According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), the world’s longest running Communist insurgency is in the Philippines that commenced in the 1960s and there is no clarity on when it will end. Although the word communism is not new to the ears of Filipinos, many do not understand its meaning and philosophy.

In order for a child to easily understand the difference between the various socio-political-economic “isms”, an economist father told his child to imagine owning two cows as the basic premise. In Socialism, one cow remains with the child and the second cow is given by the government to the neighbor who has no cow (ubuntu in action). In Communism, the communist government will forcibly take the two cows since you are not allowed to own property, and give a share of the milk to the child. In Fascism, the fascist government will violently take the two cows since the State is supreme, and sell you the milk. In Bureaucratism, the highly wasteful government will still compulsorily take the two cows, and kills one and milks the second and throws away the milk. In Capitalism, the capitalist will sell one cow and the sales proceeds thereof he will use to buy a bull to mate with the other cow.

For Karl Marx (1818-1883), the promise of the Industrial Revolution to create a society free from poverty was not fulfilled. Marx witnessed the expanding wealth of greedy capitalists who built factories using the newly discovered technologies of the time, and the patent poverty of many workers (Proletarians), who used to be farmers (Peasants) that migrated from the countryside, and are forced to inhabit dwellings with subhuman conditions, and endure pitiful wages and work in dirty, hot, and unsafe factories in Europe. The capitalist and the proletarian social classes have conflicting interests since the former wants more profit that cannot be realized without sacrificing wages and working conditions of the latter. Marx said that an inevitable clash between the two classes will occur. Marx explained that in Capitalism, the products coming from an assembly line in a factory are produced by many hands but at the end of the day, it is the capitalist who exclusively owns the product. This causes “alienation” or the dissolution of the dignity a “peasant” often feels in his produce that he himself cultivated. This alienation will push the working class to revolt because they have nothing to lose except the chains of poverty. The Communist solution is the abolition of private property to eradicate poverty as everyone returns to the original state of nature where everything is owned in common.

Marx’s view is contrary to the Davis-Moore Thesis which calls for an unequal reward system based on ability and fitness to encourage people to work hard because greater reward awaits the hardworking and capable person.

Ralf Dahrendorf(1959) explained the four points why there is no wave of Marxist Revolution in this era: 1. Expansion of the number of owners of giant corporations which are now owned by thousands of people and this includes the workers of the company; 2. Higher quality of life due to modern technology; 3. More labor organizations are considered partners ,and not enemies, of the capitalist; 4. More labor standard laws that favor workers.

Tomas Buenaventura of ACLED (July 2023) wrote that the Philippine government admits that the root cause of the communist insurgency in the Philippines is the long-standing socio-economic issues, e.g. the wealth and power gap of the few rich that constitute less than 1% of the 17M Filipino families, inferior education system, weak health service infrastructure, justice system that is slanted in favor of rich litigants. Buenaventura adds that government’s neglect to overcome these issues are obviously fueling the insurgents’ Maoist protracted war strategy and drives oppressed peasants and proletarians to listen to the communist solution- a violent revolution to exterminate imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratism-capitalism.

Evidently, the effective solution to weaken and ultimately defeat the communist insurgency lies with resolution of all of these persistent socio- economic issues. The first step is to level up the annual budget for Dep Ed, DoH, and Judiciary to match the standard global expenditure percentages of GDP. The second step is to have a follow-through evaluation of the usefulness of these line item tangible programs. Otherwise, the Philippines will remain as the case model on how not to eliminate communist insurgency.

Atty. Magi Gunigundo is a former lawmaker, civil law instructor, and author of law books. He is also an education reformer and an advocate of anticipatory governance.