communities without being sabotaged by the CPP–NPA and its local machinery,” he says.

Ka Kim and other former rebels' message is plain. "We need to demand audit of government funds and punish theft, but don’t sabotage services that communities themselves help sustain." He argues that genuine, sustained delivery of basic services blunts recruitment and gives families a reason to choose peaceful change over armed struggle. "For many barangays, it continues to be a real sign that the government cares.... not to terrorize them, but to finally bring peace and development where insurgency once thrived,"

In his words, the goal is not to shield any agency from scrutiny. It is to hold everyone to account, including groups that, he says, use the language of anti-corruption to pull young people into a war instead of solving the problems they face every day.