No easy answers

MINUTES into my tactical interrogation, Martial Law lackeys made it clear I was accused of being a member of the Communist Party of the PhilippinesNew People’s Army (CPP-NPA).

I found this ironic because I never got an invitation to join them. And this could have been because I never minced words when telling them I had serious misgivings about their dogmatism and moral relativism.

The CPP-NPA’s core dogma is encapsulated in Mao Tse Tungs famous quote: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” Its corollary dogma is that the political power is achieved with guns in a “protracted people’s war.”

This is why they were conspicuously absent in the Edsa peoplepower revolution. This is why they agitate and stage protests against any administration in power. This is why they insist on waging their people’s protracted war even as they want peace talks to continue.

This tells me they want to have their cake and eat it too or why go into peace talks without abandoning these anti-peace dogmas? They are, moreover, confident they can do this because of a moral relativism that they adhere to also like dogma.

To them the revolution is the only thing of absolute value. The value of other actions is determined and measured by their effect or impact relative to the revolution.

What is good is what leads to victory in the revolution. What is bad is what works against the revolution. Hence, they kill, extort, betray trust and renege on agreements if such are needed to insure victory in the protracted people’s war.

If CPP leaders are guided by these dogmas how can they engage in peace talks which only have short-term tactical value because peace talks, which should happen only if guns are at least temporarily silenced, are not consistent with their dogma on political power coming from waging a violent protracted people’s war? And how can government trust them to abide by any agreement when their moral relativism allows them to violate agreements and conditions without batting an eye if they deem it necessary for a successful waging of the protracted people’s war?

Violence does not solve anything but simply promotes more violence. Moreover, an all-out war creates more problems than it solves. Hence, it is unfortunate that the peace talks are on hold and might resume only if the CPP-NPA agrees to a ceasefire as a sign that it is easing up (but can it?) on its dogma of a protracted people’s war. Otherwise, how can President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (PRRD) continue with the peace talks when Joma Sison is caged in the dogmas of protracted war and of moral relativism that allows all human values like mutual trust to be sacrificed (violated?) for the revolution? There are simply no easy answers.