Tiamzon couple's arrest may lead to a resumption of peace talks?

The arrest of the Tiamzon couple is described by President Aquino as a "big blow" to the CPP-NPA-NDF. For nearly two decades already, the Tiamzons, specifically Benito and his common-law wife, Wilma Austria have managed to control the levers of power of the Communist Party of the Philippines, as its chairman and finance officer, respectively. Now, with their second arrest, it seems that this is the end of the line, particularly for "Ka Cello", or Benito Tiamzon.

Or, so they thought.

The CPP is made up of at least ffteen revolutionary groups. It is a closed and monolithic organisation. I am pretty sure that the CPP-NPA-NDF have already resolved the issue of succession many moons ago. And it would be easy for them to resolve this one now, with Benito Tiamzon. Fact is, the party may have already called for a plenum and elected a replacement for Tiamzon.

There are talks however, that the Tiamzons were arrested after a high Party official tipped the government off. Why would this official give that tip?

Last year, peace adviser Alex Padilla threw his hands in the air as a sign of surrender. Padilla revealed that Jose Maria Sison, the founder of the party and now consultant of the NDF based in Utretcht is reportedly open to the possibility of resuming peace talks. The problem is, forces "on the ground", meaning members of the Politburo reportedly disagreed with Sison, particularly the "power couple", the Tiamzons.

There are persistent talks that the Tiamzon couple oppose the peace talks because they don't trust President Aquino. The Tiamzons likewise echoed the general sentiments of members of the Politburo.

Now, with the Tiamzons out of the equation, will the NDF based in Utretcht convey a message to the Philippine panel of their willingness to open the discussion? Joma Sison in an interview over at ABS-CBN revealed that the NDF panel will travel to Oslo, Norway to express their willingness to resume talks with the Philippine government.

Will these talks proceed as promised, given that the Tiamzons have already been "neutralized"?

Patient Patriots

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Joma's Prognosis of the 2010 Elections

Joma Sison's insights continue to amaze political pundits in this country. Despite being away for so long in exile, Joma's statements still packs a punch. Recently, the former CPP Chairman's statements were published. This is about his own views on the "presidentiables". He says that the man to watch is Defense Secretary Teodoro.

I wrote in Filipinovoices.com that Teodoro is really Gloria's closest ace for the elections. I heard from one of the closest advisers of the devil infant that she's grooming Teodoro to replace her. This is a stark contrast to some views that Noli's the "anointed one". I don't believe it for a second. Noli remains popular in perception; yet the prospect of him winning the top plum is, I think, more speculative than anything.

However, I am quite surprised why our last remaining credible Marxist-Leninist-Mao Tsetung resident head seems too engrossed on elections. If I remember my Marxism, elections are to be frown upon is'nt? Was that statement an indirect admission by the CPP top leadership that they're abandoning the oust gloria before 2010 movement and instead, looking forward to 2010? If that is the direction, then, quite possibly, does this mean that the CPP head honcho is more concerned now with the survival of the party's representatives in Congress than push thru with the protracted people's war?

That's the problem with the current CPP leadership--it's wishy-washy. It does not have the strong backbone we, the people, expect it to have. I expect Joma to lambast Gloria's government for its continued oppression of the people. I expect Joma etal to convince the public to participate in the continuing struggle rather than set their sights on the 2010 elections. Is the party going the pacifist route? Has the looong struggle already mellowed the leadership, numbing their ideological selves and turning them into veritable compromisers?

This is another problem--the "protractiveness" of this people's war. When is it going to ascend the next stage--from strategic stalemate to strategic victory? Are we going to wait another 40 years before this revolutionary victory becomes reality? Are these stages just products of Joma's fertile imagination or these are reality-based analytics going haywire?

I have been analyzing what happened to Bayan Muna and Anakpawis and why did they suddenly went into silent mode with the Meralco issue. The last statement I heard was a praise for the Arroyo administration for granting a measly 10 pesos wage hike. What the..? Are we being inconsistent here?