How the Left must evolve

The capture of the power couple, Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, heads of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army, is certainly of a much different magnitude than the capture of a Delfin Lee or even a Janet Lim Napoles. After all, Lee and Napoles may have been allegedly multibillion-peso swindlers but they were not trying to bring the government down.

The historical and political consequences of the Tiamzon capture are now being debated. Some are saying this will lead to the total marginalization of the communist movement and the end of the armed struggle. Certainly the remnants of the movement will continue their violent practices. But this will be more in the form of banditry and armed robberies than part of an armed struggle to install a Communist system in this country.

There are those who will claim, with much bravado, that the communist movement will continue and will even grow stronger, drawing strength from armed revolution, and replacing the capitalist system with the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist economic system. Even Russia and China have shifted to capitalism complete with stock markets, private enterprise and market driven prices.

However, several financial meltdowns and business excesses have led observers to see that capitalism cannot remain unfettered. Even Pope Francis has said that he does not believe in trickle down capitalism.

The alternative – and the balancing factor – to the excesses of the extreme right is a left of center or a social democratic, or even a socialist political alternative. But in this country no such viable political grouping exists.

The main reason that a legitimate leftist political party has never gained traction here is that the image of the left – and its red flags – has always represented advocacy of violence to the overwhelming majority of the Filipino people. And in this homeland of the People Power Revolution, large scale violence is anathema to the concept of a bloody revolution.

But we have the so-called militant groups that have tried to monopolize the left of the political spectrum and yet have refused to publicly condemn armed struggle and violent revolution. And anytime a non-violent group on the left attempts to enter the political arena, the Old Left, trying to monopolize both the armed struggle and the political arenas, call these groups as non-legitimate leftists.

The saddest thing is that the best chance of a true leftist capturing political supremacy in this country is through the political arena, through democratic means, through the ballot. There is simply no way the armed struggle approach will result in any political gains for the left.

If somehow a strong political party advocating socialist ideologies and representing the masses and even the lower middle class can project an image that they have absolutely no link to those advocating violence, then this party has a chance at scoring political victories. Even better, if the armed struggle movement disappears or finally becomes negligible, then the task of political image building becomes easier.

This political party of the Left must, however, be inclusive, and project a big tent able to include all the different elements on the left. Political struggles, unlike ideological wars, are won by inclusiveness, not by ideological purity.

This is the way the Labor Party in England and the Socialist Party in Japan gained political strength.

But even if this alliance building succeeds, the task is still gigantic. One of the basic weaknesses that will have to be overcome is that the Philippines has a very weak labor sector in terms of political base. In England, labor unions were the foundation of the Labor Party.

There are several reasons why organized labor is so politically weak in this country. One reason is the widespread use of contractual labor, which is not eligible to join unions. Also, since contractual are not permanent or regular employees, they are not in companies long enough to be organized; or even if they stay, these types of employees are subject to management pressure since they can be dismissed even without cause.

Skilled and educated workers normally form the core of the leadership of organized labor at the factory floor level. In this country, for the past few decades, dissatisfied skilled workers do not resort to organizing labor unions. Instead they look for better paying jobs outside the country as OFWs.

With trade liberalization and the opening up of China trade to the world, factories in the Philippines in labor intensive industries have closed. These sectors include garments, textiles, footwear, toys, ceramics, appliances and many others. This phenomenon has again caused the deprivation of a potentially large membership base.

The sectors with growing employment are in the service sectors like construction, banks and BPOs. Construction workers are hired on a project basis and, therefore, almost impossible to unionize. Banks and BPOs hire college graduates who do not see themselves as potential union members. Their aspiration is normally to eventually join the managerial or entrepreneurial class.

But in spite of the many obstacles, it is critical that a legitimate political movement representing the populist views of the working masses be adequately and ably represented in all democratic exercises in this country.

Democracy is not just having the right to vote. It includes the power to make national decisions. And it is here where all sectors of the population and all opposing ideological views are to be given the right to make a difference.

The end of the armed struggle as part of its ideology and acceptance of democracy might finally make the Left, by whatever label it uses, acceptable as a viable political alternative.

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