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Curb the CPP-NPA?

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s pronouncements to curb the 37 years revolution waged by the Communist Party of the Philippines thru its armed wing, the New People’s Army, is highly questionable. It is a mere ploy to infuse support to a beleaguered regime brought about by instability in the ranks of the military as well as the unrelenting political and economic turmoil. On the other hand, GMA’s pronouncement will only lead to more human rights violations particularly summary executions.

International support for GMA’s administration continuously declines. Numerous international groups (human rights, environmental, indigenous peoples, journalist groups) have raised concern for the increasing human rights violations particularly the continued assassinations of political activists and journalists.

Locally, GMA has failed to curb the growing people’s dissent for the government’s inability to solve the economic crisis — the increasing cost of living and the declining income. Furthermore, political instability still hounds GMA — there is the threat of a new round of impeachment complaint and a very restive military, some of which have been vocal regarding their sentiments. Lastly, the religious sector is also critical of government.

And so, the declaration of an all out war (as if it’s new) and the additional one billion budget for insurgency is aimed to gain political support from businessmen, politicians and to unite the military in the hopes of tilting the political balance in favor of the GMA administration.

Furthermore, history will teach us that military means is not the solution to the CPP-NPA. Previous administrations (from Marcos to Estrada) tried but failed to suppress the CPP-NPA. In fact, it was during the intensified military operations under the dictator Ferdinand Marcos that the CPP-NPA reached its peak. Different strategies have been employed but have yielded the same result, the CPP-NPA remained and is growing.

Lastly, the implementation of Oplan Bantay Laya has only yielded to an increase in human rights violations and the murder of political activists simply because the government does not differentiate between the armed left (CPP-NPA) and the progressive, legal and unarmed leftist groups who have been advocating change through peaceful means. In the Ilocos and Cordillera alone, four political activists have been assassinated in the past 15 months. Furthermore, civilians have always been casualties in the unrelenting military operations and often times farmers have been tortured, killed on the assumption of being a NPA.

With the increased budget and without any change in government policies regarding leftist and progressive organizations, it will not be surprising that more assassinations will be implemented and a rise in human rights violations be recorded.

On the other hand, the unarmed, legal left and the people will not take this killing spree sitting down but will study their options. When the very existence is at stake, it is always an option to take up arms against a tyrannical, oppressive and illegitimate administration.#

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