It is amusing to hear "red-tagged" persons and groups protesting loudly and vociferously and invoking freedom of the press and of speech to shield them from being criticized or labeled as supporters and front organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army.

These personalities have, likewise, used the constitutionally granted freedoms as excuses to justify their verbal and written narratives so obviously favoring terrorist groups. They have lambasted the government and strong anti-terrorist advocates for exposing them either as front organizations or disguised adherents of the enemies of the state.

Fifty-three years is mighty long for the Communist Party of the Philippines to gain a foothold on almost every part of our society. Using time-tested psychological warfare via propaganda, they have managed to expand their organizations and their sympathizers' base across the country.

Using the bogey but effective propaganda of the government's perennial delay, if not the total neglect of the marginalized members of society, they were able, in the early 70s, to convince idealistic students, the suffering labor workforce, and the landless farmers, of the on-the-surface nobility of their cause, and to join them either frontally or secretly.

It was not difficult then to be attracted and enamored by the communist rebels' constant barrage of anti-government propaganda using popular causes that relate to their plights. The future communist cadres and sympathizers grew geometrically, outraged by the constant plunderous assault on the taxpayers' money by government officials, by the inefficient government bureaucracy that provided public service in trickles, by the use by the oligarchs of natural resources to further enrich themselves at the expense of the suffering masses, by the abuses perpetrated by the men in uniform, and by the growing gap between the rich and the poor.

These communists were able to galvanize oppressed and progressive forces and unify themselves into effective purveyors of hate and disenchantment against the constituted authorities. These anti-government and anti-oligarchic sentiments have culminated in street demonstrations with their violent dispersals serving as an added impetus to their massive recruitment in the countryside.

They almost succeeded in seizing the reins of government but their aggressive march to communism was thwarted by the exercise of the emergency power, derailing completely their ambitious plan to supplant the democratic way of life with their tantalizing offer of national democracy, deceivingly described as a genuine distribution of wealth among the oppressed populace and the elimination of the exploiters that have control over the means of production, but actually a euphemism for communism.

Nonetheless, despite the decimation of their numbers, they have continued to propagandize their anti-establishment perorations and have reorganized themselves after a bloody internal elimination of those they perceived to be infiltrating government agents.

For a time, their front organizations' leaders were able to get themselves elected into office, and others appointed to sensitive positions in the government.

Fortunately, the Duterte presidency became their albatross. The massive government response of the Duterte administration to the needs of those in the far-flung areas of the archipelago triggered the surrender and numerous returns to the fold of the law of erstwhile rebels. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte's unorthodox, strong-willed, compassionate brand of leadership resonated with the Filipino people. His war against illegal drugs, his merciless crusade against criminals, his unstoppable, unequivocal and tough foray against the Muslim terrorists and the communist insurgents, his firing of corrupt and inefficient officials, his massive infrastructure program that laid the foundation for the emergence of a vibrant economy, and his constant physical presence with the people in times of emergencies and calamities have restored the trust and confidence of the governed to their government.

The leftist-leaning organizations, by way of party list electoral entry to Congress, have suffered a humiliating setback as their true political alliance with the CPP-NPA is constantly and effectively exposed.

It is so easy to identify these front organizations and personalities espousing popular causes but in truth, adherents of the communist ideology. They have never condemned the atrocities, the murders, the abductions, the ambushes, and the attacks against the government. They will never do that because they will be unmasking themselves.

It's good that the Filipino people have seen through the deception and the hypocrisy. Their pretensions can not withstand the fires of truth. Never again will the rest of the nation be hoodwinked by them. They have been unmasked.