Communism is so closely intertwined with poverty because by definition it is a social system that rewards you based on your needs (not success).
Notice how almost always the words communism and poverty/poor will always pop up in the same paragraph.
The question these activists should reflect on is this: are you communist because you’re poor, or are you poor because you’re communist?
Teddy Casino reportedly clarified that communist front organisations like Anakbayan recruit members to involve them in their activist campaigns supposedly related to student and national “issues”.
“Malinaw sa mga charters ng mga ‘yan ay ang nire-recruit nila ay mga kasapian nila para ipaglaban ang iba’t ibang isyung pang-estudyante at pambayan. Ngayon, if it so happens na ‘yung ilang kasapian nila ay nagdesisyon na magrebelde at mamundok, ibang usapin ‘yun,” he said.
…which leads one to wonder what exactly that “ibang usapan” means.
It is important to note that in nowhere in his statements does Casino categorically assert that (1) Anakbayan is not affiliated with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) or that (2) he denounces the activities of its terrorist arm, the New People’s Army (NPA).
Indeed, the key insight in this report on Casino’s statement is not what he said but what he didn’t say.
This, it seems is a communication trick he consistently applied not just in his press releases but also on social media…
Walang mali sa pagiging #Aktibista. Si Digong dating aktibista. Nanay niya aktibista rin. Ang mga aktibista naglilingkod sa masa at nagsusulong ng reporma sa lipunan.
— Teddy Casiño (@teddycasino) August 10, 2019
At some point, a truly switched on journalist should ask Casino all the right and all the confronting questions — and expect categorical answers.
In a recent tweet, Kabataan (Youth) Partylist Representative Sarah Elago clarified that she is not a member of the New People’s Army (NPA), the terrorist arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
Kabataan Partylist Representative ako, proud na kinatawan ng mga pag-asa ng bayan, hindi NPA. Usapang pangkapayaan ang aming sinusuportahan.
Translated to English:
“I am a member of the Kabataan Partylist, proud to embody the hope of the nation, not [a member of] the NPA. It is peace dialogue that we support.”
Well, that’s certainly on record now. Elago is “not NPA”, she says. Does that mean she is not a communist? Perhaps Elago needs to provide a full clarification of her overall leanings rather than serve her constituents piecemeal information. To put the whole question to rest, right?
Thing is, statements like these are off-the-hip reactions to memes about her circulating the Net. Much of what she does is merely react to “red tagging” and “fake news” as she does in this one…
ALERTO: HINDI PO SA AKIN GALING ANG PAHAYAG NA ITO! HINDI GALING SA KABATAAN ANG PHOTO QUOTE NA ITO!
Lumabas na ito noong Agosto 2018 matapos ang mga matagumpay na pagdiriwang natin ng Linggo ng Kabataan at International Youth Day. Lumabas na naman po ngayon mula… pic.twitter.com/mZ3xkACS0V
— Sarah Elago (@sarahelago) August 11, 2019
Elago really needs to get ahead of the curve rather than be a couple of steps behind chasing her tail and reacting to every piece of “fake news” that shows up on her little radar. There is a deeper strategic challenge she faces here — her reputation with the broader electorate which seems to be more like a crisis of credibility owing to a persistent perception that she is a communist.
Recent stories about parents losing their kids possibly to the terrorist New People’s Army (NPA) have prompted Filipinos to apply closer scrutiny to communist front organisations operating with impunity on university and high school campuses. Many fear that these organisations serve as recruitment agents supplying the NPA with young indoctrinated combatants and support personnel.
The plights of some of the parents of these lost youths were on exhibit in a recent Senate hearing…
Three of the missing were senior high school students of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, while one was from the Far Eastern University and one from the University of the East Manila. All of them are allegedly recruited by Anakbayan.
Jovita Antoniano said her Grade 11 daughter was an obedient and happy child before she joined the group. She said it has been a year since she lost communication with her daughter.
Under the spotlight is Kabataan Party-list Rep. Sarah Elago who was expected to show up in the hearing to help shed light on the matter.
“We were disappointed with the absence of Rep. Sarah Elago during the Senate hearing called by Senator (Ronald) dela Rosa. We wanted her to explain how her organization, as well as the other Kamatayan (Makabayan) bloc organizations mentioned by the crying parents like Bayan Muna, are being patriotic (Makabayan) by causing the disappearance of their children, who are supposed to be in school,” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Deputy Chief-of-Staff for Civil-Military Operations, Major Gen. Antonio Parlade, Jr., said in a statement sent to the Philippine News Agency Wednesday.
It is becoming increasingly evident that these are dangerous organisations that threaten the well-being of Filipino students. It is baffling, indeed, that they are allowed to continue to infest the campuses of institutions of learning and exploit the impressionable minds of young people.
Elago, for now, remains resolute in the righteousness of her “cause” and that of the militant communist front organisations she seemingly represents.
An attack against one of us is an attack against all of us! #StoptheAttacks #StandwiththeYouth #HandsOffSchools
— Sarah Elago (@sarahelago) August 8, 2019
It remains to be seen whether Elago will remain as cocky as she is now when more information about the shady operations of these organisations come to light.
It’s laughable how so-called investigative journalist Raissa Robles got triggered into ranting against an article about journalists. Robles still thinks she is God’s Gift to Journalism when in fact, her only motivation to write is to sell her books against Marcos and Martial Law.
Raissa Robles never criticised the Aquinos and their allies in any significant way. And yet here she is in typical form…
Hilarious 😜 when someone who has never practiced journalism a day in his life pontificates about "legitimate journalists" 😂🤣😉 For me a legitimate journalist is someone who throws tomatoes at the powers-that-be, constantly. 😎
— Raissa Robles (@raissawriter) August 3, 2019
Robles likely refers to is RJ Nieto’s maiden Manila Bulletin article “What, exactly, is a ‘legitimate journalist’?”. But her tweet only seeks to attack Nieto’s character rather than comment on his message.
For that matter, journalists are supposed to report the news, not “throw tomatoes” at the politicians they don’t like. For a so-called “investigative journalist”, most of Raissa’s articles are baseless and mere innuendoes.
Indeed, Robles’s articles are generally all about the “evils” of former President Ferdinand Marcos and the atrocities allegedly committed by the military. However, she never mentions the atrocities committed by the communists who wreaked havoc in Philippine society over a far longer stretch. They got away with their crimes in part because of writers like Robles who prefer to stick to their one-sided take on things.
Respected journalists like Jessica Soho, for example, remain objective even as they deliver confronting messages to their audience. Folks like that serve as an example of what journalism really is. Raissa Robles, on the other hand, brings nothing but shame to her profession.
It seems being an apologist for a terrorist enemy army such as the communist New People’s Army (NPA) has become not just an acceptable position to take in polite society, it’s also become fashionable amongst snowflake “activists” like Inday Espina Varona as she demonstrates in a tweet today…
Well, there you go. The tyrant Duterte has just confirmed the genuinely progressive character of the NPA 🙂 Saludo! The NPA does not discriminate and accepts LGBTQs into their ranks. It even recognises same-sex marriage. 🙂
Earlier, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte made crack about the NPA quippping that “40 percent” of them are gay. Whether he meant that in a bad or a good way, the leader of a nation at war holds license to call the enemies of his people any way he pleases.
The NPA are terrorists and enemies of the Filipino people. So as far most Filipinos are concerned, nobody really gives a shit how open their ranks are to gay people.
Back in the day the people of REAL NATIONS were ONE in demonising the enemies they are at WAR with.
There are worse words than “bakla” to to call an enemy army and worse ways to shape their images in the minds of a people at war.
For most Filipinos, that’s like asking if the Pope is Catholic. Or whether or not you need to be a lawyer to be Chief Justice.
There are enough historical accounts of Satur Ocampo’s links with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its terrorist arm the New People’s Army (NPA). A 1989 report on information obtained in the midst of internal strife within the CPP-NPA tagged Ocampo a “propagandist” of the outlawed group…
An internal report of the Communist Party’s annual Politburo meeting last March noted, for example, that “for the first time, in many places, there is a lack of people to hold the guns.”
The report, seized during the capture of NPA propagandist Satur Ocampo in July in Manila, complained that party membership fell by “several thousands” in 1988. “Whole guerrilla fronts have been lost because of the inadequacy of cadre, neglect of the mass base” and military “mistakes,” the report said.
Perhaps it is high time Satur Ocampo be recognised for what he was and what he likely still is. Filipinos should NEVER FORGET what he did.
