‘Wolves in sheep clothing’

FOR all the flak (again) that Lt. General Antonio ‘Jun’ Parlade has received over his ‘Satan’ comment involving an organizer of a ‘community pantry’ in Quezon City two weeks ago, it turned out that he is right (again).

Parlade’s comment is in the context of his warning that the community pantry is ripe for exploitation by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) thru its legal front organizations with the (always) ready support of their allies and fellow travelers in the mainstream media.

If only to avoid confusion, we stress that this paper also supports the sprouting up these community pantries all over the country; they showcase the best in our character—matulungin sa kapwa, mapagbigay, mapagkawanggawa.  In other words, these CPs are the Filipino ‘Bayanihan Spirit’ in action.

But especially for our lawmakers to rant, out of their immaculate ignorance, against Parlade for warning us of the danger of communist exploitation of this community initiative only make them look foolish in the end. By shooting through their mouth, they end up shooting at their foot.

For as it turned out, Parlade’s warning proved true as there is now documented and reported CPs—organized by CPP fronts—who have been distributing propaganda pamphlets against the government as part of the handouts they are giving to those partaking of their CP goods.

Now, pray, was Parlade correct about his warning or not?

The problem with some of us, especially those who liked to fancy themselves as “smart” and “intelligent” (and there are a lot of them in Congress) is that we tend to view anyone in military uniform as a “suspect” whose words should always be accepted with a ton of salt.

But stupidly, they would like to consider the utterance of those self-described “activists,” “pro-people” and “human rights defenders” as gospel truth.

Indeed, we continue to be amazed that for many of our lawmakers, evidence gathered by the government during encounters with communist terrorists and even the confessions of former CPP cadres that the government is correct and is telling the truth on the CPP affiliation of many of these “people’s organizations” and personalities, such facts are merely given cursory attention, as “minor details” that pose no threat to our way of life and our democracy.

It is this ability by the CPP to confuse many of us—indeed their amalgam of established fronts in all layers of our society can lead to confusion– that has made possible its long staying power– more than five decades now.

Unless all of us wake up to the fact that we are engage with an enemy active on all fronts and in all sectors of our society, in other words, unless all of us wake up to the fact that among us are wolves dressed in sheep clothing, we will continue to fail to distinguish “who” is our real enemy and “who” is our friend and ally in this unceasing fight.

Or is it our politicians are already aware of this but would not dare act because of their own political ambition? Besides the 2022 election is just around the corner.

As one of our local sayings also puts it, “mahirap gisingin ang taong dati nang gising.”