COMMUNISM IN THE PHILIPPINES: A WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING
By Blaise Henry E. Ilan
Camarines Norte News
December 27, 2019
“The oppressed, instead of striving for liberation, tend themselves to become oppressors.” – Paulo Freire
Yesterday, December 26, 2019 marks the 51st founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines, one of the most famous and influential political organizations in the Philippines, responsible for staging the longest period of insurgency in Asia. Its forerunner, the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas and its military arm HUKBALAHAP played a critical role in the Filipino resistance during the Japanese occupation, while the CPP-NPA, on the other hand, was instrumental in toppling down the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos during the Martial Law era.
The Japanese and Martial Law era were the golden ages of Communist groups in the Philippines for back then they were the warriors of the oppressed during those oppressive regimes. They enjoyed public support among the marginalized sectors of the society to whom they had promised social reforms in the policies of the government. However, after these two periods, the communists continued to wage war against the de facto and de jure administration, a war repackaged under the cloak of social reforms, a utopian society that is impossible to happen. Are Communists still relevant in our country today? Are they really the liberators of the marginalized, or are they the oppressors creeping to take over the society?
Communism came from the idea of Karl Marx. During his time, Marx saw the inequality between the working class and the ruling class in Germany. Marx argued that the ruling class is exploiting the working class through prolonged hours of labor, unsafe working places, etc, without giving them just compensation. Marx dreamed of a classless society, a society where all are equal and where all the industries are owned by the state, for the people, and by the people. Thus, the word communism came from the Latin word “communis” meaning “shared” or “common”. This classless society can only be attained through a revolution, in which the masses will rise up against the capitalist government and will try to take over it for their cause. History will be the judge of Marx’s idea. Communism may sound good in theory but chaotic when it comes to practice.
After the death of Karl Marx, his followers had revised the original idea of communism, probably to suit their political interests. They had used the enticing theory of Marx to inspire revolution among the working class and to put themselves into power. The ideologies of Marx paved the way to the birth of many oppressive regimes, far from the original idea of Marx’s classless society. A classic example of this was the Soviet Union and the Chinese Communist Party. The three revolutionary leaders namely Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong had formulated their own versions of communism, far from Marx’s idea. Thus, new versions of communism like the Marxism-Leninism, Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism, Marxism-Maoism type of communism was born. Despite the imposition of communism in China and the Soviet Union, the revolution had failed to live with Marx’s dream of a classless society. The people were not really liberated but delivered into the hands of the new oppressors. It exploited the discontentment of the masses and had used that anger to wage revolutions in favor of their sworn leaders. The poor remained poor while the state failed to eliminate the ruling class, the party officials became the far more oppressive ruling class instead.
Cases of abuses were recorded during these communist societies. Various human rights violations, persecution of critics, forced takeover of private properties, state ban on religion, and suppression of press freedom were among the elements of these regimes. Clearly, communism was the direct contrast of democracy. Communism was a delusion and failed to bring social reforms for common good. It became a tool for installing dictatorship in several countries. It is proven in former East Germany, Vietnam, Cuba and North Korea, you can do your thorough research about these countries later.
Communism in the Philippines was not far from the Soviet and Chinese type of Communism. The propagandas of Joma Sison is indeed enticing, yet Sison’s goal was no different from Lenin, Stalin, and Zedong. The goal was to establish a communist government here in the Philippines. Ironic as it seems but the reds are trying to gain public support through pushing democratical views while in fact, communism views were the contrast. These groups had exploited the masses to fight for their personal ambitions. The poor and uneducated peasants in the countryside which comprise the majority of the membership in the CPP-NPA seem ignorant to the whole picture of what they are fighting for. Obviously, these poor rebels are fighting only for themselves, hoping for a better life, just like their leaders had promised them. With difficult living situations in the mountains and discontentment in its own ranks, more rebels are turning away in the revolution. Since the end of Marcos regime, the communists had lost its appeal to the public, probably due to much higher satisfaction of the masses in the newly established government.
With this, the fate of the communists lies in the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the masses in the government, we’ve seen it in various countries. If the government fails to promote social justice and care for its people, people will turn to the enticing ideologies of the communists, the sheep will find a new shepherd. Our democratic system is not perfect and flawed in so many ways, but in my strongest belief, I don’t think it would be a lot better for the Philippines to become a communist country. Communism will remain as one of the biggest threats to our democracy, like a predator waiting for its prey to come, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
