A growing insurgency

It's disheartening to learn that the communist insurgency is gaining strength. Communism has been widely discredited in the past decade, and the few countries that remain communist are on their way to embracing the free market. The Philippine communist movement has splintered, with the original group begging the Netherlands for political asylum, and the breakaway faction better known for terrorist publicity stunts, extortion and other forms of banditry. Yet a report said Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado admitted this week that communist guerrillas are gaining ground and even forging unlikely alliances with local government officials.

Mercado's assessment can only be reinforced by the sight of a ranking member of the communist urban hit squad Alex Boncayao Brigade meeting the press at a regular forum in Metro Manila, saying the ABB could not be punished even after admitting that it bombed the main office of the Department of Energy. The ABB member remains free, protected by the group's ongoing peace negotiations with the government. If that's not strength, what is?

The local communist movement has a history of gaining strength during periods of public discontent. It fed on peasant unrest in Central Luzon in the years before and after the war, and reached its peak at the height of atrocities perpetrated by the Marcos regime. The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe weakened the Philippine insurgency. But Mercado said the communists started regaining lost ground in 1995, with membership growing by 18.5 percent until December last year.

Mercado said the rebels are exploiting those left behind in the government's development programs. He won't say it, but ineffective government feeds insurgencies. The easiest targets of rebel recruitment are those who think their leaders are corrupt, abusive and inept, people who think they can't get justice and equal protection under the law, who see no bright future for themselves or their loved ones. Insurgencies can't be wiped out by military force alone. If the communist insurgency has been gaining strength, the government must look into itself to find out what it's doing wrong.