Lorenzana to Joma: Dream on

MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana yesterday lashed out at Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Maria Sison, calling him “a dreamer” who no longer has control over his forces.

“Dream on, Mr. Sison. Hold on to your misguided dreams because they are all that’s left for you. The world has moved on while you continue to wallow in your delusions of grandeur,” Lorenzana said.

“The reality on the ground is that your fighters, whom you have abandoned in order to seek the comforts of the Netherlands, are wizening up and returning to the folds of the law in great numbers,” he added.

Lorenzana issued the statement after Sison rejected the government’s move to hold localized peace negotiations with the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.

He said Sison’s rejection of localized peace talks is nothing but “a noisy distraction like the barking of a dog that is best ignored.” 

“Did he think that the government would stop just because the ‘mighty’ Sison rejects it? Fat chance, Mr. Sison. Do you really think that you still hold sway over events here in the Philippines?” he said.

Lorenzana also slammed Sison for his claim that the government is wasting money in pursuing peace by helping former rebels start anew. 

“If the money given to those returning to society so that they will have stable and sustainable livelihoods, so that their families will have medical care, so that their children can go to school, so that they will have the resources to start new lives and put food on their tables is a waste of money, so be it. Let us waste more money on these kinds of endeavors then,” he said.

Lorenzana said the real waste of money is the monies that he and the NPA have extorted “under the guise of your so-called ‘revolutionary taxation scheme’ that are never accounted for.”

“While we are at it, let us also include the money spent to maintain your luxurious lifestyle in the Netherlands. Now, that is a real waste of money.”

Sison on Saturday said President Duterte and his administration are getting isolated. He said Duterte is “ripe for ouster.”

Sison came out with a lengthy statement citing several reasons why Duterte is ripe for picking.

He said a number of Duterte’s followers had left his camp after the President attacked the Catholic Church and had put into question his sanity and competence to govern.
According to Sison, there is now a growing movement for the ouster of the Duterte regime.

Sison said the process of ousting a president has been successful in the cases of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and Joseph Estrada in 2001 without the NPA having to engage in battles in Metro Manila and the CPP having to take power.
“Indeed, Duterte has more to fear from his own assumed instruments of terror than from the NPA. Reports are rife that a moderate group of military officers is poised to demand the resignation of Duterte. Another group is poised to take action in order to compel the ouster or resignation of Duterte,” Sison said. – With Jose Rodel Clapano