Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has pledged to investigate allegations that Kabataan party-list Representative Raoul Manuel is affiliated with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). This claim, presented by former communists during a Senate hearing, has been refuted by the Kabataan party-list as baseless and recycled.
Arian Jane Ramos, a former chairperson of Gabriela Youth-UP in Mindanao, testified that Manuel was a CPP recruiter. Kate Raca, another witness, accused Manuel of orchestrating recruitment for the CPP and the New People’s Army (NPA) during his tenure as UP student regent. Dela Rosa, visibly irate, criticized Manuel for undermining the government and supporting an International Criminal Court investigation against him. The senator vowed to utilize his parliamentary powers to “pin down” Manuel.
Kabataan party-list has denied these accusations, labeling them as unfounded and politically motivated, intended to discredit a critical youth representative and as retribution for supporting the ICC probe. This isn’t the first clash between Dela Rosa and Manuel; they previously sparred over the proposed ROTC bill in 2019. Meanwhile, the Philippine government and the NDFP have agreed to resume peace talks to resolve a long-standing insurgency.