Joma Sison says military can’t defeat Reds even under martial law, dictatorship

From GMA News (Aug 23): Joma Sison says military can’t defeat Reds even under martial law, dictatorship

Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Maria Sison on Thursday claimed government forces will still be incapable of "destroying" his group even if President Rodrigo Duterte were to place the country under martial law or a dictatorship.

In a statement, the communist leader stressed that their revolutionary forces have been operating on a national scale, while government forces are "overstretched" across the country.

"The enemy forces do not have the precise knowledge and capability to attack and destroy the revolutionary forces all at once even under martial law and fascist dictatorship," Sison said, noting that the CPP and its armed wing, the New People's Army, operate through "clandestine and countryside basing."

"Meanwhile, the guerrilla fronts in Luzon and the Visayas have even better opportunities for launching and winning offensives against the overstretched 21 maneuver battalions that are deployed against them," Sison added.

Sison said NPA forces are capable of carrying out tactical offensive against "more vulnerable" enemy positions, adding that the military supposedly does not have enough strength to launch attacks against the rebels.

"The enemy armed forces does not have enough armed strength to concentrate on and destroy the party and the people´s army in any region, without those in other regions launching offensives to relieve their comrades in the region under attack," he said.

"When the NPA forces in certain regions are under enemy attack, those in other regions can intensify their own offensives and win battles," Sison said.

As of posting time, GMA News Online is still trying to reach the military for comment on Sison's remarks.

The formal resumption of peace talks was supposed to proceed on June 28 in Norway, but did not push through after President Rodrigo Duterte said he wanted more public consultations first before returning to the negotiating table.

In July, Duterte said he was ready for another 50 years of war with the communist groups, stressing that the latter only wanted "power sharing and coalition government."

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said local government units may pursue localized peace negotiations with rebels provided that "they do not concede any aspect of governance and pursuant to guidelines to be agreed upon by the Cabinet cluster on security."

However, the CPP, as well as local revolutionary groups, had rejected the idea.

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