Sison doubts Duterte’s revolutionary war threat

MANILA, Philippines — Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison on Friday expressed doubts on President Rodrigo Duterte’s threat to declare a revolutionary war. He called the President a “bureaucrat capitalist.”

“Duterte cannot engage in a revolutionary war because he is a counterrevolutionary agent of foreign monopoly capitalists, big compradors and big landlords. He is a bureaucrat capitalist of the worst kind,” Sison said in a statement.

Sison’s comment after Duterte warned that he will suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus and establish a revolutionary government if the country fell into chaos due to an alleged ouster plot against him.

The President was furious at opposition Senator Franklin Drilon for asking his administration to be cautious in canceling contracts the government has entered into as he even threatened to arrest his critics.

READ: Duterte twits Drilon, threatens to suspend writ of habeas corpus

The CPP founder added that Duterte should not taint the “noble calling of revolutionary,” noting that the 74-year-old leader is “hell-bent” on imposing a fascist dictatorship on the Filipino people.

“He should not misappropriate and besmirch the noble calling of revolutionary. He is a tyrant, traitor, plunderer and mass murderer hell-bent on imposing a fascist dictatorship on the Filipino people through charter change to a bogus kind of federalism,” Sison said.

The CPP founder added that the people will “wage all forms of revolutionary resistance” if Duterte suspends the writ of habeas corpus and impose martial law nationwide.

“If he formally proclaims the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus or even martial law nationwide, he will only succeed in further enraging the people and inciting them to wage all forms of revolutionary resistance,” Sison said.

“The real revolutionary war is against his ongoing counterrevolutionary war,” he added. /ee