As President Duterte retreated from his challenge to debate with retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) published an editorial article last May 7, Friday, asserting that “Philippine freedom and rights over its seas and marine resources are diminished due to Duterte’s kowtowing to China and national treachery.”
The editorial released by CPP’s newspaper, Ang Bayan, highlighted President Duterte’s ‘national treachery’ regarding the territorial dispute in the WPS. The issue resurfaced in public discourse after Duterte sent out tirades to Carpio and challenged the former to a debate. However, immediately a day after, Duterte backed out and sent Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque as his substitute. Due to the dramatic turn of events, the debate did not push through.
Carpio commented that Duterte’s latest public remark discrediting the Philippines’ 2016 win in the Permanent Court of Arbitration—which recognized our territorial claims to disputed islands in the WPS and nullified China’s imaginary nine-dash line— as “just a piece of paper” is an impeachable offense. But impeachment is unrealistic when the majority of the Congress professed allegiance to Duterte, despite several instances of obviously siding with China in stand-offs and issues against Filipinos.
CPP said that, in exchange for cheap yet superprofitable Sinovac doses from China, Duterte has been compromising our national sovereignty using the pretext of “friendship” and “mutual respect.”
They further asserted that the current administration did not side with Filipino fishermen who were constantly harassed by Chinese state forces encroaching the Kalayaan Group of Islands. In 2019, a Chinese vessel collided with and sank a Filipino fishing boat, F/B Gem-Ver 1, near Recto Bank in the WPS.
Much worse, the Philippines’ claims to disputed islands are compromised by stupid remarks from high-ranking officials. Roque peddled lies to the public when he said that the Julian Felipe Reef, just 175 nautical miles of Bataraza, Palawan, is not part of the Philippine exclusive economic zone (EEZ)—areas that are 200 nautical miles from the shoreline and considered part of our patrimony. The remark was made after dozens of Chinese ships were stationed in the said reef last month.
The revolutionary movement led by the CPP insisted that “Duterte’s obsequiousness to China is unacceptable to the Filipino people. It is nothing less than national treachery that he has allowed China to claim Philippine territorial seas and despoil and plunder our natural wealth. He has betrayed, in general, the national interests of the entire Philippines.”
Communist rebels also slammed the Duterte administration’s use of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) forces and weapons to aim at its political opponents and critics rather than defending Philippine waters. This week, the Bicol Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) is reported to implement focused military operations in 10 barangays in Camarines Sur as part of its P19-billion counter-insurgency program.
Given that Duterte’s national treachery is exposed with his staunch defense of China’s occupation and serial attacks on the people, the Maoist revolutionaries called on the masses to defend Philippine sovereignty and rights by organizing a broad united front.
“Duterte’s [treason] must be condemned, made to account, ousted and punished for his betrayal,” CPP added.
The CPP expounded that the people should mobilize in the streets and utilize other avenues of political action to express their frustration with Duterte’s lopsided foreign policy and subservience to dominant foreign interests. They also ordered the New People’s Army (NPA) to launch more tactical offensives against the AFP as military battalions prioritize suppressing dissent rather than militarized encroachment in our naval borders.
CPP emphasized that “defending the Philippine seas and resources against Chinese aggression and plunder form part of the continuing struggle of the people to resist imperialist domination and to end the Philippine neocolonial status and attain genuine national freedom.”
Featured Image courtesy of Kuris-kuris.
