Cebu City Councilor Pastor “Jun” Alcover, Jr. | CDN Digital file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — With the death of Jose Maria Sison, founder and chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), Cebu City Councilor Pastor Alcover Jr. said he hoped that the latter’s death would also lead to the death of his “violent communist ideology.”
Alcover, who admitted to be a former member of the CPP-NPA and now an advocate of Anti-Communism, delivered a privilege speech on the matter during the city council’s regular session on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022.
In his privilege speech, the councilor first extended his condolences to the bereaved family of Sison before sharing his experience as a former member of the communist group.
“It would be unchristian for us to celebrate a
death of another being. Even our mortal enemies, they deserve respect beyond the grave,” he said.
“Sa akong pakigbisug kaniadto sa kabukiran, dul-an napulo ka tuig, akong nakat-unan na ang armadong pakigbisug alang sa kausaban kay dili mao na pamaagi,” he added.
(In my fight in the mountains, nearly 10 years ago, I learned that an armed struggle for change is not the right way.)
The councilor said that from his experience, he learned that “violence would never achieve an everlasting peace and progress,” noting the thousands of death that had been committed in a quest of peace through wars.
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