Interrogating Mao and Locating the Philippine Left’s Position within Mao’s Protracted War Theory: A Politico-Military Critique

Abstract

As the Mainstream Left continues to wage a ferocious civil war against the Philippine state for more than half a century since 1969, it is ironic that it now finds itself in a position of relative political stasis. Such a situation could be characterized by the Left’s inability to carry forward its revolution and advance militarily its forces to higher stages of its adopted strategy and tactics called the People’s Protracted War (PPW). There is certainly a myriad of causes of this stasis owing to the ideological, political, organizational, and military positions which the Left has taken as strategic and tactical responses to national and international challenges at certain historical junctures. Yet, one aspect that baffles independent Marxist thinkers and onlookers of the Left and even challenges them to undertake a cursory review— is it’s steadfast insistence on, and recalcitrance to review the validity and applicability of PPW in the Philippine revolution. The paper seeks to dissect PPW’s applicability to the Philippine concrete situation and navigate the readers on how the Left has applied this to its revolutionary struggle. Although the review is culled on a primarily military perspective contraposed with the Left’s fundamental founding documents, the results may offer some explanations on why the Left today is in a political impasse.