Following the death of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Ma. “Joma” Sison, it begs the question: who is the next leader of the revolutionary movement that he established 53 years ago?
For the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), there is nobody close to Sison’s caliber that is qualified to lead the CPP.
“No one of his quality,” replied Col. Medel Aguilar, acting AFP spokesperson, when asked by the Manila Bulletin on Sunday, Dec. 18, if the military is monitoring Sison’s possible successor.
“If they want, I offer myself so the government can save all their recruits and move them away from harm,” he quipped.
When news of Sison’s death reached the military, Aguilar said that the CPP “needs to have a good teacher and guiding light who will lead its members away from violence and destruction.”
In the Philippine Army (PA), the monitoring of the line of succession in the CPP is ongoing but Col. Xerxes Trinidad, Army spokesperson, said it will be "very difficult" for the communist party to find a new leader.
"We are still monitoring the developments on the ground. The CPP has its organizational structure and process on how they fill in the vacuum in their leadership. It would be very difficult for the CPP to establish its new leader given the successive neutralization of their core leaders down to their armed components," Trinidad said in a separate interview.
But outside the confines of Camp Aguinaldo, rumors were aplenty as to the next leader of the CPP.
Names were floated such as Julieta de Lima Sison, wife of Joma; Luis Jalandoni, once a chief negotiator of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) during the peace talks; and even alleged communist leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, although the military earlier announced that there were indicators the couple died during an encounter with troops in Catbalogan City, Samar last August 22.
“Right now, we, at the AFP, do not see any problem that might arise after Joma died. In fact, their members and supporters are continuously declining and returning to the folds of the law. Even their combatants and members of their mass base and underground mass organizations are losing ground,” Aguilar said in a radio interview over dzBB.
Peace talks
The AFP also believes that it will be counterproductive to push for the resumption of peace talks between the government and the CPP – New People’s Army (NPA) – NDFP.
Left-leaning lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc reiterated their call to resume the peace talks at the national level and implement genuine socio-economic reforms “so that the Philippines may attain a just and lasting peace.”
But Aguilar said localized peace talks, or the discussions at the local government level, is working since the ones involved are the communities that are affected by the insurgency.
“We want to continue with the localized peace talks because we want to involve the community and the parties so that we can solve their problems at the local level. It is more inclusive,” he said.
The military spokesperson said the peace talks at the national level is more of political rather than addressing the needs of the people.
“The peace talks that we are talking at a higher level, we have observed that this did not turn out well. We have observed that so long as the CPP refuses to turn back their ideals of armed struggle, they will only use the peace talks as a means to support their primary means of struggle,” Aguilar stressed.
“ at the national level entail discussion about politics while the localized peace talks really address the needs of the people. These people are being recruited because of their problems. I don’t believe that our kababayans are recruited because they support the ideology of communism, they were simply recruited because they have socio-economic problems that we have to address,” he said.
'10-day period of mourning’
Meanwhile, the CPP announced on Saturday, Dec. 17, the start of a 10-day period of mourning for the entire Party as a tribute to Sison.
“We order all units of the New People’s Army to stand in formation at the break of dawn of December 26 and silently perform a 21-gun salute by way of giving the highest tribute and bidding farewell to our beloved leader,” the CPP said.
“During this period of mourning, the NPA can stage tactical offensives against the rampaging fascist forces to defend the people,” it added.
The CPP said they will wait for the “homecoming” of Sison’s remains or ashes as it will allow their members to pay their last respects to their leader.
Sison died on Dec. 16 after a two-week confinement at a hospital in Utrecht, the Netherlands where he had been in a self-imposed exile since 1987.