BACOLOD CITY - A top official of the Philippine Army in Negros Island has urged candidates in the May 9 national and local elections to reject the extortion demands of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) during the campaign period.

Brig. Gen. Inocencio Pasaporte, commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade based in Murcia, Negros Occidental, said on Monday that Sunday's attack on the police officers in Binalbagan town seems to indicate that the communist terrorists want to make their presence felt.

"They want to impress on the public and the candidates that they still exist, that they are still a force to reckon. However, we can see they only have minimal force. They don't even want to face our troops on the ground," Pasaporte said in a radio interview.

He added that the NPA apparently wants to pressure candidates in certain areas to give in to their demands through the incident.

Based on their usual practice, the NPA would send extortion letters to candidates to demand cash in exchange for the so-called "permit to campaign".

On Sunday morning, Lt. Charles Richard Casalan, the station's deputy chief of police, and Cpl. Julius Tranquillero were injured when the NPA rebels set off an anti-personnel mine along the roadside in Barangay Bi-ao on their way to respond to a call for police assistance.

Shots were fired at the policemen and when they fired back, the explosion came.

Hours after the incident, Brig. Gen. Flynn Dongbo, director of Police Regional Office-Western Visayas, condemned what he calls a "treacherous act" of the CPP-NPA in detonating the land mine aimed at the policemen.

The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

The National Democratic Front has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as "an integral and inseparable part" of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973. (PNA)