40th Founding Anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)

40th Founding Anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP): Celebrating Forty Years of Continuous Denial of A Better Way of Life for Every Filipino by Col. Daniel A. Lucero

As the Communist Party of the Philippines celebrates its 40th founding anniversary, it highlights as it always does, its propaganda that it is fighting to achieve an equitable society through a democratic political system for the Filipino Nation.

Just like any insurgent group, the CPP, with its armed component, the New People’s Army (NPA) and its mass base organizer, the National Democratic Front (NDF), continues to promise anything to advance its political cause without any obligation and responsibility to prove it. It still uses the usual deceptive measures such as lying, cheating and exaggerating hoping that these can undermine the government’s credibility and press forward its political and social ambitions.

A case in point of this observation is the recent condemnation against the Philippine Army’s 48th Infantry Battalion based in Aurora Province which is another clear media trick initiated by the NDF, and supported by the proposal of the Multi-Sectoral Action Group of Aurora submitted to the Commission of Human Rights for the closure of the battalion’s camps in Aurora.

It speaks well of the NDF’s influence over an unsuspecting non-government organization. The Philippine Army has been positively receptive of any criticism from the public hoping that this can improve the delivery of its sworn security contract with the Filipino Nation. However, any request for a pullout of an army’s encampment is seen rather as a move of a local terrorist group to get rid of a hindrance to the achievement of its political aims.

Today, Aurora Province is the only remaining CPP/NPA/NDF’s sanctuary in Central Luzon, after nine guerrilla fronts have been dismantled in this year alone. As an added setback, in September of this year, four NPA members namely; Carlos Hurial, Ton-Ton Mijares, Orlando Aimboyutan and Jessie Garcia decided to turn their backs against the terrorist group in Aurora and surrendered five firearms to the government forces. Carlos Mijares even killed four of his comrades when they tried to stop him from joining the cause of the government and even took two M-16 rifles when he fled.

The story mentioned above is just one of the many stories of failure of the CPP/NPA/NDF. The group has continuously denied every Filipino of achieving a better life. It has continuously ignored the fact that there are still citizens and groups in our nation which only support them because of fear and reprisal. The CPP/NPA/NDF then has nothing to celebrate. (The author is the Commander of the Civil-Military Operations Group, Philippine Army in Fort Andres Bonifacio, Makati City)