SINCE Marcos’ time, body count was the preferred determinant of success in the counter-insurgency effort of the government. At the same time, there were always publicized programs and projects to address the roots of insurgency that can be summarized in one word – poverty.
How many NPA’s were killed, captured, or surrendered has been the main concern as one administration after another finished its term and left with deafening silence on the state of poverty in the country.
Recently, a survey said 46 percent of respondents thought or felt they were poor. This is part of the overall mindset in society that tends to ignore the relevance of body count. This is what troubles political leaders. This is what CPP ideologues exploit.
With its “whole-of-nation” approach, the present administration has expressed optimism that the local communist armed conflict will end within its term or if not, soon. I could understand and simply admire the frankness and bravery of government spokespersons in defending the present counter-insurgency effort or the program to “end local communist armed conflict (ELCAC)” as it is worded now.
Addressing or confronting the communist armed conflict or the CPP-led “people’s war” and “national democratic revolution” should take into consideration the CPP ideological-political-organizational framework and follow a tit-for-tat approach.
However, it must be understood that the IPO framework of the CPP works within the principle of democratic centralism of a Leninist party like the CPP that envisions the establishment of socialism under the “dictatorship of the proletariat”, meaning the communist party, and in effect a one-party system of government.
What must be engaged by the government side in this tit-for-tat approach is a wide spectrum of political parties and social organizations that adhere to the Constitution in parallel to its “whole-of-nation” approach to end local communist armed conflict.
With his own political and ideological savvy, General Antonio Parlade cannot do the propaganda battle alone, not even with the help of other spokespersons. Political parties being protected by the Constitution should do it as part of and in defense of the freedom they enjoy.
The tit-for-tat approach in addressing the ideological challenge of the CPP requires the understanding of the essential elements of a working ideology: set of fundamental values, concept of society, vision of the future and program of action and government.
The existing political parties now preparing for 2022 must enunciate their ideologies or whatever comparable sets of ideas and principles that they espouse. They should recruit members and gain followers based on that. That will be a big help in addressing the ideological challenge of the CPP.
Recruitment levels under the supervision of the CPP follow levels of educational requirement. Members of the underground sectoral organizations are exposed to group discussions on the Program for People’s Democratic Revolution (PPDR) that include the concept of People’s War.
This is the national democratic (ND) level of education. It is only when they are recruited to the CPP, first as candidate member (CM), that they are shown the constitution of the party which is part of the party’s basic education.
Discussions on the theories and principles of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism are taken up as advanced courses for full members, but nothing stops anyone from studying the ideology individually through reading and researching, especially now with modern technology.
The levels of educational requirements are supervised by party instructors or political officers. The levels of education and instruction go together with party security protocols that protect party groups and committees from being exposed unnecessarily.
It is the party educational requirements that do not automatically make NPA combatants members of the CPP. Merely counting NPA elements therefore may not necessarily provide a quantitative estimate of the potency of the CPP-led insurgency.
CMs enjoy similar rights as the full members but they cannot be elected to party positions.
That is why students and petty-bourgeois intellectuals are targets of recruitment by ideological means for that specific function of providing the intellectual capability to apply abstract theories in practice, something that is necessary for the continuous defense and promotion of the CPP ideology, not only locally but internationally as well.
That is why simply saying that the students are just being duped into joining the CPP may be counter-productive in the long run. It may strike fear among parents and the public at the outset, but it does not satisfy the thinking of critically minded students and intellectuals nor sell intelligently the constitutional or lawful option of doing good for the country.
Body count does count but not without significant change in the mindset of the people and substantial gain in conquering poverty. Hope for peaceful means of ending poverty must have an ideological basis.
