The government just captured husband and wife Benito and Wilma Tiamzon. Benito, according to the government, is chairman of the CPP/NPA while Wilma is the secretary general. This must be an interesting time for the government. The CPP/NPA’s struggle to wrestle control of the Filipino people has lasted about half a century.
Are we about to end this struggle which has cost so many lives, both combatants and non-combatants alike? I hope it will, but if not, I would not be surprised. There is more to winning the fight against the CPP/NPA than just taking its leaders.
Last month an interesting Facebook post landed in my account. It came with an article which analyzed the situation in Ukraine and condemns trouble-making by the US and European Union. It was very interesting to me because of its author – Professor Jose Maria Sison, chairman of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) and former head if not one of the top leaders of the CPP.
As we all know, Sison is based in The Hague in Netherlands. Despite the distance, he still has influence on the CPP/NPA which has been a great pain in the neck to Philippine presidents since the 1960s.
After reading the article I simply made this comment: “So.” Which I addressed more to myself than to the writer.
In less than an hour, I had this reply from Joma:
“The ILPS sides with the Ukrainian people, both Russian-speaking and Ukrainian-speaking. Unfortunately, in the meantime, the most effective contenders for power are the pro-Russia big bourgeoisie and the pro-Western big bourgeoisie. May in the long run the proletariat and people prevail in a revolutionary process as further disasters and struggles are still ahead.”
Intrigued by his response and wanting to know more about his present thoughts, I asked, “Presently, who might be called the proletariats?”
Joma replied, “As a socio-economic class, they encompass the industrial and farm workers. But there is not a strong working class party that is in the revolutionary interest of the class, in view of the long discredit of the communist party by modern revisionism which led to the full restoration of capitalism. But you can hope that there will be better revolutionary times for the proletariat, whose epochal struggle with the bourgeoisie is still running.”
I then asked, “Does that kind of party still exist in the Philippines? How strong is it? What are its prospects?
This was his response: “The PKP-30 still exists as a revisionist party in the Philippines. It has remained small, weak and inconsequential since it collaborated with the Marcos fascist dictatorship. It is hopeless even as a bourgeois party.”
I thanked him for his response but wanting to hear more from him, I asked, “But no other group? What about the so-called Communist Party of the Philippines and other related groups here like Bayan Muna? What can you say about them now”?
Joma replied: “The Communist Party of the Philippines is leading the Filipino people and the Philippine revolution, waging the armed struggle and building the people’s democratic government in the countryside. As you know very well, Bayan Muna is a legal patriotic and progressive political party.”
Pressing on for more of his thoughts, I asked, “Joma, I really want to hear you on this. After many years of struggle, what do you see in the Philippines today? Has it improved or worsened since then? Is the struggle still necessary to get to your objective? What exactly is that objective? The end that you want for the Filipino people?
At this point, someone commented: “It’s not exactly what he wants, it’s what the social classes he represents want.”
In reply, I said: “Exactly but what is it? And as an objective how is it going to be achieved?”
Another person then butted in: “a very timely intervention.”
Then someone asked: “What is this?”
Finally, I got Joma’s reply: “Perry, the Filipino people need and struggle for national liberation, people’s democracy, social justice, development through national industrialization and land reforms, a national, scientific and mass culture and international solidarity for peace and development. The reactionary state of big compradors and landlords now represented by Aquino is confronted by a growing people’s democratic government of workers and peasants in the countryside. The oppressed and exploited masses fight for their own national and social liberation, independent of what you and I wish.”
Having read that, I thanked Joma for interacting with me and aksed permission to mention our exchange in this column. Joma also thanked me and posed no objections.
Ukraine is no longer the same. It lost a part of its territory to Russia. After Russians soldiers came, Crimea, which is home to predominantly Russian-speaking people, voted to be part of Russia. Is Joma happy about this? I think not. Russia may be ruled by former communists but as communists, they are no more.