Many in the communist movement know or have heard of Elizabeth Pineda Principe. Especially those who were assigned to Isabela, Cagayan, and the area they call Far North Luzon.
Principe was a product of the 1970 First Quarter Storm (FQS), we presume, because of her age and her long years spent in the communist agrarian and proletarian struggles.
Witnesses and participants in the Communist Party-NPA trial of Danny Cordero, the NPA operative who confessed in throwing the grenade that marred the Plaza Miranda political extravaganza of the Liberal Party in 1971, say that Elizabeth Principe was one of the judges/ jury members who voted guilty in convicting Cordero of insubordination and trying to stage a coup inside the CPP leadership. Remember the charge, “Dakpin ang Sentro?”
In fact, a report from an eyewitness said Principe was the one who pulled the trigger releasing the bullet that killed Danny Cordero.
It was the first and only capital punishment meted out by the New People’s Army (NPA) on one of its own. (Well, at least, before the Operation Missing Link and Kampanyang Ahos with all the dirty fingerprints of Jose Ma. Sison all over them came around.
And also before the pretentiously-named Second Great Rectification Movement with its death sentences meted on Romulo Kintanar, Filemon Lagman, Ricardo Reyes and Benjamin de Vera.)
Yesterday, the Presidential Communication Office said the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) has named Elizabeth Pineda Principe, a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), as a terrorist. The fake “Makabayan” bloc will call this red-tagging.
Of course, we all know that, starting the day when Danny Cordero was killed.
In the seven-page Resolution No. 53, the ATC maintained the terrorist designations to the CPP-NPA as well as the Islamic State East Asia (ISEA) and other Daesh-linked, or associated groups in the Philippines.
The ATC resolution stated the council found probable cause to designate Principe as a terrorist individual “based on verified and validated information, sworn statements and pieces of evidence gathered by different Philippine law enforcement agencies and the military.”
The ATC added Principe, also known in various aliases, is designated terrorist for violating Republic Act 11479, or “The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020” particularly for committing terrorism; for planning, training, preparing, and facilitating the commission of terrorism; and for recruitment to and membership in a terrorist organization or groups organized for engaging terrorism.
A copy of the resolution, designating Elizabeth as a terrorist is available on the Official Gazette where details of her violations, how the ATC came up with the decision to designate her as a terrorist, and her other aliases or names were stated, among other information.
The ATC also issued Resolution No. 54, maintaining the terrorist designation of the CPP-NPA, or the “Bagong Hukbong Bayan” as a terrorist organization “as they continue to target government forces and sow terror and fear among the public” based on the 268 atrocities recorded from December 2020 to August 2023.
Among the grounds cited by the ATC in maintaining the terrorist organization to the CPP-NPA were the killing of national football athlete, Keith Absalon, who died in a roadside explosion caused by an improvised explosive device, and the attacks in Masbate that forced the suspension of classes in four towns.
The ATC also cited the 54 cases for violation of the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suspension Act of 2012 and the ATA, and 478 pending court cases, based on the data from the Philippine National Police as of December 31, 2023.
It is good that the Anti-Terrorism Council is finally doing its work, waking up from its long stupor.
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