Tabuk City, Kalinga – Former members of the Samahan ng Mag-aaral ng Kalinga (SAMAKA), an organization tagged by government authorities as ‘left-leaning’ group, has denounced the organization and its illegal activities through a manifesto signed Thursday, December 2, 2021.
Said organization was likewise declared as persona non grata at the Kalinga State University and in the province.
The manifesto was crafted as a result of the peace forum conducted through the joint efforts of the Philippine Army, Philippine National Police, Kalinga State University officials, the Department of Interior and Local Government- Kalinga, and the City Local Government Unit of Tabuk.
In an interview, Staff Sergeant Gilbert Tadiwan of the 503rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army welcomed the action of former members, saying it supports the fight against insurgency.
Tadiwan added that the manifesto signed is an assurance that former members have withdrawn their support from the said group which is affiliated with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
“They are activist as of now and not a communist, but kung maging radical activist na sila and they become NPA, it’s a big problem again, so inagapan natin yong possibility makarating sila sa puntong mag-armas na sila. SAMAKA is ... under the umbrella of CPP/NPA,” Tadiwan said, explaining that the intent of the army is to save the members from the influence of the communist group.
Aside from the manifesto, Tadiwan shared that monitoring shall be done ‘with the academe and LGU' to help the former members not to join anew in any left-leaning organizations.
“Bilang isa sa mga facilitator katuwang ang DILG, CLGU, PNP, 50lB, Religious sector at Academe pinapaabot po namin pasasalamat sa mga dating member, adviser ng SAMAKA dahil sa lakas loob nilang pagkalas sa kanilang organization,” Tadiwan further states.
Statement from a ‘former member’
In a statement, one of the former members ‘as listed’ said she was unaware that the organization is one of the underground organizations being used by the leftist group and that she just became a member of the group without her knowledge.
“Han ku ammu a member nak iti SAMAKA ken tattak lang nangngeg daytuy a SAMAKA ngem ti malagip ko lang, adda dagidiay seminar idi nga inat-attendarak ngem ti nangbaun met kinyami ket daytuy met lang school. Baka diyay ti nagbasaran da,” she said.
She added that when some personnel of the Philippine Army visited her, she was told that the list will be forwarded to the PNP if her name was not cleared, which was why she attended the peace forum held yesterday.
“Ken ti kunan da gamin kanyak idi dinmanun da a nu haan ma-clear ti nagan ko mai-forward ti names mi ti PNP. Ta isuda tun kanu met ti mapan mangdanun kanyak. So, nag sign nak dita a manifesto ta kayat kun a ma-clear ti nagan ko ken haan ko kayat a mai-connect ti nagan ko dita a SAMAKA,” she said.
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