ABANTE

Here's a message circulating in cyber space. It looks like it will get worse before it gets better.

By Elaine Monteclaro:
28 March 2012

ALLIANCE OF BUSINESSMEN AGAINST NPA TERRORISM AND EXTORTION (ABANTE)

DECLARATION OF WAR

We are a group of concerned businessmen based in Southern Philippines who are alarmed by the continuous and unabated atrocities, harassments, terroristic and extortion activities of the Maoist New People’s Army (NPA) directed against our group. We are appalled to see and hear one crime after another committed against our sector by the murderous Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front or CPP-NPA-NDF.

We are God-fearing, peace-loving members of the society, who conduct our business with utmost regard for the welfare of our fellow-Filipinos whom we shared our dreams of better life for all. We also constantly hope that one day soon, all the inequities of society will disappear and prosperity can be felt by most if not all through hard work, faith and perseverance.

We hold ourselves partly to be blamed for the continued terrorism and extortion perpetrated by the CPP-NPA-NDF as we naively acceded to the extortion operation of their coercive force – the NPAs in the past, thinking wrongly that it will be more harmful for our business and family if we ignore their incessant demands for funds or material support.

We acknowledge that our Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police cannot protect us all at all times from the anonymous CPP-NPA-NDF and their allies who sweet-talk us into acceding to their extortion plea under the guise of revolutionary taxation.

We have suffered in silence as we are consumed by cold fear. But lately, we have reached our threshold of fortitude. We can no longer remain passive against the abuses and excesses of the CPP-NPA-NDF perpetrated through the years. We resolved that we cannot forever be coerced and perpetually fearful of the CPP-NPA-NDF’s ubiquitous presence and intimidation tactics.

Therefore, we clandestinely banded together and formed an alliance. We call ourselves the ALLIANCE OF BUSINESSMEN AGAINST NPA TERRORISMAND EXTORTION – ABANTE for short.

Just like the CPP-NPA-NDF with their cold-blooded murderers in the NPA and their duplicitous supporters in the legal front who greatly benefit from latter’s extortion operation, members of ABANTE also decide to remain anonymous. The reason being is that we declare war against them!

To start with, we resolve that instead of allowing ourselves to be extorted and coerced by the NPAs and their allies - we will now provide reward money for anyone who KILLS abusive NPA leaders and members in Southern Mindanao.

We will hold our reward operation with utmost confidentiality and we will see to it that whoever answers this call, state forces or private individuals, the reward money will be delivered to you or your group the soonest possible time after the hit. We will devise a way to communicate with private bounty hunters so that their accomplishments will be paid for expeditiously. Although we do not set a price tag for enemy targets, we consider however that CPP-NPA-NDF leaders and their duplicitous legal front officers command a more expensive price than ordinary NPA combatants.

THIS MEANS WAR and our group ABANTE will pursue this to the very end until the last man standing.

GOD BE WITH US