Even with the death of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Ma. “Joma” Sison, the communist insurgency in the country will never end.
Hernani Braganza, a former peace negotiator for the Philippine government (GPH), made this bold prediction on Monday, Dec. 19, when asked in a television interview about the future of the 53-year-old communist rebellion in the Philippines, which is regarded as the longest-running insurgency in Asia, after the demise of the top communist leader last Dec. 16 in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
“I don’t think the death of Manong Jo will end the insurgency in the Philippines. Pardon me,” Braganza said in an interview with ANC.
Braganza served as a former member of the peace panel of the GPH during the peace talks with the CPP – New People’s Army (NPA) – and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). Negotiations for the peace talks have already spanned more than three decades and about seven to eight presidents.
As this developed, the CPP announced that it will not declare a ceasefire this Yuletide season as it ordered the New People’s Army (NPA) to mount attacks against state forces in time for the party's 54th anniversary on Dec. 26.
“There is absolutely no reason to declare a ceasefire to mark the holidays and the upcoming 54th Party anniversary as the US-Marcos regime and its fascist Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) continue with their relentless state terrorism and armed suppression against the Filipino people,” the CPP said in a statement.
“The Central Committee, hereby, directs the New People’s Army through its National Operational Command and Regional and Subregional Operational Commands to actively fight and frustrate the AFP’s campaign of armed suppression,” it added.
Prior to this, AFP acting spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar also said that the military will not declare a truce with the communist group, and the most that they can do is to declare a suspension of military operations (SOMO) in areas where the presence of communist rebels are detected.
Reasons for thriving
Braganza pointed out that so long as the reasons for the existence of the CPP are in place, such as poverty, injustice, and land and agricultural wealth inequality among others, then the communist group will also continue to thrive.
“I have observed the peace agreements that this government has signed with other insurgencies,” he added, alluding to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). “Some of the leaders have died during the negotiations, during armed combats and yet, they continue with their armed struggle.”
He said that the peace talks entails reaching an agreement on the major components of economic reforms which are agrarian reform and industrialization.
“This simply means equalizing or paglapitin ‘yung disparity ng assets ng mayaman at mahirap sa Pilipinas (bridging the gap between the disparity of assets between the rich and poor in the Philippines. Land is a major component or major concern of insurgency,” said Braganza, who also served as a former secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in the early 2000s.
He argued that the CPP “is not based on personalities” so Sison’s death will not result to the party’s collapse but may even lead to the rise of younger leaders. Moreover, he said that the late Netherlands-based communist leader was not the head of the CPP because the current “leaders” of the group are in the Philippines.
“Manong Jo played a major and crucial role in re-establishing the Communist Party of the Philippines. He was the chief idealogue if I can say that as a political science student, he was also the chief political strategist if I can say that. But at the end of the day, those in the Philippines who are running the insurgency in the Philippines are the ones who know the landscape better and the day to day ,” he explained.
He said the CPP’s Central Committee are the “true leaders” of the party right now although he could not specifically identify them.
“Since they are scattered all over the Philippines, maraming sumusulpot na mga lider (many leaders have emerged),” he added.
The peace negotiator described Sison as “very easy to talk with,” “very intelligent,” “serious,” and “practical.” He last talked to Sison in February 2020 in Utrecht, Netherlands when the government under the administration of then-President Rodrigo Duterte attempted to negotiate a ceasefire.
“He knew history, that’s his advantage over the leaders of the Committee Party now,” Braganza said of Sison. “He was a true revolutionary from beginning till the end.”
As for the peace talks under the present administration, Braganza said: “Honestly, I don’t know.” He said that one of the parties is pushing for the resumption of the dialogues while the other is bidding time and saying they will think about it.