On communism, socialism, labor

SINCE PART of the government agenda is to end the communist armed struggle in the country, it might be a good idea to raise questions on why the communist, socialist and labor movements in the Philippines have not developed the way the other movements in Europe did.

Along this line, the government should abandon its dreams of ending the armed struggle if its focus is just on institutionalizing reforms to uplift the workers’ welfare, protect indigenous people, and deliver basic services, among other concerns. Communism is not the product of poverty, although poverty drives people to take up arms; but it is the communist party that shapes the armed struggle in the country as

it is now.

Thus, the government cannot continue to dismiss communism as the root cause of violence by sticking to its reformist policies (if we can call porridge-feeding and doles reformist) in order to prevent the radicalization of the masses. Because as long as violent ideologies exist, there will be people willing to die for it. An ideological movement is equally important and is not too late.

Lastly, what I would also like to see is the cohabitation of all left-wing parties and entities (similar to the Plural Left of France in the 1990s) into a unified party in next year’s elections, to show that the workers can rise and their interests can be advanced peacefully.

—JERICHO R. TORRALBA,

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