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Against the caricature of the Philippine Left as a
terrorist group is the reputation among the international NGO
community, in the words of Prof. Roland Simbulan, of the Philippines
as “a superpower when it comes to social movements because of the
painstaking political work of the Left.”
In his paper, “The Future of
the Philippine Left,” Simbulan believes that “the true parent of
people power is the Philippine Left.” He chronicles how the Left
has developed people’s movements and NGOs which are “playing a
role in the human development discourse—both locally and
internationally—and in social transformations that are taking
place in economically and politically empowered communities.”
These people’s movements and
NGOs have challenged neo-liberal globalization policies and helped
build international solidarity alliances to counter “unbridled
corporate power.” Simbulan also cites the work of international
peace missions in reporting events in militarized local areas and
making them known to the public, here and abroad.
The Palace and the US-trained
military leadership, however, think that the Left “insurgency”
would be crushed by 2010. But Chief Justice Reynato Puno believes
otherwise. As reported by Leila Salaveria of the Philippine Daily
Inquirer, Puno says that this preoccupation of President Arroyo
“with wiping out the decades old communist insurgency by the end
of her term in 2010 could fuel human rights violations.”
From the start of her regime,
some 850 reported cases of extrajudicial killings and forced
disappearances have been documented by the human rights group
Karapatan and given credence in various reports like those of
Amnesty International, the Melo Commission and UN rapporteur Philip
Alston.
Puno shares the common knowledge
that the left insurgency has “deep social, political and economic
roots and therefore should be holistically solved not only by the
military and police but all agencies of government, as well as by
the NGOs with advocacies relevant to this problem.”
The suspended peace talks between
the GRP and the National Democratic Front, if resumed, would have
tackled socio-economic and political reforms, a permanent ceasefire
and the disposition of armed forces. But the Arroyo government
continues with the failed policy of a military solution.
A useful side reading here would
be the book Oligarchic Politics published by the Center for People
Empowerment and Governance focusing on the new politics or politics
of change of the progressive party-list groups and how the regime
tries to hobble this counter-hegemonic bloc. As it is, the
Constitution and its enabling act limit party-list representation to
20 per cent of Congress and allocation of members from leading
groups like Bayan Muna. Progressive party-list representatives have
been harassed anew with trumped-up criminal charges and threats of
assassination.
Most of the victims of human
rights violations in the present regime are members of progressive
party-list groups and people’s organizations included in the
military “order of battle”—reminiscent of the US-created
Phoenix project to eliminate through death squads leaders of the
Vietnamese resistance. OPLAN Bantay Laya I and II are local examples
of this anti-Left project. The Visiting Forces Agreement has
facilitated the entry of Phoenix-type operators in the “war on
terror” in this country.
As Simbulan puts it, “the
organized power of the Left especially of farmers and workers are
most vulnerable to the coercive forces of the State and the
oligarchy’s private armies to decimate these organizations.”
Hence, the Left’s need for a
self-defense force like a people’s army in deterring “the
violence of private armies, goons, and the armed forces of the
state.” The suspended peace talks are intended to put an end to
armed conflict brought about by State attempts to suppress the
people’s desire for social justice, democracy, and national
sovereignty.
The professor says the Left’s
emphasis has always been on political struggle towards empowering
the people. He believes that “for as long as oppression and
exploitation exists, the Left will persist—in various forms of
struggle—to challenge the oppressors and to continue to touch our
conscience.”
He looks forward to all Left
forces gathering to “unite around a national development agenda
for the people’s welfare and overcome sectarianism” so they can
“strategically share or even gain power like their counterparts in
Latin America, Japan and Europe.” Add Nepal to this list.
If the State is sincere in
achieving peace through negotiations it should resume the talks and
adhere to already agreed upon protocols like those on human rights
and safety guarantees for negotiators and resource persons. But will
the ruling elites, the US and local cold warriors allow this?
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