Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa expressed support for efficient implementation of a genuine agrarian reform program, joining the call of Senator Imee Marcos in a session this Wednesday.
However, the lawmaker informed his fellow senators in support of the initiative that while agrarian reform and landless farmers are an issue of insurgents, it is not the root cause of insurgency in the Philippines.
“I would just like to give caution to everyone in this august body that ‘yun pong pagbibigay ng lupa or ‘yung problema sa kawalan ng lupa ay isang issue ‘yan sa insurhensya. But it is not really the root cause of insurgency,” he said.
According to the former top cop, the rebels of the communist movement merely stir up the people by bringing up the problems of land, education, and poverty.
“Ine-exploit nila ito para sa kanilang ulterior motive talaga, which is to seize power of the government, to topple this government.”
He added that while an effective genuine agrarian reform program will hamper the insurgent movement, the leftist groups will always find another angle to support their waning cause of overthrowing the government.
“Kaya nga totoo po ‘yun, mababawasan sila ng issue na ma-exploit, pero I just would like to caution our colleagues that itong kaliwa ay maghahanap at maghahanap ito ng ibang issue na gagamitin talaga because I don’t believe that the root cause of insurgency is poverty, government abuse, or lack of education. But the real root cause of insurgency is the desire of the communists to seize power to overthrow the existing government,” said Dela Rosa.
He concluded his statement by stressing that the left will continue to advocate their objective of toppling the government and building another that supports their idea of communism.
“Hangga’t hindi nila makuha ‘yung kanilang pinaka objective na patumbahin ang gobyerno na ito at palitan ang gobyerno na sang-ayon sa kanilang kagustuhan na komunismo ay talagang itong ating mga kalaban sa gobyerno ay hindi ito hihinto,” Dela Rosa added.
Photo credit: Facebook/OfficialPageofRonaldBatoDelaRosa