The Philippines’ little community of communists will have to decide who the bigger enemy is — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte or America. Looks like famed Filipino communist Renato Reyes already answered that question. Indeed, for years, Reyes and his comrades have been protesting the presence of US troops on Philippine soil. But now that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is threatening to cancel the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the United States, they still aren’t happy!
Communist apologists assert that the position they take on the matter of the controversial VFA is “ideological” in nature while, they claim, Duterte’s is a mere kneejerk response. It seems, however, that this ideological underpinning is out of step with what the majority perceive. This is evident in how the communists continue to lose credibility and political capital at a time when even the smallest gain in PR mileage is important to go up against a massively popular incumbent.
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It is actually strange that Reyes would take an antagonistic position on the matter considering that his comrades had long espoused independence from a former colonial master — a stand, interestingly enough, their nemesis Malacanang spokesman Salvador Panelo reportedly takes.
The United States “cannot dictate or bully us into releasing a citizen of this country who is lawfully detained,” Panelo said.
Indeed, one of the key aspects of the VFA that makes communists and the circle of “woke” Opposition partisans who selectively orbit them bristle is a clause that “allows the US government to retain jurisdiction over its military personnel accused of committing crimes in the Philippines.” This was a clause invoked recently in the arrest and detention of US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton in 2014.
Evidently, there is a root cause behind why Filipino communists struggle to capture the sentiments of voters. Indeed, they need to recognise that when one is up against a massively popular opponent, sticking to an obsolete approach to winning elections seems nothing short of political suicide. The success metric in a democracy, popularity, is straightforward as a means of measuring how effective a politician or party is at acquiring power. People can speak about ideology ’til the cows come home but, suffice to say, if it ain’t popular, you don’t win.
All this is in assuming that the communists’ plan to achieve their objectives involves working within the frame of the law. Big assumption right there. Communists have long sought to overthrow legitimate governments violently and install their so-called “dictatorship of the proletariat”. This objective is justified by the position they take that democracy is a flawed system that sustains a parasitical oligarch class. Fair enough. However, if these commies think democracy is flawed as a means to achieve what is “fair”, then they will have to decide whether to continue participating in it or engaging in their “revolution” instead. It is when they are seen to be doing both simultaneously, that they lose credibility.
Ultimately communists fail in making their message resonate with the Filipino public because of the inherent inconsistency of their belief system. With every ill-thought-out statement made by old-guard “thought leaders” like Renato Reyes, they lose their “fight” to achieve their dishonest objectives.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
LOL. Anything that makes Communists look like idiots is a good thing, surely?
I’m just astounded that Communism is such a persistent ideology here, despite its obvious failings across the entire planet. It seems a lot of Filipinos never seem to lose hope that there really IS such a thing as a free lunch.
The “communists” here do not want communism. They are here to destabilize and demoralize the country which has been their mission from 40 years ago.
Indeed. But somehow there are still a lot of ordinary Pinoys who don’t realise that.
Communism will persist in the country for as long as these Lazy bones keep romanticizing about being “heroes of the resistance/rebellion/revolution”.
For these folks, Communism is also a worthwhile viable “business” based on the proven extortion model, while getting validation from the masses by portraying a pro-poor Robin Hood image.
This comic Reyes guy in the meantime is an example of a pathetic attempt to stay relevant under an already left-leaning pro-proletariat regime. He is simply opening his mouth not because he has something to say, but because he needs to say something (lest they drift into the foggy land of obsolescence and obscurity).
Under the Duterte admin, much has been done for this disgruntled lot:
1. Free tuition- yet UP commie students are still anti-government
2. clashing with oligarchs/media – communists not impressed
3. threatening to remove VFA – Reyes still not satisfied
The only thing that they will settle for is early pension/retirement at age 25 complete with libre pabahay, pakotse, wifi, Disney vacation, health care and life insurance – all at government or Henry Sy’s expense because “the Filipino is worth spending all your money for” – so they can continue unfettered in their glorious campaign to demolish the government!
Good luck with that!
Communism, whatever its kind, is a failed ideology…the concept of Marx and Engel of “workers’ paradise” is simply a myth, and did not work. Soviet Union, now Russia , consists of communist states. The communist experiment, simply did not work. It had produced : state slavery; Russian gulags ( labor camps); mass murdering dictators like Joseph Stalin.; incompetent communist officials; politboro oligarchy; and all kinds of evils…
Communist China ideology under Mao Tse Tung did not work. The regime produced : famines, political persecutions; unending conflicts and revolutions; political unstability …China switched to being capitalistic, and it became an economic miracle.
Vietnam is the same…it switched to capitalism…and is now more progressive than us…
Cambodia, with the Khmer Rouge, produced the “Killing Fields”, under the regime of Pol Pot…the mass murder of intellectuals, educated people , rich people, and other kinds of perceived evil people. People were just massacred for no reason at all. Cambodia is now a capitalist country, it is progressive.
In our country, the Communist Party of the Philippines is headed, by Jose Maria Sison. A sort of communist titular head, who live in luxurious condition in Amsterdam, Netherland. Its army, the New Peoples’ Army was founded by Ninoy Aquino , Jr., a feudal oligarch politician.
The commes are now participating in the legislative process in Congress…funding their armed struggles with our tax money. How stupid can you get ? They also involve in collecting “revolutionary taxes” on businesses, rich people and commercial establishments…
The Communist Party of the Philippines has turned into a “Mafia like Entity”, that involved in : protection racket; extortion; murder for hire; prostitution; drug dealing ; etc…
They can switch their alliances to anyone, including the Devil, itself…if it serves their purpose. Some of the Roman Catholic Church , “Liberation Theology” nuns , priests and bishops are supporters of the New Peoples’ Army. …Some of the
feudal oligarchs are supporters of the New Peoples’ Army. And some of the politicians are secret supporters of the New Peoples’ Army…in order to get elected…
Communism is simply an obsolete, stinking ideology …use your brain and common sense to think clearly what these people are offering to you !
In what he did, Reyes proved that he doesn’t really stand for anything. He just thrives on hating certain people and schmoozes up with bigwigs he likes, lol.