Read the words of the CPP

By BusinessMirror

The dastardly murders of Kieth Absalon and his cousin Nolven Absalon should be a wake-up call, especially for those that think that the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed unit New People’s Army (NPA) are some quaint groups engaged in an ideological struggle.

It would be wise and helpful for those that believe so, to read the words of the CPP itself. In a document titled Constitution and Program Communist Party of the Philippines 2016 published in June 2018, we learn the reality of the situation. “Article IV—Principle and Structure of Party Organization” tells us in Section 1 that “The structure of the Party shall be based on the principle of democratic centralism.” The CPP “democratic centralism” means the following. “After free and thorough discussion,… 1. The individual is subordinate to the organization. 2. The minority is subordinate to the majority. 3. The lower level is subordinate to the higher level. 4. The entire membership is subordinate to the Central Committee and to the National Congress.”

Merriam-Webster: “Definition of fascism: a political philosophy that exalts nation above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government.” There are those that would argue that “fascism” requires an authoritarian “individual dictatorship.” Is there perhaps a “dictatorship by a committee” that can equally make the individual person subordinate? If both the “individual” and the “committee” are elected, does that change the result of “individual is subordinate to the organization”?

“Article IX—The Party’s Relationship with the New People’s Army.” Section 1: “The Party…shall lead and command the New People’s Army.” Section 3: “The New People’s Army shall be the main weapon of the Party in the seizure and consolidation of political power.” Make no mistake. The CPP makes clear that the battle of the hearts and minds of the people will be through force of arms. That is not a surprise.

“The Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed unit New People’s Army took “full responsibility” for the killing of a union leader and his cousin in an explosion in Masbate. The entire CPP and NPA take full responsibility for the tragedy. There is no justification for the aggravation this has caused the Absalon family. In this regard, the Masbate incident should not have happened.” Actually, there is a justification. Mao Zedong: “Every Communist must grasp the truth—Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” And the explanation is simple. “Definition of collateral damage: injury inflicted on something other than an intended target, specifically civilian casualties of a military operation.”

The deployment of the alleged improvised explosive device was not accidental, unless the CPP-NPA is claiming it just happened to fall out of someone’s pocket on the way to the nearest government military facility.

There are 30 million hectares of Agri land of which 3.6 million hectares is for coconut and 447,889 hectares for banana. Effective land reform is critical and lacking in the Philippines. But what excess is the CPP speaking about?

Finally, there are those that fault the government for abandoning “peace talks.” What peace is the CPP looking? “The Party resolutely wields the weapons of revolutionary armed struggle. Armed struggle is the main form of struggle while the legal democratic movement is the secondary but indispensable form of struggle.” One thing is definite. Kieth and Nolven Absalon will never have a voice in that “legal democratic movement.”

“The ultimate goal of the people’s democratic revolution is the establishment of the people’s democratic state.” Is the CPP ready to stop the armed struggle and move to the legal indispensable democratic movement? If not, what is the purpose of the “Peace Talks”?