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Friday, March 29, 2024

Straight from the horse’s mouth

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"Here’s a piece of advice to our young people."

 

 

It seems the legal Left is losing its battle on the issue of red-tagging.

Three weeks ago, Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison issued a statement denying that he identified leftist organizations as communist fronts in a speech he delivered in 1988. But no less than a stalwart of the Makabayan bloc, former Rep. Teddy Casiño, has indirectly admitted that leftist organizations serve as a pool for recruitment for the underground Left, including its armed component—the New People’s Army.

Actually, Sison’s denial appears to be dubious in itself for the simple reason that it took him all of 32 years to correct himself and blame the military establishment for allegedly splicing the video to make it appear he is betraying his comrades.

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Anyway, back to Casiño. In the Senate hearing conducted early this week on the issue of red-tagging, the former solon was quoted saying “Their (NPA’s) first priority for recruitment would be precisely the activists.”

And that is on top of his declaration they don’t treat the NPAs as enemies.

Now, let’s get this straight. If Teddy is saying the activists serve as the recruitment ground of the NPAs, then where do we exactly find them? In the various activists’ organization—the leftist organizations.

Now, if these leftist organizations are indeed the recruitment ground of the CPP and the NPA, then it would be safe to assume there are underground elements embedded in those organizations (Just how can you recruit if you’re from the outside?). 

Ergo, if there are underground elements in those organizations, then it could easily suggest these groups serve as fronts for the underground Left. Which is basically the reason why Jose Pepe Goitia, secretary general of Liga Independencia Pilipinas, claims that these organizations, particularly the youth groups, echo the same seditious call of the underground Left.

According to Goitia, while freedom of speech is guaranteed to all citizens and that opinions expressed by the country’s youth should be welcomed and even encouraged as part of the national conversation as they are integral to nation building, a call to oust the president comes dangerously close to inciting to sedition. This is so if, particularly, it is purely in response to propaganda and half-truths propagated on social media by less-than-ethical politicians looking for media advantage for the coming elections.  

It proposes no real solutions to problems, real or imagined, about our government, Goitia says. Rather, it seems calculated and pushed by a minority out to regain power at all costs, which is exactly the program of the CPP and its armed component – the NPA.

Rather than calling for an investigation to establish the facts in these problems, which should be the case in a democratic set up, Goitia claims the action proposed defies and defeats democratic ideals. The ouster solution being proffered by these organizations echo the same propaganda line of the underground Left.

So, who is red-tagging these leftist organizations? No one but themselves. Casiño had laid the premises. The activists are bannering their underground counterpart’s propaganda line and program. They don’t treat the CPP and the NPA as enemies, which could be the reason why they celebrate their anniversaries. So, why accuse Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade of something they have been doing to themselves?

No amount of crocodile tears could deny the fact they are themselves to blame. There is one video even showing Kabataan Rep. Sarah Elago gracing a cultural activity organized to commemorate the anniversary of Kabataang Makabayan, the underground organization of the youth.

Another photo circulating shows Elago sporting a hammer and sickle bandana over her head, hiking in a mountainous trail beside someone who appears to be an activist who had “gone missing” after being recruited at the age of 16. 

It’s their words and action betraying them. And now they’re saying they fear for their lives because they are being linked to the underground Left. I still can’t reconcile.

Anyway, let me end this article with a piece of advice from Goitia, 

 “We call on our youth to participate in nation-building. Talk to us about solutions. Abandon the false ideals whispered to you by those who desperately need your numbers to bolster their rapidly diminishing support. 

“Stay in school. Learn more. Learn better. You will be better equipped to make meaningful change.  

“And you will be within the bounds of the law.”

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