FIFTY-SIX years and four days after, I believe we can safely say that all fronts of this irritation have finally been cleansed and neutralized except for a very noisy one developing in the House of Representatives.
We’re talking about the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), a far-left, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist revolutionary organization formed by Jose Maria Sison on December 26, 1968.
At the time of its inception, the government automatically outlawed the CPP through the Anti-Subversion Act of 1957 or Republic Act 1700.
The CPP / New People’s Army (NPA) / National Democratic Front (NDF) are designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the United States’ Department of State and the European Union.
According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook, the CPP/NPA/NDF aims to destabilize the Philippine economy and overthrow the national government.
President Rodrigo Duterte issued a proclamation declaring the CPP and its armed wing, the NPA, as terrorist organizations. The proclamation was made on the basis of the Human Security Act and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act, or Republic Act No. 10168.
The Department of Interior and Local Government said 1,546 or 90.1% of the total 1,715 local government units (LGUs) nationwide and majority of the regions have declared the CPP/NPA/NDF persona non grata.
In 2019, the Duterte administration unilaterally declared the end of peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NDFP, focusing instead on their counter-insurgency program what it terms as a “whole-of-nation” approach, eventually creating the very successful National Task Force to End Local Communists Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
Here’s a cruel joke that happened either out of stupidity or naïve noble intentions: The Anti-Subversion Act of 1957 was repealed by President Fidel Ramos in October 1992, decriminalizing membership in the CPP and NPA
Take note that being communist per se is no longer illegal, but destabilizing and overthrowing the legitimate Philippine government is, hence the state has a right to defend itself against these forces.
The funny thing is that almost all-card bearing communists in the Philippines are hell-bent to overthrow the government and when the authorities identify them as such i.e. terrorists, they resort to that “victim card” they conjured out of thin air called “red tagging”.
Hilarious, isn’t it? These pseudo-communists are terrified to be identified as such when being card-bearing communists in the Philippines are about on the same level as being members of the Nora Aunor or Vilma Santos fans club.
Of course, it’s the ulterior motive that makes the difference between “Noranians” and Pinoy communists, the latter want to overthrow the government while the former just want to worship Nora Aunor.
Moving on, the revolution will not be televised as it has failed, this 56-year-old irritant is on its final death throes.
Founder and demi-god Joma Sison died of COVID while partying in the Netherlands, likewise all their leaders are either dead mostly from successful AFP operations or octogenarians more concerned with maintenance medication and adult diapers than running a revolution.
On the local front, CPP/NPA/NDF leaders i.e. Concha Araneta Bocala and Tomas Dominado are either dead or neutralized.
The CPP/NPA/NDF are running around like a headless chicken. The so-called red fighters are sickly and starving in the hinterlands. With their ideology no longer able to sustain them, they turn to banditry or surrender in droves to the AFP.
All the guerrilla fronts are neutralized and dismantled, save for one developing in the House of Representatives. The CPP/NPA/NDF has shifted its focus from armed struggle to parliamentary struggle with the Makabayan bloc aligning with the Ayuda bloc in Congress, meaning they’re no longer in the rural areas but in urban centers. These communist party-lists in Congress are using government resources to undermine the government, while generating billions of monies from government funds.
Quite ironic, a lot of provinces, cities and municipalities have been declared insurgency/NPA-free. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for the House of Representatives. Joma Sison must be smiling in his grave./PN
