I have reason to doubt Father Hilario Lim’s claim (Inquirer, Dec. 21) to far more experience in combat areas and in prison camps than Ross H. Munro has. Still, I fail to see how Father Lim’s superior knowledge in this regard invalidates Mr. Munro’s thesis about a brutal NPA, a thesis he reported with interviews with various Filipino leftists, a review of their written work, and accounts of their military and paramilitary activities.

True, any cleric deciding whether to join the Christians for National Liberation must spend a much longer time in self-reflection than Mr. Munro did when he wrote his article. But again, I fail to see the validity of the comparison: writing an article is a one-shot deal; joining the CNL is a life-time (and perhaps, even a life-and-death) commitment.

Finally, Father Lim appeals to the unquestioned sincerity of Sister Marianni and Fathers De la Torre, Balweg, and Jalondoni. But what is relevant here is the result of their actions, not the purity of their motives.

May I remind Father Lim than when our Divine Master warned us 2,000 years ago that there would arise false Christs and false prophets, He said: By their fruits you shall know them." He did not say, "By their roots you shall know them."
 

POLLY HERNANDO