Why are some in the military and police afraid of them? Or, if they are not afraid at all, they seem to actually hate them, even if they do not know who these people are on a personal level. But of course, we want the military and police to do their job and support them in keeping the peace.
The reason for red-tagging every suspected leftistseems obvious; they believe that all leftists are communists. That is wrong. That is a lie. There are different kinds of leftists. Not just communists. There are also those who believe in democracy and nonviolence. Even communists by mere belief are not necessarily criminals. If you commit a crime, you are a criminal. But if you just happen to hold a certain belief, even if the idea is called communism, that does not make you a criminal.
If you imprison a person simply because of his beliefs, you are like those who poisoned Galileo simply because he believed that the earth revolves around the sun and not the other way around. They called Angel Locsin a leftist, and insinuate that she is a communist. This is dangerous; but above all, ironic. Here’s why.
When President Rodrigo Dutertestarted his presidency he was reported to have reserved at least four departments for the Communist Party of the Philippines or its recommendees. They had eventually been appointed, namely, Rafael Mariano for Agrarian Reform, Judy Taguiwalo for Social Welfare, and Joel Maglungsod for Labor; though they were eventually booted out of office. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III himself used to be the Chairman of Bayan Mindanao in the 1980s, and Bohol’s very own LeoncioEvasco, Jr., former Cabinet Secretary, used to be a rebel chaplain of sorts. We can therefore say that there were at least five “communist-leaning” members of the Duterte cabinet when it started. Why weren’t they imprisoned or “red-tagged”?
But what is communism? Google describes it as“a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs”.
It is a political theory. Yes, just a theory. There is no existing communist country in the world today. There are only countries ruled by communist political parties (that means, political parties trying to make their countries attain a communist stage) such as China andRussia (President Duterte’s favorites), North Korea, and Cuba. But they are not yet communist societies. In these countries, generally, there are no elections like ours. There is only one party, that is, the Communist Party, and nothing else. Anyone who wants to work in those governments must become members of their Communist Party.
Communismwas derived from Karl Marx. He was the German philosopher who said that religion is the opium of the people, like shabu, marijuana or ecstasy. Marx said religions serve to make the people forget their problems without solving them. He was an atheist; does not believe in God.
Communism advocates class war. What is class war? In simplistic terms, it means that communist advocates believe that in order to attain equality in society, the poor must wage a war against the rich. And if they see it fit, they can kill the rich, or even kill their fellow poor if they believe that they are conniving with the rich.
In 2007, however, President Gloria Arroyo signed Amnesty Proclamation 1377 for members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA); other communist rebel groups; and their umbrella organization, the National Democratic Front. The amnesty covered the crime of rebellion and all other crimes “in pursuit of political beliefs,” but not including crimes against chastity, rape, torture, kidnapping for ransom, use and trafficking of illegal drugs and other crimes for personal ends and violations of international law or convention and protocols “even if alleged to have been committed in pursuit of political beliefs”. In other words, under this proclamation, it is not illegal to be a communist.
On the other hand, a leftist is a person with left-wing political views. What are left-wing political views? Left-wing politics supports social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involves a concern for the poor and the oppressed to render social justice to them. Isn’t this what our Lord Jesus Christ was talking about? Isn’t this what is called “preferential option for the poor” in the Roman Catholic Church? Think and pray.