Poverty is Not the Cause of Insurgency

“Hindi tama ang pananaw na ang root cause ng communist insurgency ay kahirapan. Ang kahirapan ay gatong. Hindi spontaneous at random ang pagkakaroon ng communist insurgency dahil may kahirapan, no. Nagsisimula ang communist insurgency dahil may nag-oorganisa, may nagtatanim at yan ay mga cadre [It is not correct to assume that the root cause of communist insurgency is poverty. Communist insurgency is not a random occurrence. It starts because there is somebody agitating, somebody is organizing, and they are the cadres]. What’s my point? Eliminate the cadres because they exploit the people and foment organized violence. The reality is even if there are valid socio-economic and political issues people would not resort to organized violence to resolve them. Ang hukbo na walang mga commander at walang ‘baseng masa’ magiging rebeldeng lagalag o hukbong bandido [An army that has no commander, or leader, and has no ‘mass base’ will surely become a lost army or an army of bandits].” Victor said.

“The urban mass movement, or the recruitment in the urban centers, is where the cancer of communism starts. Bakit kanser? Ang kanser ay hindi nakikita kaagad hanggang sa ito ay malala na. Hindi mo mararamdaman agad ang kanser sa simula because cancer is asymptomatic, wala siyang symptoms na madaling makita. Kaya ‘yun aming mga urban mass movement ay cancerous ‘yan. Harmless siya kunwari pero nagkukutkot siya ng napakalaking problema [Why cancer? You cannot easily detect cancer at the onset until it becomes malignant. Cancer is asymptomatic, there are no easily visible symptoms. It appears harmless but in reality, it steadily progresses into a huge problem],” Victor added. 

--THE WARS WITHIN (2020 / Copy&Share)