CPP denies endorsing Duterte’s presidential bid

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – Breaking its silence on the issue, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) yesterday said it is not endorsing Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s presidential bid. 

Neither would it be “participating in the elections, more so in endorsing or supporting any of the presidential candidates,” the CPP said.

A labor federation also expressed doubts on whether Duterte would fight labor contractualization, also known as end of contract or “endo.”

Nagkaisa said only Vice President Jejomar Binay, Sen. Grace Poe, and administration standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II signed the covenant “calling for the repeal of the notorious and rampant contractual work scheme in the country.” 

Earlier this week, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago claimed that Duterte is the “official candidate” of the New People’s Army (NPA).

But “contrary to Senator Santiago’s claims, Mayor Duterte is not being endorsed nor supported by the Party or the NPA,” said the CPP, the NPA’s political arm. 

Likewise, the CPP dismissed reports by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) that NPA members in Samar are campaigning for Duterte. “These are pure lies.” 

The CPP observed that “Duterte has espoused certain advocacies that strike a chord among the Filipino people and their national democratic forces, including calling for peace negotiations to address the roots of the armed conflict.” 

However, the CPP added that “Duterte has mostly styled himself as an anti-crime crusader, a socialist and a radical in an effort to win over the people who long have been disillusioned with the rotten ruling system.”

The party said he has also advocated such counter-progressive neoliberal economic policies as expanding the public-private partnership program, banning unions and strikes, providing big bourgeois compradors with state-guaranteed profits, liberalizing trade and giving even more incentives to foreign investors. 

The CPP said it also notes with keen interest Duterte’s promise to immediately declare a ceasefire to pave the way for peace negotiations if ever he wins. “Duterte’s promise, indeed, strikes a chord with the Filipino people who have long aspired for substantial progress in the NDFP-GRP peace negotiations after more than 15 years of being stalled.”

A Duterte presidency, the CPP said, “can push forward peace negotiations by upholding all previous agreements from the foundational The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992 to the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) of 1998 and complying with the GRP obligations under the JASIG by ordering the release of all NDFP consultants and political detainees.”

Before NPA guerrillas in Davao last week, Duterte reportedly declared he would be the first “Left president” of the Philippines.

But the CPP believes Duterte’s rhetoric is done “in the hope of boosting his chances of gaining popular support,” thus the “radical sound bites. Talk is cheap especially during the electoral campaign.” 

The CPP further explained that despite Duterte’s “radicalism,” he has yet to espouse “any fundamental shift from the general run of neoliberal economic policy of the past 30 or so years.” 

 Rather, it added, “he has promised to expand privatization and deregulation and declared plans to provide state funds to Lucio Tan and his ilk of big bourgeois compradors; and liberalization of trade by allowing the dumping of surplus steel from China.” – With Jess Diaz