By Pearl Gumapos
Hatred is the primary tool of communist terrorists in pushing for change and the kind of revolution they want, said Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Deputy Chief-of-Staff for Operations Major Gen. Edgardo de Leon during the June 28 episode of “Tagged: Debunking Lies by Telling the Truth.”
“Ang pangunahing pamamaraan ng pagsusulong ng kanilang gustong pagbabago ay hatred–the propagation of hatred against the government, against the status quo, against the present system of government,” de Leon said during the regular press conference held by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
De Leon said claims that poverty is the primary reason that some sectors join the communist terrorist movement are not true.
“Kung makikita natin, sinasabi noong araw na [ito] ang root cause. I beg to disagree. Poverty is not the root cause. Poverty is just among the issues being exploited to generate public hatred so that revolution will start,” he said.
The CPP-NPA, de Leon said, is using every opportunity brought by the ongoing pandemic to generate and stir hatred against the government for even the slightest error in its response.
“Kaya kahit anong programang gawin ng pamahalaan para sa taumbayan, ang hahanapin nila diyan [ay] kahit na [anong] butas, kahit na gaano kaliit na butas. Palalakihin iyong butas [dahil] ang intent [ay] mag-generate ng hatred sa ating pamahalaan,” he added.
De Leon cited the social amelioration program that took off in the early days of the pandemic as an example.
“Naisip ng ating gobyerno, naisip ng ating Pangulo na bigyan ng social amelioration. Sabi ko nga, itong pandemic na ito hindi po natin na-rehearse ito, hindi natin inaasahan na mangyayari ito. So noong mangyari ito, hindi lang ang Pilipinas, buong mundo ay nagulat sa mga kaganapan. Buong mundo ay gumawa ng paraan para mabawasan ang paghihirap ng taumbayan na idinulot nitong pandemic,” he said.
But despite government efforts to cushion the suffering of the people, de Leon said the CPP-NPA continues to stir public hatred in hopes that this will result in their desired revolution. -rir
