By Jelly Musico/PNA
MANILA — Malacañang on Sunday lamented Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairperson Jose Ma. Sison’s ‘ad hominem’ attacks against the policy of President Rodrigo Duterte on the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
“We find it lamentable and pathetic that CPP founding chairperson Jose Ma. Sison resorted to ad hominem attacks in criticizing the President’s policy on the WPS,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.
“Ironically, the basis of Mr. Sison’s attacks is a two-year old article by an international political risk analyst who has worked for several projects with an institution that Mr. Sison and his cabal strongly denounce, the United States military,” he added.
Panelo said Sison referred to Anders Corr’s article, “China May Owe the Philippines USD177 Billion in South China Sea Rent and Damages,” which was published on July 15, 2016.
He said the story came out two weeks into the Duterte presidency “which clearly proves that he is out-of-touch of the realities in the Philippines as a result of more than three decades of high living in Europe”.
“We urge Mr. Sison to stop his propaganda war by long distance and to return to the Philippines and see for himself the independent foreign policy course that the President has charted, including a cautious, pragmatic, and diplomatic stance on how to deal with the favorable arbitral ruling,” Panelo said.
He explained that the President has a wealth of information at his disposal, which is not readily available to ordinary citizens or foreigners “hence he is in the best position to decide on international matters that affect the welfare of the nation”.
Panelo, also Chief Presidential Legal Counsel, referred to Duterte’s decision to pursue and maintain friendly and constructive dialogues with China through a bilateral consultation mechanism (BCM) “paving way for 29 agreements that would benefit our nation and our people”.
He said Sison must accept the reality that the CPP founding leader’s dream of wresting political power from the duly-constituted authorities has come to an end.
“It behooves him to put his ideals to a new tact outside of a bloody course that only resulted in meaningless deaths and destruction to properties that have alienated him and his followers from the very people they sought to liberate from what they perceive to be the inequities in our society,” Panelo said.
“Truly, the revolution that he has commenced half a century ago has devoured its own children,” he added.
