THERE was once this mayor who told us many times of how he comes from the Left and knows their cause.
There was that time in 2013 at a convention of agribusiness people, he brought the elephant into the room. “Is it good to do business here?” referring to the NPAs collecting revolutionary taxes. What he said struck the investors. “I can talk to them, but I can’t talk them out of their ideology, the Communist Party is fighting for 45 years, you have to admit there’s historical injustice on the people. You can exchange words with them. So factor that (taxes) in your investments.”
In 2015, he staged a public funeral for the fallen guerrilla Ka Parago. He appeared on the final night, paying respects to his long-time friend and regaled the “masses” and activists of his past. “I first met the NPAs as a fiscal when I took custody of released rebels and brought them back to the mountains.” He later flirted with the crowd. “You leftists would be happy if I win, you'll be taking one step with me into Malacañang."
When he initially backed off from the race in October, he told reporters that he lost his vice presidential bet. Confused, the reporters asked who? “Parago,” he said.
For years, he styled himself as a Leftist, a founding member of Bayan, a student of Joma Sison in college. He engaged with Davao’s Left on issues from extrajudicial killings, women and children’s rights, opposition to US military occupation, transport strikes, mining, protection of Lumads and Moro people, peace talks and more.
In his sorties, he criticized the policy of war. He addressed a crowd in Luzon one time, “I see many of the soldiers captured by the NPAs come from this province. We are all Filipinos, we have to stop fighting.”
He defended his ties with the Left when the jailed General Palparan accused him of disloyalty. He said, “I would like to have a rainbow in my government. There’s red, yellow. I’m Filipino.”
He may not have officially gotten the support of the Left in the presidential campaign, but he opened the doors to the Left to join his cabinet. He released peace consultants of the National Democratic Front, and called his professor Joma Sison and promised to talk peace and invited him back home.
What we saw then was a leader of a different mold, one who acknowledges historical injustice and keeps the window open to talk with the Left.
The peace talks that resumed under his term was significant as both panels were enthusiastic in preparing the agreement on socio-economic reforms that would address the injustices that pushed people to the fold of armed conflict. Imagine if agrarian reform and industrialization would be implemented.
But things have fallen sour. He says he has given many things too much for the NDF. But the NDF only wants to push the agenda of reforms to resolve the conflict. He blames the NPA for killing soldiers, but peace advocates remind him that the course of a war always have casualties, and the peace talks is the venue to address the bumps in the talks. Meanwhile, Marawi burned, the poor and the Lumads are killed in the warzones.
This November 25 to 27, both panels were set to meet to firm up the next round of talks. Notwithstanding the NPA ambush that killed a four-month old infant, or the aftermath of the Marawi conflict hovering on their heads, the panels wanted to focus on addressing the bigger thing.
But that did not materialize. In a puff, the president said violent incidents were not worth pushing talks with the NDF. He warned they will be called terrorists and activists linked with them will be arrested. Then there will be war. “You call me a bully, a tyrant. Let’s fight for another 50 years.”
This comes from a person who said he is from the Left and understands the cause of the Left. But who understands him now?
He issued Proclamation 360 cancelling the talks. That number 360, may also symbolize his turn from friend to something else.