How to Kill Friends and Influence People
Communist Parties will seldom put the life of an individual before the "cause". Killing one's own allies for political advantage is certainly not unheard of in the movement. One of the best known examples occurred in the Philippines.
In 1971, in Manila the podium at an anti-Marcos, Liberal Party rally at the Plaza Miranda, was destroyed by two fragmentation grenades, killing nine people. Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos blamed the Communist Party of the Philippines and used it to justify declaring martial law. The people mainly blamed Marcos and sympathy for the Communists increased.
Several years later former Communists revealed that the bombing was carried out by Communist Party member Danny Cordero and planned by Party leader, Jose Maria Sison. According to writer Gregg Jones "Sison correctly calculated that the bombing would increase the 'contradictions' between the ruling classes, increase Communist Party membership and lead to greater cooperation with legal political opposition parties"
Writing in 2003, about the Communist Party of the Philippines assassination of former New People's Army chief Romulo "Rolly" Kintanar, Nathan Quimpo, a former member of the CPP's International Department, had this to say.
In 1986, during a Politburo discussion on who should replace the newly-resigned Rodolfo Salas as party chairperson, Kintanar, newly promoted to the Politburo, pushed for an internal party investigation of the Plaza Miranda bombing. He was overruled, however. (Back in 1972, Kintanar had been present when Danny Cordero, an able NPA commander, made an astounding confession just before he was executed by the party for insubordination: that he had thrown the grenades at Plaza Miranda in 1971 and that Sison himself had ordered the bombing.)
In 1971, in Manila the podium at an anti-Marcos, Liberal Party rally at the Plaza Miranda, was destroyed by two fragmentation grenades, killing nine people. Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos blamed the Communist Party of the Philippines and used it to justify declaring martial law. The people mainly blamed Marcos and sympathy for the Communists increased.
Several years later former Communists revealed that the bombing was carried out by Communist Party member Danny Cordero and planned by Party leader, Jose Maria Sison. According to writer Gregg Jones "Sison correctly calculated that the bombing would increase the 'contradictions' between the ruling classes, increase Communist Party membership and lead to greater cooperation with legal political opposition parties"
Writing in 2003, about the Communist Party of the Philippines assassination of former New People's Army chief Romulo "Rolly" Kintanar, Nathan Quimpo, a former member of the CPP's International Department, had this to say.
In 1986, during a Politburo discussion on who should replace the newly-resigned Rodolfo Salas as party chairperson, Kintanar, newly promoted to the Politburo, pushed for an internal party investigation of the Plaza Miranda bombing. He was overruled, however. (Back in 1972, Kintanar had been present when Danny Cordero, an able NPA commander, made an astounding confession just before he was executed by the party for insubordination: that he had thrown the grenades at Plaza Miranda in 1971 and that Sison himself had ordered the bombing.)
posted by Trevor Loudon at
6/10/2006 03:04:00 PM
3 Comments:
A lot of people who you would probably refer to as "communists" aren't particulary happy with the Fillipino communists. A couple of years ago the Communists called for famous well respected anti-globalisation activist, Walden Bello, to be executed. Most civil society groups in the Phillipines see them as thugs, not heroic revolutionaries. Good article in leftish social justice mag New Internationalist http://www.newint.org/issue381/currents.htm (at the bottom of the page).
It is rather ironic that the Phillipines military then uses the NPA links as an excuse to crack down on these same civil society groups that are being persecuted by the NPA.
Cameron, I only call people "communists" if they are CP members. Even then I usually use the more accurate term "socialists".
The Filopino left is very fragmented now, but the CPP is still "top dog" and will most likely lead any successful revolution.
They are murderous thugs and they do beat up on other leftists, but that has never stopped Keith Locke from supporting Sison.
How can you be opposed to the CPP and support an MP who has supported the CPP leader?
A far leftist might ask me a similar question. "Cameron how can you oppose ACT's neo-liberal economics but still support Trevor Loudon's ideas for reforming the police".
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