EDITORIAL – Dead end

Jose Ma. Sison, founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines, denied that the rebel movement was behind the assassination of Romulo Kintanar, former chieftain of the New People’s Army. But yesterday one of Sison’s allies, Gregorio Rosal, finally admitted that the NPA carried out the hit on its former commander. Rosal, in a statement, said a special unit of the NPA "punished Kintanar" for crimes against the communist movement and the people. Rosal then proceeded to enumerate what he said were the crimes of Kintanar, who turned his back on the rebel movement in 1992.

This is like the pot calling the kettle black. One day Rosal himself, after sitting down to a lunch perhaps of steaming bulalo, may find himself face to face with the nozzles of a .45 and a .9mm, the target of his own comrades who will accuse him posthumously of crimes against their movement. And the public’s reaction to his fate will be the same: If these rebels want to finish each other off, good riddance.

If Rosal’s claim is true, Kintanar’s murder can only highlight once again how the communist movement has turned into an anachronism, with no place in a free society. During the unjust and oppressive martial law regime, its brand of swift justice lured many idealistic members and sympathizers. But these days its method of dispensing justice — through cadres who act as accuser, judge and executioner rolled into one — can attract only the most desperate, people naïve enough to think the ways of violence will not be used against them one day.

Even Sison’s denial does not speak well of his movement. Sison continues to beg The Hague for Dutch citizenship, but the prospects for this dimmed after Washington classified him as a terrorist. If his denial is sincere, then it indicates he has lost control over his men. If he is lying, it shows a leader who is not man enough to take responsibility for the actions of his group.

In the past years the communist movement has been heading inexorably toward a dead end. Kintanar’s assassination can only speed up the process.