Buencamino is a fellow of Action for Economic Reforms. This was published in the Business Mirror on August 27,2008, page A6.
Last week, newspapers reported a statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) calling “on the revolutionary forces under its leadership to give full support to the struggle of the Bangsamoro for national self-determination and the return of their ancestral lands.”
The CPP statement included marching orders to the New People’s Army (NPA):
“The CPP instructs the New People’s Army throughout the country to intensify tactical offensives against the fascist armed forces as a concrete step to support the resumption of the revolutionary armed struggle of the Bangsamoro as well as to take advantage of the present preoccupation of the enemy forces in fending off the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces.” (philippinerevolution.net)
Not surprisingly, the CPP was criticized and called Machiavellian. In response, Jose Maria Sison (Joma), who felt alluded to because he is the usual suspect in matters of this sort, came out with his usual “Who me?” rejoinder.
He said, “Contrary to the propaganda issued by the psywar experts of the Arroyo regime, I am not in any position to issue orders to the New People’s Army (NPA) to undertake tactical offensives in sympathy with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). My role as NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines) chief political consultant is assisting peace negotiations and not issuing military orders to the NPA.” (kilusan.net)
There is a famous saying that goes “Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”
I have a small mind. I have great difficulty separating people from ideas and ideals they spout. For example:
Suppose Joma’s communist party were to take over the country, would he still allow the MILF to secede?
If he will not permit outright secession, will he allow the establishment of an MILF ancestral domain with an autonomous government that can enter into treaties, have its own central bank, make its own economic development programs, and dispense justice under Sharia law through its own police force and army?
I asked those questions in a blog (uniffors.com) and one of Joma’s acolytes posted the following reply:
“The answer of the Left to that question is clear. We respect the right to secede from an oppressive State, just like what we have now. When the State is no longer oppressive, and when that State upholds the rights and the interests of the Moro, secession won’t be needed anymore.” (Translated from Pilipino)
Switik!
Anyway, like I said earlier, I have a small mind, I cannot debate with the indoctrinated so I’ll stick to personalities.
A man who calls himself Armando Liwanag chairs the Communist Party of the Philippines. He took over from an Amado Guerrero, also known as Jose Maria Sison.
I suspect Armando Liwanag, like Amado Guerrero, is a pseudonym of Jose Maria Sison. A former member of the underground assured me that it was. I asked him for proof.
The former rebel said, “I have no proof that Armando is not a real person but in all my years in the underground I never did nor did I run across anybody who actually saw, heard, smelled, tasted or touched him.”
He added, “Have you ever seen a picture or video or heard an audiotape of Joma and Armando together?”
My mind, however small, easily understood what my friend was getting at – either Armando Liwanag is Joma or a ghost chairs the CPP and gives orders to the NPA.
And so, if Joma and Armando are one and the same, what sort of person is he who uses one name to issue orders for tactical offensives against the State and another name to deny he ordered what he ordered? Should I even bother to listen to the ideas spewed forth by this two-faced excuse for a revolutionary?
My answer to my own questions is a quote from former US president Lyndon B. Johnson, “I may not know much, but I know the difference between chicken shit and chicken salad.”
And that’s why I find Joma unpalatable.