A postdoctoral scholar of Nanyang Technological Institute will be delivering an online lecture tomorrow, 26 August 2020 on the Communist Party of the Philippines’ decision to endorse President Duterte, but declare him a fascist two years later.
The lecture, which will start at 3 pm Singapore time is titled “First as tragedy, second as farce: Marcos, Duterte, and the Communist Parties of the Philippines”.
Joseph Scalice, in his Facebook page asked: “Why did the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), along with the various groups associated with its political line, rush to endorse Rodrigo Duterte when he was elected president in 2016? Why after less than two years did they declare him a fascist?”
The lecture will also explore parallels in history specifically in the 1970s when the first Communist Party, the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas led by Luis Taruc and Jesus Lava threw its support behind the Marcos dictatorship.
Scalice will also explore the class logic of the support of the PKP then towards Marcos then, and the support of the CPP now towards Duterte.
“While the founders of the CPP broke from the PKP in 1967, there remained an underlying programmatic continuity between the rival parties,” Scalice noted.
In a separate post, Scalice noted that the support of the CPP and allied organizations towards Duterte goes a long way — even back when he was mayor of Davao, pointing out that the Left has been “instrumental in building his political career”.
“He could never have become president without their assistance,” Scalice.
The CPP and its front organizations also continued its support for Duterte despite the latter’s announcements that he would wage “a campaign of mass murder”, or specifically the war on drugs.
Scalice cited among others the New People’s Army’s declaration thag it would work with government in the war on drugs, while Ang Bayan, the CPP’s official news organ, wrote: “The CPP welcomes President Duterte’s call of cooperation with the revolutionary forces against widespread drug trafficking.”
Luis Jalandoni of the National Democratic Front stated in Ang Bayan that “the relationship between the revolutionary movement and President Duterte is excellent.”
Sison himself also staged a celebratory message when Duterte was elected, and even signed statements with “Long Live President Duterte.”
Scalice also cited various groups “affiliated with the political line of the party” who proclaimed the war on drugs to be “a boon to poor.”
The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan also staged demonstrations in support of the president, with no less than Renato Reyes publicly posing with then PNP Chief now Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa who had been welcomed as an invited speaker on BAYAN’s platform.
