Before anything else, we extend our condolences to Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Eufemia Campos Cullamat, whose daughter, Jevilyn, was killed in a skirmish last week between the military and the New People’s Army (NPA). As many have said, no parent should have to endure the death of his or her child. Jevilyn was just 22 years old and was reportedly a medic for the Maoist guerrilla group that serves as the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), which stands accused of being a terrorist organization.
Jevilyn’s death is discomfiting on many levels. On the one hand, it was wrong to treat her as a war trophy when soldiers posed for photos next to her slain corpse. Even though the military has suffered losses of their own in the decades-old struggle against the CPP-NPA, they should treat the dead with respect. And so, it was encouraging to hear Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana clarify that this was unacceptable behavior for the military.
On the other hand, Jevilyn was indeed a victim, not so much of the military but of the NPA. Just imagine, what are the authorities supposed to do against anyone who takes up arms against a duly elected government?
National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. has a point when he said Representative Cullamat’s daughter “was deceived into sacrificing her life for a cause lacking legitimacy and noble purpose.” He added, “She was a victim of a manipulative organization that has taken advantage of her from the moment she was radicalized until her recruitment into the armed struggle.”
In a 2018 statement to the United Nations, Esperon wrote that the CPP-NPA was responsible for some 10,000 deaths of soldiers, policemen and civilians since 1969. Our columnist, former ambassador Rigoberto Tiglao, himself a former NPA leader, has been writing that those figures were more like 50,000.
Worse, the NPA continues to kill, despite the worldwide collapse of communism decades ago. Rightly so, Leftist militants around the world have traded in their arms but continue their political struggles in the democratic arena — except for some in the Philippines.
Double standard
Those in the Left lose political capital when they practice double standard. They are vocal against misdeeds by the government, but when it comes to calling out the NPA for continuing its violent and illegal methods, they are suspiciously silent. Instead, they call for the public’s “understanding” of their predicament, even sympathizing with their struggle against poverty and injustice. The Left cannot have it both ways.
It is also unacceptable for those in the Left to rationalize that joining the NPA is a personal choice. Of course, no one accepts it when a politician steals from the public coffers, simply because of “personal choice.” Following the law is every citizen’s responsibility and violating them has consequences.
Without laws, chaos rules societies. Granted, no society or set of laws is perfect. But laws can be amended, and societies themselves can change without requiring violence. Of all people, Filipinos should know this having pioneered in People Power.
In contrast, violence and terrorism as tools to achieve political gains have no place in a free and modern society. As such, it is not unreasonable to demand that Bayan Muna and others in the Makabayan coalition be unequivocal in renouncing violence as a political tool. The NPA, after all, perpetrates terrorist acts that are inimical to the coalition’s political agenda, such as destroying telecommunication towers that exacerbate slow internet speed in parts of the country.
Why does the Makabayan coalition insist that the NPA is not the enemy? Who is it then? Even if they point to poverty and social injustice, they must be referring to the people responsible for them.
Besides, most poor Filipinos are law-abiding citizens. The poor have enough to deal with and should not be used as political pawns.
Clearly, violence and lawlessness are the enemy. They are personified by certain groups, chief among them is the NPA. Unless the NPA is defeated or if it pivots from armed struggle to peaceful advocacy, there will be more tragedies like Jevilyn.