A vocal leftist leader himself, Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares on Wednesday disputed the persisting negative perception among Filipinos against left-leaning, progressive groups.
Speaking to ANC's Headstart, Colmenares said leftists have been branded "evil" because of politicians who want to discredit the left.
"The problem here really is that most of the presidents and public officials that we've exposed as corrupt or abusive, they tried to package us as, of course, Left and that Left is evil. Ang problema is kung madala ang taumbayan sa ganong klaseng box," Colmenares said.
Colmenares, who is running in the 2016 senatorial race, also appealed to the public to examine leftists beyond the negative image.
"That's why we are asking the people that this connotation of Left, just transcend it and see what did we do. Kasi the moment you transcend that, hindi ka na magba-bias pa...they will see that we did a lot of things for them, for the Filipino people," the lawmaker said.
A Makabayan bloc member at the House of Representatives, Colmenares believes the "evil packaging" of the Left has been around to prevent the "real" pro-poor leaders from getting elected to higher public offices.
"At kung manalo palagi ang military o 'yung mga abusive government officials doon sa packaging sa amin whether Left or Left-of-center or Left-leaning, then there will never be a chance that the people would be able to vote for what we believe as the real voice of the people in Congress," Colmenares said.
His colleagues such as Liza Maza, Satur Ocampo, and Teddy Casiño have all failed to secure Senate seats in previous polls. Colmenares is however hopeful for victory.
READ: Colmenares finds new friends in old foes
"We've made our positions known and we've always told any political party or any group that we are independent. And if there are support coming from other sectors, they should not ask anything in return," he added, amid new-found support from political figures.
Colmenares said he would push for the passage of his bills such as lowering taxes on income, electricity and oil, as well as increasing SSS pensions, among others, if he wins in the 2016 polls.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/10/21/15/colmenares-left-not-evil
How does one characterize individuals and groups who deliberately deceive ordinary Filipinos about their ideological orientation and what they really stand for?
ReplyDeleteColmenares and other CPP activists would have the media refer to them as progressives, or left-wing activists as opposed to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) supporters they really. In fact, they say that those who say they support the CPP/NPA are engaged in "red-tagging" or "red-baiting." But yet these "activists" often actively support the "revolutionary" positions of the CPP and its clandestine organizations the National Democratic Front (NDF) and New People's Army (NPA).
The CPP/NDF/NPA openly articulate the strategic line of the necessity for armed struggle/peasant guerrilla warfare. In other words they advocate the violent overthrow of the democratically elected Philippine government and the seizure of state power.
This is the grand deception that the CPP front groups are engaged in. They want the Filipino people to believe that are just progressive organizations seeking social justice when in reality they really believe in Maoist concept of armed struggle, violent overthrow of the government, and seizure of state power by whatever means necessary, including exploiting the Philippine political process.
So when Colmenares and his fellow CPP activists engage in lies and deception with regard to what they really believe and who they really support should ordinary Filipinos consider their actions good or evil?