HERE WE go again. It looks like the so-called “useful idiots” at the University of the Philippines, the University of Santo Tomas, and other schools are once again trying to outdo one another in militancy, parroting the same tired, boring, and increasingly irrelevant slogans. The ulterior motive, of course, is to breathe life into an already moribund insurgency.
Contrary to popular belief, the root cause of the insurgency problem is not the government’s alleged failure to provide basic social services and livelihood opportunities in far-flung barangays. These concerns have, in fact, been addressed through the Whole-of-Nation Approach and the Barangay Development Program of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), despite persistent efforts by the so-called Makabayan bloc and its allies in Congress to defund this crucial task force.
What continues to fuel the insurgency are misguided and restless young people who fancy themselves “woke” on university and college campuses. Lacking direction in life yet bursting with hormones, they are manipulated by aging professors into acting out revolutionary fantasies and embracing an obsolete and increasingly irrelevant ideology: communism. It is an ideology long rejected even by the country that once championed it, which has since embraced many elements of capitalism.
And let’s talk about the latest tantrums of the “useful idiots” at the University of Santo Tomas. Recently, Thomasian student activists protested against an “educational display” conducted by the Philippine Air Force in collaboration with UST as part of the Air Force’s anniversary activities.
The “student activists” were led by a certain Raven Racelis of the Kabataan party-list. She claimed that students were being exposed to the very same weapons supposedly used to terrorize the countryside. Despite the exhibitors’ invitation for students to ask questions, Racelis went into a full-fledged, hysterical tantrum, shouting in a shrill voice at the Philippine Air Force personnel manning the exhibits.
This display of childish tantrums left the Philippine Air Force personnel involved in the exhibit with little choice but to file administrative complaints, which were promptly acted upon by the university administration.
Of course, the usual defense from the usual suspects is the classic cry of “red-tagging” — a catch-all defense whenever these pseudo-communists get into a confrontation with government security forces or are identified as militant subversives allegedly plotting to overthrow the state through armed conflict. In other words, it has become their version of the “victim card.”
“Red-tagging,” to them, has become a convenient phrase used to dismiss accusations and portray themselves as victims whenever their affiliations, activities, or rhetoric come under scrutiny.
While we’re on the subject, we might as well add “KORNBIP,” a playful Filipino slang term used online mainly to mock the usual suspects — leftists, pseudo-communists, and “useful idiots.”
Moving on — now they are calling them “development workers.” Really, how quaint. Usually, they are labeled “cultural workers” or “researchers.” One wonders what they will come up with next — hopefully something creative and not quite as predictable.
Meanwhile, the University of the Philippines recently held its 43rd student regent elections. I will no longer mention who won because, as far as I am concerned, they all appear cut from the same ideological cloth — pseudo-communists who could eventually become yet another “useful idiot” or CPP-NPA-NDF cannon fodder.
What I find rather interesting are the campaign platforms of the candidates. They seem to have been copied and pasted from some quaint First Quarter Storm playbook belonging to an aging professor still dreaming of his youth as a revolutionary.
Here are some of the usual tired and predictable platforms: no to the militarization of UP, no to fascism, no to ROTC, and, of course, no to “red-tagging.” Then there is the latest addition: “Free Palestine.” Really, how utterly stupid.
For decades, recruitment and facilitation networks linked to the CPP-NPA-NDF have relied on narratives that romanticize armed struggle while deliberately downplaying its human cost.
It is rather pathetic that these “useful idiots” find it trendy and fashionable to support insurgents, seemingly unaware that the democratic space they enjoy today — and the lifestyle that comes with it — would vanish the moment the CPP-NPA-NDF gains control of the country.
As long as these pseudo-communist groups are allowed to roam freely on university and school campuses, the kids are not alright./PN
