tonyo is now at tonyocruz.com

The National Democratic Front explains revolutionary taxation viz. the many false claims against it:

The revolutionary movement is building a new society to replace the present semi-feudal and semi-colonial society characterized by widespread poverty and economic backwardness. The new society that is being built promotes the interests of the overwhelming majority of the Filipino people comprised of the workers, peasants and the middle-classes. In many areas under the control and influence of the revolutionary movement, the democratic organs of people’s government are being set up and socio-economic programs that benefit the people are being carried out.

Revolutionary taxation is a function of the people’s government. It is implemented to defray the expenses of the organs of the people’s government and to finance the socio-economic programs for the good of the people.

In general, revolutionary taxes are levied on businesses and economic concerns operating in areas under the control and influence of the revolutionary movement. Businesses, however, that cause harm and injury to the people and the country, such as commercial logging for export that causes denudation of the forests are not allowed by the revolutionary movement in areas it controls.

Real extortion consists of the reactionary government’s imposition of a heavy tax burden on the people only for the revenues to be stolen by the high bureaucrats, and then denying the people of basic social services. They collect the most taxes from the people through withholding taxes from employees’ wages and through sales taxes and the VAT. They condone notorious tax evaders like Lucio Tan. Every year, an estimated 20 percent of the budget of the reactionary government is eaten up by corruption. In 2003 alone, this amounted to PhP 180 billion.

My take: Critics of the NDF violently deny the existence of an alternative government. They ride on issues such as "extortion", "purges" and the like to badmouth this alternative government. Those who do not join them in maligning the movement are dubbed communists and communist sympathizers.

Those who reject this alternative government are bound to follow the mindless militarist line of bombing suspected territories of the NDF, killing suspected communists and communist sympathizers, or explaining away that these are all integral to achieving a distorted concept of peace.