MANILA—Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio urged the public not to support leftist party-list groups, after Bayan Muna topped a recent survey by Pulse Asia.

A survey in March showed that 4 groups secured more than 2-percent voter preference.

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At the top spot with a preference rating of 8.5 percent is Bayan Muna, which has criticized several policies of President Rodrigo Duterte, including his anti-narcotics crackdown, suspension of peace talks with communist rebels, and loans from China.

In a text message, Duterte-Carpio told ABS-CBN News that the public “should not support the party-list groups, which do not support the government.”

“Pansarili nilang agenda ang tinutulak nila. At marami d’yan sa Makabayan party-lists nagbibigay ng resources sa mga CPP-NPA na lumalaban naman sa gobyerno,” she said.

(They are only pushing for their personal interests. Makabayan party-list groups give resources to CPP-NPA which is fighting the government.)

Makabayan is a bloc of leftist groups in the House of Representatives. Its prominent members include party-list groups Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Kabataan, Anakpawis, Migrante, and Alliance of Concerned Teachers.

Duterte-Carpio had previously lashed out at these groups after militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno created a roadblock in Davao City in October 2018 during a protest rally.

She had also called on Congress to expel members of Makabayan bloc at the House of Representatives, saying it has become “the milking cow of terrorists.”

The Davao City mayor had earlier pursued localized peace talks with communist rebels, but she abandoned this eventually as the relations between the left and the national government led by her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, deteriorated.