POLITICS: Peace talks? Or, whimsical moves?

08/9/2016 | 1:53 0 Posted in Local Issues, The World

For nearly three decades, JOMA SISON has not been to the shores of the Philippines but has been leading a comfortable life, leading the communist campaign from a far away land without first-hand knowledge of what is happening in his homeland.

He is undergoing a voluntary self-exile and is now staying in the Netherlands as a political refugee depending on whose mercy only god knows.

Questions have often been raised as to what are the means of his sustenance and that of his followers and supporters who are living and working with him.

Some people think it is the government of the Netherlands with him has been living in the Netherlands in self-imposed exile. There is a lot of speculation in the minds of common Filipinos as to his sources and their legality.

It is surmised that either the NGO sector might be funding the communists or it might be some political communist pipeline that was funding the bills and the cost of logistics; another possible source is the government of Netherlands might be providing a pension fund to the communists to meet their needs.

While the support by the Dutch NGOs and their government is not of any concern to us but somewhere in the local funding, there is a slight murmur in the ranks of the communist cadres that he is a burden on the poor Filipino workers whose war he has been directing for more than 30 years.

Personality flaw? Or, lack of control?

All said and done it is not the funding that we are bothered about, there are other aspects to this whole personality that do not somehow gel. The main quality (or, the lack of it) I this leader of men who are the messiahs of the common man is that he is losing the trust of people due to his shifting stands and rescinding on his given word.

Unfortunate for the people who have blind faith in him and his service to the cause of the workers and for those that are required to deal with him; how can trust his words when he may suddenly go back on his word. It is most unfortunate for his motherland that does not know which way this camel is going to sit.

Volte-face 1

An example of his shifting stands without rhyme or reason can be seen in the view that was held by him, and by extension, by his party that, because of the misdeeds committed by the dictator, former President Ferdinand Marcos, he should not be buried at Libingan ng ma Bayani; he reasoning for this was that, since all the greatest heroes of the Philippines were buried there, it would be a mark of singular disrespect to those worthies to have a notorious, ruthless dictator who had been responsible for so many misdeeds.

This stand taken by him in 1993 was projected to say that we cannot do injustice to the other heroes of the land. It was a known fact that the wily dictator had committed some serious crimes against humanity.

But, in a recent volte-face by him (and his party) it was opined that the dictator can be buried in the company heroes since he was a soldier; he was entitled to be buried there not as a hero but as a soldier. The supporting argument was that the heroes were also reactionaries, so Marcos could safely be included in that category and allowed to be buried there.

This change of a long-held stance did not raise any eyebrows since it was done in the act of supporting the newly-elected President Duterte who is not easily crossed.

Volte-face 2

At the time that Duterte was elected President and was waiting for his 30^th June inauguration, in an interview held in that period, Sison was highly appreciative of Duterte and described him as a leader who possessed a very strong character, committed political will with a dedication par excellence.

But, again a volte-face occurred when Duterte withdrew the unilateral ceasefire that he had announced and was labeled by the very same Sison as a butangero (or a ruffian) and it was declared that he had a very volatile nature.

The current conflicting statements by Sison may not be mattering to the communist fraternity or to his own party but what do people like you and me think?

Volte-face 3

The third example that has been noticed by the common man is that Sison seems to be blowing hot and blowing cold to the consternation and puzzlement of the observers; he has happily accepted that three members who were affiliated to the New People’s Army, the National Democratic Front and the Communist party of the Philippines will hold cabinet posts in the Duterte government; this is one aspect of his personality and can be attributed to the motive of the empowerment of his affiliates.

While this should be taken as a good sign, he goes on to accuse the same government of being a reactionary government; this was a direct reaction to the news that Duterte himself will be conducting the burial of the former dictator/President.

Moreover, he was also going around praising the incumbent President as a visionary, a great leader with a socialist and progressive frame of mind. We have every right to know as to why he is still so influential in this country.

But, observers are of the firm opinion that Sison does not hold much sway with the younger set of leaders of the NPA, the NDF and the CPP are probably not agreeing to all his statements and making him change them often.