It’s Joma’s loss

Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Maria “Joma” Sison has no one to blame but himself if the peace process collapses.

The communist leader proved he and his lieutenants, all of them comfortably ensconced in their Dutch hideaway, have lost control on the New People’s Army (NPA).

Rody knows this since two conditions he gave for the talks to resume, which were the rebels stop their organized extortion called revolutionary taxation and that a mutual ceasefire should take effect, were never met.

Joma in response to Rody’s logical conditions, however, issued improbable counter demands which were the release of all political prisoners through a general amnesty and the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-economic Reforms (CASER) that included a proposal for the setting up of a coalition government.

Joma in a message in the draft CASER admitted that the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) asked Rody “to co-found” the Federal Republic of the Philippines “in order to override the existence of two governments, one revolutionary and the other reactionary.”

Joma in his latest statement last Thursday said “it would be easier for the communist-led NDFP to take part in the movement to oust President Duterte” than in pursuing the peace process to carrying out the genuine aim of the communist movement.

Rody allowed a 60-day window that would have started in June. However, doubts on the communist movement’s intention cropped up after Sison imposed a new condition of a “stand down” agreement that would have restricted government troops to their camps without a formal ceasefire deal.

Joma’s outlandish demands also proved the CPP-NDFP leadership is merely using the lull provided in the peace process to propagandize since it appeared to have lost touch with both the “masses” who Joma purportedly serves and the NPAs whom he claims to command.

Had the government agreed to the stand down offer of Joma, the government forces would have been at the losing end with the inability of Sison, the CPP and the NDFP to control the NPA.

Rody also earlier had said he would not accede to Sison’s demand that the negotiations be held abroad as he insisted it should be held in the country since the talk is among Filipinos.

Rody then ordered the suspension of the restart in the talks, citing the need to consult the public and for the government to review previous agreements with the NDFP.

On Joma’s statement indicating the NDFP’s probable pullout from the negotiations, Rody said: “If you want to cease overthrowing governments, fine. You want to talk? Come here. If you don’t want to, fine.”

Joma, indeed, will miss out on the opportunity to show to Filipinos the interests of both the CPP and the NDFP were parallel to the views of the public which maintain overwhelming support to Rody based on recent surveys if the talks are halted.

Joma’s statement that the NDFP can no longer negotiate but would instead work for a new government to whom it can talk to merely confirmed the suspicions of many that Sison and the yellows have been in cahoots in a destabilization plot.

Despite all his bluster, all that Joma and The Netherlands-based NDFP can muster are brave-sounding propagandas via Internet that are empty considering their cadres in the field either do not follow them or have already surrendered to the military.

The improvement of economic conditions in the once communist-infested regions has also greatly weakened the antiquated movement that Joma founded.

Joma has squandered the opportunity to stay relevant by pursuing the attainment of a peace deal which is truly lamentable on his part.

As it stands now, Joma and the communist movement he claims to lead will come out big losers if the negotiations are halted.