MANILA - The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) on Thursday denied that Aksyon Demokratiko’s standard bearer Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso is a communist.

In a statement, NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison said the claim that Domagoso is a communist is a brazen lie and unfair and unjust to both the Manila Mayor who denies being a communist, and to the Communist Party of the Philippines “which has a high ideological, political and organizational standard for membership.”

“Let us respect Isko’s declaration that he is not a communist because in the first place he is not qualified to be one. We should look at him as a high bureaucrat capitalist dedicated to preserving the present anti-national and anti-democratic ruling system and serving the exploitative interests of foreign monopolists, big compradors and landlords, unless he becomes enlightened and proves himself otherwise,” Sison said in a statement.

• 'I believe in democracy': Isko Moreno denies alleged communist ties

Domagoso on Wednesday denied that he is a supporter of the communist movement after his pictures with Sison surfaced online.

Domagoso said his picture with Sison, who has sought refuge in the Netherlands, was taken when he worked as an observer in peace talks between the government panel and communist rebels.

Sison said Domagoso does not become a communist by merely having a photo-op with him during the course of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations.

“As of now, Isko is far beyond the integrity, calibre and dignity of the great anti-imperialist patriots and democrats like Claro Mayo Recto, Lorenzo Tañada and Jose W. Diokno who upheld their patriotic and progressive principles and who did not have to attack the Communist Party to prove that they were not communists,” said Sison.

Domagoso said he does not support the communist ideology and he "believes in democracy, in equal opportunity."

Domagoso has filed his certificate of candidacy to run as president in the 2022 elections. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) counted 97 aspirants for President, 20 for Vice President, 176 for the Senate and 270 nominee for sectoral representation after the period of filing ended.

“The quality of the current presidential candidates can be determined by how much they expose and oppose the Duterte regime’s crimes of treason, tyranny, state terrorism, mass murder and plunder; and the rapid deterioration and worsening of the socioeconomic, political and health crisis as a result of wrong policies, bureaucratic corruption, military overspending and other anti-people transgressions,” said Sison.

Sison said the public “demand full national independence, genuine democracy, social justice, economic development through genuine land reform and national industrialization, expansion of social services, a national, scientific and mass-oriented culture and independent foreign policy.”

Sison said it would be helpful to have a broad united front to counter what he said was Duterte’s “scheme of rigging the 2022 elections or even postponing it.”