By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
I was watching the SMNI television program, Laban Kasama ang Bayan, when Mayor Benjamin Magalong was first accused by the hosts, of being a traitor to the country by supposedly cavorting with the communist terrorists. It was during the campaign for the May, 2022 election. I was surprised of such accusations, to say the least.
Am not privy to much of Mayor Magalong’s exploits then as now but I know enough to believe that he is innocent of such imputations. If I had the phone numbers of the hosts, I would have reacted through text message.
I had observed Mayor Magalong in some of his campaign sorties before and as a mayor of Baguio City. Nothing that I saw could be used as a basis that could even remotely suggest he is one who they think he is.
When I became the General Manager of the Human Settlements Development Corporation and the operations manager of the Maharlika Livelihood Complex at the same time, I paid a courtesy call on him. He was so amiable, soft spoken, friendly, not suspicious, and no iota of superiority complex discernible in him. Such traits are diametrically opposed to those of the communist terrorists. I met him at least 3 more times later in his office, and at the Baguio Convention Center. The same characteristics were still in full display. As his wont to his visitors, he let me sit in his chair. But that is not as impressive as what one sees in his identification plate on top of his table. It says below his name, Public Servant, instead of the usual, Mayor.
The hosts of the above TV program were (and still are) Dr. Lorraine Badoy, a former undersecretary of DILG during the Duterte administration, and Jeffrey “Ka Eric” Celiz, a former high ranking communist cadre who had returned to the fold of the law a few years back. Badoy was a spokesperson for the National Task Force to end Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) while Ka Eric was a member of the National Organizing Committee of the communist movement. He was with the movement for over 25 years.
In their capacity as concerned private individuals, both Badoy and Celiz became the face of the fight against the CPP-NPA-NDF, identified by the government as a Communist Terrorist Group, when they became hosts of the TV program mentioned above.
This January 2023 or more than 6 months after they first mentioned Magalong as a “traitor”, they repeated the same allegations with greater emphasis. To add insult to the injury, a very popular head pastor, Apollo C. Quiboloy joined the charade and came out lambasting Mayor Magalong. The mayor chose not to dignify the first accusation even though it was made on national television (beamed internationally).
The second time around, the mayor did not let it pass anymore. It was time to set things straight. Mayor Magalong sent the hosts a letter debunking their accusations but mainly in general terms. The letter was flashed on screen and read in full in the program. Incredolously, the hosts were very skeptical. Badoy replied by reading a report by the NTF-ELCAC which literally casts aspersions on the perceived (wrongly, of course) turnabout of Magalong vis-à-vis the CTG. The letter, and the hosts were implying that the change was due to the politics of Magalong.
There you are. The basis of the accusations was the unfounded letter of the national task force. “Nakakalungkot”, to borrow the words of the mayor. Even the task force was remiss in their reporting. Obviously, they did not perform due diligence. Naturally, such kind of report will naturally mislead a lot of people on both sides of the fence. Had they made an extra mile in their investigation, they would have unearth the truth, the real truth.
They would have known that mayor Magalong actually declared members of the CTG persona non grata in Baguio. That mayor Magalong fought the CTG tooth and nail, during his combat operations Abra, Benguet, Davao, Apayao and other parts of Mindanao, and even wounded by them, during his combat operations. That some of his men and classmates died, feeling the anguish of their bereaving relatives, even crying with them. Said he “With those personal experiences and action, how could I ally myself with those terrorists who are opposed to my belief?”
He advised people, especially the hosts: “Build bridges, not burn them”
To the credit of the hosts, when they criticized the mayor, they said that he is always welcome in their program to clarify himself. What is unfortunate though is that their criticisms went overboard.
It took an interview by SMNI to ferret out the above truth. And for the hosts and Pastor Quiboloy to appreciate the unadulterated anti-CTG stance of the mayor.
I am a regular viewer of Laban Kasama ang Bayan since last year, whenever I am home and had no urgent matter to attend to. The hosts are so passionate about their similarly unadulterated determination to help end the national scourge of more than 50 years which is the CTG, borne out of their own experiences and what they grievously saw on the ground. I can say from watching them that their passion overwhelmed them in the case of mayor Magalong. It was a case of emotions overriding reasons. Fortunately in my view, that was only an aberration, an exception.
Salute to mayor Magalong for keeping his cool under attack which is a hallmark of a good soldier and a leader for good governance. But I also salute the hosts, Dr. Lorraine Badoy, Ka Eric and even Pastor Quiboloy for their very strong determination to end the communist armed conflict which has hampered the nation’s progress in the last 53 years. They gave unconditional apologies to Mayor Magalong on television.
Being once a member of the U.P. Los Banos student council, I can relate to their fight. I have known and experience a little about how good the CTG peddle lies to achieve their ends. **
