Stephen Paduano alias Carapali Lualhati yesterday insisted that his expulsion from the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa-Pilipinas and its Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade arm, was illegal and that he remains in control of the majority of their forces.

He also accused Nilo de la Cruz, RPM-P chairman, who announced his expulsion, of engaging in gun-for-hire activities and of numerous crimes. De la Cruz wanted to preempt the decisions on the cases he is facing within the movement, that it why he announced our expulsion, Paduano said.

However, Carlos Magtanggol, spokesman of the RPM-P/RPA-ABB yesterday said Paduano was diverting the issue away from the fact that the majority of the members of their central committee had expelled him from their party.

De la Cruz, on Tuesday, confirmed to the DAILY STAR that Paduano - national RPA-ABB commander, Veronica Tabara, alias "Inca" - RPM-P secretary general and Ariel Sabandar, alias "Suk", RPM-P Mindanao head, had been expelled from the movement in a party plenum in April.

All three were members of the 19-man RPM-P central committee, de la Cruz said. Sabandar was expelled much earlier by the Mindanao Party Committee because of corruption and sowing intrigues and disunity in the party and the decision was upheld at the RPM-P central committee plenum on April 16-19 that also rendered disciplinary action of expulsion on Tabara and Paduano, he said.

"The RPM-P decided to make public this internal problem of the party due to the publication in media outlets of the atrocities committed by Carapali that tended to suppress the true will of the people during the elections," de la Cruz said.

'IT'S NOT ILLEGAL' He also denied that the expulsion of Paduano was illegal, saying it is within the central committee's power to impose disciplinary actions, which include expelling erring party members, de la Cruz said.

Paduano does not have control over the majority of RPA-ABB Forces, he only has a presence in Negros Occidental, de la Cruz said.

We are in the process of informing members, including those in Negros Occidental, about the status of Paduano and the offenses he committed that led to his expulsion, de la Cruz said. Paduano said he is in control of the RPA-ABB in Negros, Antique, Aklan and some parts of Iloilo, and in other parts of the country, contrary to the claim of de la Cruz. Rest assured we are in tact, he said.

He said the regional and provincial leaders of the party are all with him, and they will continue to comply with the peace agreement with the government.

However, de la Cruz said that any activities carried out by Paduano are no longer in behalf of the RPM-P or the RPA-ABB.

Paduano, on the other hand, insisted he, Tabara and Sabandar remain members of the party.

THEY'RE GUNS FOR HIRE

It is de La Cruz and his companions who since the last quarter of last year have been faced with charges for engaging in activities as guns-for-hire and other illegal activities for the past three years, he said.

The de la Cruz group has been responsible for, among others the burning of an ABS-CBN van, the attempted liquidation of Batangas Gov. Arman Sanchez that left his bodyguard and driver dead, and the attempt on the life of Go Ting Kok - president of the Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association, Paduano said.

Paduano called on government investigators to finally resolve such cases.

De la Cruz called the allegations of Paduano against him lies, saying he is the one facing numerous cases.

We did not expect Paduano to immediately accept being expelled because he is "petty bourgeois and individualistic", de la Cruz said. Paduano, on the other hand, called dela Cruz an arrogant man who cannot accept dissent or the opinions of others.

'FIGHT FOR DIRTY MONEY'

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Negros in a statement issued by its secretary general, Felipe Levy Gelle Jr., said the fighting within the RPM-/RPA-ABB is over their shares of "dirty money they got from being armed goons of the despotic landlords or politicians."

"We cannot forget also how they become assassins to kill innocent civilians and organizers of the various people's organizations affiliated with the National Federation of Sugar Workers, Kilusang Mambubukid ng Pilipinas, Task Force Mapalad either on orders of the military or sugar barons that uses them," Bayan said.

"Everyone knows that Carapali Lualhati (is) now living in riches from the extort money he receives, while his soldiers wallow in poverty. This partly explains why some RPA units are engage(d) in robbery, extortions, other forms gangsterism or offered themselves as goons in service for landlords because the money was monopolized by Carapali," the Bayan statement said.

Recently the RPA-ABB was also pinpointed by the people as responsible for harassing the residents of Brgy. Tanza, EB Magalona, not to vote for defeated mayoralty Alfonso Gamboa, it added. "The RPA-ABB will disintegrate. That is the inevitable outcome of the infighting within the RPA-ABB," Bayan said.

But Magtanggol said the claims of Bayan were designed to destroy the RPA-ABB because the group is a known "tuta (lapdog) of Jose Ma. Sison (Communist Party of the Philippines)."

Ben Solilapsi, secretary of Alab Katipunan, said all the allegations of corruption against Paduano's group on the use of the peace fund are not true.

"This is a desperate move of Nilo de la Cruz and his cohorts to preempt their eventual expulsion from the RPM-P/RPA-ABB in the forthcoming national RPM-P Congress," he said.*CPG

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