January 17, 1986
BULLETIN TODAY

One of the most controversial portions of Ross H. Munro’s "A long hard look at the NPA: The new Khmer rouge" is the identification of certain organizations as communist fronts.

As members and critics of these organizations debate this issue, I am led to ask: how relevant really is the question of whether this or that group is a communist front?

Even if we accept that communists are active in Task Force Detainees, we would still have to balance the good that the TFD does for the many people who have been unjustly incarcerated against the good that the TFD does to communists (let us grant, for the sake of argument, that the fact of being communist is sufficient justification for detention).

As for the Bagong Alyasang Makabayan (BAYAN), we should similarly consider what has been done. Having observed its clumsy and arrogant attempts to dominate the Opposition and failing that, its blatant efforts to torpedo any moves to unit the Opposition, and still failing that, its dog-in-the-manger call for a boycott of the elections, I am convinced that this power-mad, divisive, and Machiavellian society is a cancer on the body politic which should be excised as quickly as possible -- whether or not it is a communist front.

The point I am driving at that we should judge organizations on the basis of the good and harm that they do. Beyond these, we should evaluate the honesty with which they present themselves and their programs to the citizenry. Rather than asking whether a group is a communist front, we should determine whether the organization is telling the truth about itself and if not, why it is parading under false colors

There are many organizations -- left, right, and center -- each claiming some worthy cause but in fact furtively furthering its own hidden agenda. Such groups should be treated with the same skepticism with which we approach groups which appear to be communist fronts.

Ultimately, the group’s performance and honesty are the issues, not the presence of communists in the ranks.

QUIRINO TORRES