Forgive these questions, but we can’t help but ask them of this country’s so-called revolutionaries in the New People’s Army (NPA). Recent “revolutionary” activities of the NPA, the latest in a very long list of questionable, if not outright, atrocious acts, make us wonder what kind of guerrilla war they are really doing. So we ask, whose side, which people (in its acronym) and what kind of ideology are they really fighting for? And when do rebels become just plain bandits and criminals?
During the recent inauguration of a new power plant in Bukidnon, President Duterte asked NPA rebels not to damage energy and communication facilities in the country if companies refuse to pay their so-called revolutionary tax.
In a story published in this paper last week (“Cease-fire not working for banana plantations in Mindanao”), banana growers in Mindanao complained about the extortion activities being conducted by NPA rebels against them and other agricultural plantations, bus companies, private contractors, quarrying operators, public-market stallholders and small entrepreneurs, seemingly taking advantage of the government’s unilateral cease-fire.
“The amounts range from as low as P5,000 to as high as P5 million a month. If we pay, we will lose our shirts and would be forced to close shop; if we refuse to pay, our lives and that of our family members will be in danger,” said a businessman in Toril, a district in Davao City.
Dole-Stanfilco had also shut down its plantation and packing plants in Surigao del Sur after the NPA torched container trucks early this year, because the company refused to pay revolutionary taxes.
We are sure its leaders have an elaborate explanation about their notorious activities, but let’s face it, as much as they want to divert it to other issues, this has everything to do with money. It’s plain extortion, which the NPA has gotten very good at over the years.
Their extortion activities have hurt the economy and have made investors and businessmen wary of operating outside the country’s urban centers because of the risk of insurgent attacks. Ironically, these are the poorest areas that need the most investment and development.
Could it be that the NPA wants to keep these areas poor so they could keep blaming and fighting the government, in order to justify their continued relevance and existence?
Surely, the NPA can’t hope to win any kind of sympathy or solidarity to their cause by burning farm equipment, buses, power lines and cell sites. And surely, the NPA can’t hope to get any respect for their armed struggle if they launch offensives and hit businesses, both big and small, that ordinary workers depend on for their livelihood and everyday existence.
Such extortion activities certainly put the name of their revolutionary movement in a bad light. If these are all what its “revolution” is about, then the NPA rebels are no different from thugs, gangsters, terrorists and anarchists.
By the way, where do their so-called revolutionary taxes go anyway? Does even a portion of the money they get from politicians and businessmen go to, say, financing livelihood projects or the construction of water wells, schools, hospitals or any kind of project to help the poor masses they are supposed to be fighting for? Because if it just lines the pockets of their cadres, then, again, it is plain and simple extortion, a protection racket—“pay us and you won’t have any unfortunate accidents.”
The NPA keeps blaming the government for stalled peace talks, but, like the late rap artist Francis Magalona said in his iconic song “Kaleidoscope World”, you can’t talk peace and have a gun.
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/what-exactly-are-you-fighting-for/
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