WAS the deliberate act of Facebook to take down accounts and pages critical of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its “legal democratic forces” represented by the ‘Makabayan Bloc’ in Congress a reflection of the “protective attitude” of US Imperialism towards the local communist movement?
This was the intriguing question hinted at by Southern Luzon Command (Solcom) chief, Lt. General Antonio ‘Jun’ Parlade, in an opinion piece that appeared last October 2, 2020 at the Manila Times.
The outspoken critic of the CPP and Makabayan Bloc noted that aside from the taking down the ‘Hands Off Our Children’ (HOOC) movement page last September 22, 2020, the social media giant had also previously taken down other anti-communist accounts and pages and those taking up “advocacies of the government.
“Earlier than the HOOC incident, a number of other takedowns had been undertaken by Facebook against pages and accounts identified as taking up advocacies of the government, particularly advocacies advancing the campaign against the CPP/NPA/ National Democratic Front (NDF) insurgency.
“Would that indicate that Facebook is siding with the communist terrorists,” Parlade asked.
There is nothing new about US Imperialism creating ‘freedom fighters’ all over the world but who later on became the progenitors of the global terrorist network.
It is now known that the leadership of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and also, Osama Bin Laden were among the original ‘mujahedin’ that were trained by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to fight the Soviet Union after the latter’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
Other than the ASG, US Imperialism is also “protective” of the MILF; one of the reasons why US Imperialism supported the power grab against Pres. Joseph Estrada was his rejection of the appeal from then US President Bill Clinton to stop his “war” against the MILF that he started in 1999 in an effort to finally bring peace in Mindanao.
But for his illegal removal in 2001, the campaign could have been a success.
For his part, despite accusation of “treason,” former president Noynoy Aquino agreed to meet with the MILF leadership in Japan in a talk brokered by US Imperialism, on August 5, 2011 on how to revive the peace process.
At the time Aquino scurried to Japan “for a 20-hour secret meeting” with MILF chair, Murad Ebrahim, the MILF is considered a “terrorist organization.”
Curiously too, the CPP, since Pres. Duterte was elected president in 2016, has hewed closely to the foreign policy of US Imperialism anchored on the demonization of China and domestically, in the ouster campaign of the local opposition who were long known local puppets of US Imperialism.
And as the Democratic Party is already looking forward to a ‘post-Donald Trump’ scenario after the US presidential election this November, the CPP announced it is entering into a “peace talk” with Vice President Lenie Robredo, apparently, US Imperialism’s “anointed” successor to Pres. Duterte, regardless whether the Chief Executive finishes his term in 2022 or not.
It should be noted that Robredo suddenly has a complete “makeover”—from her physical look to her speeches– in order to project an image that she can be trusted by Filipinos from all walks of life, thus bringing to mind the US’ success in “selling” Ramon Magsaysay and recently, Noynoy Aquino, as the country’s “right” leader.
Facebook, Parlade pointed out further, “has been known to be partial, above all, to the policymakers of the United States, without mentioning the so-called Deep State.”
“If then Facebook reflects an attitude of the US government, then Facebook’s protective attitude toward the CPP/NPA/NDF insurgency could amount to a protective attitude of the US government.
“What does that, therefore, make of the CPP/NPA/NDF insurgency,” Parlade asked further.
Is the CPP therefore just another terrorist group under the protection of US Imperialism and that all its “anti-imperialist” rhetoric are a sham?
And that Facebook’s decision to remove accounts and pages critical of the CPP and those advocating the government’s point of view is not only a reflection of US Imperialism’s “protective attitude” towards the CPP, but also, to further destabilize the Duterte administration by limiting the use of Facebook to critics and enemies of the government?