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Why the Reds are Aquino phobes
AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR By William M. Esposo
The Philippine Star 2010-01-31
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If you follow the political careers of Ninoy, Cory and Noynoy Aquino — you’ll notice that the Reds (our Communists) figured prominently in the political sagas of Ninoy and Cory just as they are now also playing a role in the attempt
to derail the presidential bid of Noynoy.
In fact, the way Dictator Ferdinand Marcos utilized the Reds in his political battles with Ninoy will leave you confused and dizzy. Marcos could not seem to decide if Ninoy was pro or anti Communist with the way Marcos had been tagging Ninoy during their many encounters.
Marcos accused Ninoy of being a major supporter of the Reds and used this to convict Ninoy in the military trial. Ninoy was then sentenced to death by musketry. Yet, in a sudden twist, Marcos tried to avoid complicity in the August 21, 1983 murder of Ninoy by claiming that the Communists killed Ninoy. Of course, not many Filipinos or other nationals elsewhere bought that line and held Marcos liable for the murder that eventually led to the February 25, 1986 People Power Revolution.
It was Marcos who turned out to be biggest promoter of the Reds. The repression and oppression during Marcos martial law swelled the ranks of the NDF-CPP-NPA (National Democratic Front-Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army). It was the alarming growth of the Communist Movement that forced then US President Ronald Reagan to abandon Marcos and support the ascendancy of Cory Aquino in 1986.
Up to a week before the start of the People Power Revolution on February 22, 1986 — Reagan, a close personal friend of Marcos, was solidly behind the dictator. It was then US State Secretary George Shultz who impressed on Reagan that the Communists will attain stalemate here in two years if Marcos stayed in power.
The restoration of democracy and the propagation of democratic space by a very popular Cory administration removed the major causes of unrest and insurgency. Within the ranks of the Reds, many wanted to return to the mainstream and enjoy normal lives.
Under the late Local Government Secretary, Jaime N. Ferrer, the Cory administration made a decisive political campaign to win hearts and minds in all Communist political fronts — winning each one of them back into the fold. The biggest concerns of the targeted Communist political fronts were addressed and that restored the people’s faith in their new government. In a manner of speaking, Cory — like Moses — parted the Red Sea.
So bitter was the internal conflict within the Communist movement that it resulted in the mass murders of their very own comrades. To discourage their members from abandoning the movement, the Reds decided to slaughter those who sought to return to the fold of the law and accept the incentives offered by the Cory administration.
The Reds themselves became one of the two most likely suspects behind the Mendiola Massacre. The other suspects were the Right Wing coup plotters against the Cory administration. It was uncharacteristic of the Cory Aquino administration which dedicated itself to be the very opposite of the Marcos regime to employ Marcos methods of repression. Cory was cleared by the justice system eventually.
It was not beyond the Reds to sacrifice their own people if the objective was to reverse the erosion of the political ground they had lost. During that period too, the Right Wing coup plotters were committing atrocities that were designed to promote a justification for the imposition of a military-controlled junta. Cory Aquino was the inconvenience that hindered the ends of both the Reds and the Right Wing coup plotters.
Anyone who understood these dynamics would also see that these were the very forces that were at play during the Luisita Massacre. During the time when the Luisita Massacre happened, the Reds were hyperactive again after having regained momentum following the disastrous Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo regimes.
At the same time, there were the murders of activists (who were being tagged as front persons of the Reds) by suspected Right Wing forces. These murders reached scandalous proportions and compelled the United Nations to send Philip Alston here to investigate the human rights cases. The Alston Report that followed the investigation pinned the blame on the Arroyo government.
The Reds thrive under a climate of severe hardships, developing animosity between the Haves and the Have-nots and when hunger and hopelessness stalk the land. To them, Noynoy Aquino’s ascendancy could translate to another major setback to their cause.
The Reds and Senator Manny Villar have found common cause and so we now see a lot demolition attempts being waged by the Reds directed at eroding Aquino’s support base. They are desperately trying to pin on Noynoy what they could not pin on Cory. Despite these oft repeated charges, Cory in death was hailed here and abroad as an Icon and Saint of Democracy.
The big question that must now be asked is this: Just what did my Kumpadre Manny Villar compromise when he struck this deal with the Reds. What did he give them to function as one of his attack dogs?
Villar may not have realized it but this pact with the Reds suggests that they see in him someone who will further create the conditions — corruption, lack of social justice, hunger — that will lead to the attainment of the movement’s ultimate goal.
Villar may have inadvertently unleashed another big factor that will contribute to his own undoing. Then, as it still is today, voters see red when they see Reds.
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