About Me
We are young Filipinos who dream of a better Philippines.
Counter
visited *loading* times
So What’s in a Name?
Being tagged “leftist” or “communist” may not be an accolade for some, but think twice. One can be proud of being placed alongside Tañada, Diokno and Aquino.
I don’t remember if it was two or three weeks ago but at about the same time the CBCP decided to up its tempo against charter change, Sec. Raul Gonzales the lapdog he is, made a statement that the only noisy ones in the CBCP are the leftist bishops. The statement hit front page of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
I think it's just deserving to refresh lolo Gonzales’ memories of his times during the Martial Law regime, when he, along with nationalists Sen. Lorenzo Tañada and Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., both famous personalities of the opposition were tagged by the Marcos government as “leftists” and at one point even as “communist collaborators”.
Earlier, as a member of the opposition fighting the Marcos dictatorship, Marcos tagged Tañada (Ka Tanny), along with Jose W. Diokno as "leftists". But when both decided to co-found the Bayan (Bagong Alyansang Makabayan), which Marcos described as the largest communist front organization at the time, the tag “leftist” comfortably changed to “communist collaborator”, and later to just plain “communist”.
When Ninoy Aquino, the man whose death many believed to have started the momentum for a popular revolt that ousted the late strongman was court martialed, he was charged of having connived with communist rebels to oust the regime. As a young politician going against Marcos he was a “leftist”. But later on, when Makapili-type hooded figures came forward as military witnesses against Aquino, Marcos changed the tag and claimed Ninoy to be a ranking member of the Communist Party. Hence from being “communist conspirator”, he later became a “communist leader”.
What about the so-called "Batasan 6", the militant leaders and their kind being hounded by the Arroyo government for being the most vocal critics of the illegitimate administration? Aren’t they being tagged “leftists” and “communists” as well? I don’t really know for sure if they are "leftists" or "communists". But for one, I’m sure they are nationalists, and pro-masses – in much the same light as Tañada, Diokno and Ninoy were.
So when Raul Gonzales and his ilk points an accusing finger at you and shouts at the top of his self-righteous voice that you are a “leftist”, a “communist collaborator” or a “destabilizer” – smile. What he really meant was that you are a nationalist, a freedom fighter, a defender of the oppressed and above all else, a man / woman of the masses.
