An old photo of members of the New People’s Army has been manipulated to imply that the revolutionary group is already thinking of surrendering to authorities following the death of Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairperson Jose Maria “Joma” Sison.
In the Dec. 18 post of Facebook page Quiet No More PH, speech bubbles and text were inserted in the photo, where three NPA rebels are seen reading an edited Manila Bulletin article bearing the passing of Sison, accompanied by a caption encouraging the guerillas to concede.
A reverse image search showed that the original photo was used by Business Mirror in an article published on Nov. 23, 2016.
The NPA members, stationed in a guerilla encampment in Sierra Madre, were actually reading an issue of Pinoy Weekly. The caption read:
In this November 23, 2016, file photo, members of the New People’s Army read a local paper at their guerrilla encampment tucked in the Sierra Madre Mountains southeast of Manila.
But the doctored photo was captioned:
Ano pa inaantay ninyo mga kapatid tamang tama sa kapaskohan ang makapiling ang inyong mga mahal sa buhay ano pang silbi ng kilusan ninyo ngayun? ihh sinundo na si satanas si Joma Sison mula noon hindi pa nanalo mga pinaglalaban ninyo kaya sumuko na at mag balik na sa pamahalaan at mabuhay ng payapa at kompletong salubungin ang kapaskohan (What are you waiting for, siblings? It’s only fitting to be with your loved ones this Christmas. What is the essence of your movement now? Satan already took Joma Sison. Even before, what you’re fighting for never succeeded, so better surrender to the government and live peacefully and welcome Christmas with a complete family).
The CPP Central Committee said in a statement the party and its armed wing have no plans of declaring a ceasefire during the holidays. The statement read:
As we join the people in solidarity with their holidays and in marking the 54th anniversary of the Party on December 26, and even as we mourn the recent passing away of our beloved comrade Jose Ma. Sison, the NPA is authorized to launch tactical offensives against the fascist enemy of the people.
Quiet No More PH’s post has garnered 81 reactions, seven comments and 31 shares as of writing. Created in July 2018, the page has gained around 7,800 likes and 11,000 followers. (LB)