Argumentum Espositus: Anti-Terror Law Will Cause Terrorism

illy Esposo of the Philippine Star produces a real gem today. I've been waiting for one of the usual sources to advance this particular fallacious line of reasoning in order to criticize the newly passed Human Security Act of 2007 (the Anti-Terrorism Law), which he calls the product of PUNY MINDS--

What if the Reds resort to terrorism? by William Esposo: "Now wielding its anti-terror bill, it is determined to finally tag the NDF-CPP-NPA (National Democratic Front-Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army) as a terror group. This is again the product of puny minds that just can’t see the bigger picture and the far bigger complications. Supposing they succeed in declaring the NDF-CPP-NPA as a terror group, what will these organizations stand to lose if they now decide to operate as terrorists? Have any of the regime’s bright boys thought about how that dreadful scenario can impact on the economy, much less the peace and order situation?

The Reds are smart operators and will likely avoid hitting civilians in the crossfire. But what if they start bombing establishments all over Metro Manila as the failed December 1989 coup plotters had done in 1990 and 1991 against the government of Cory Aquino? Did a GMA bright boy figure out what that will do to Arroyo’s fragile economy?

Supposing that, for good measure, the new terror group decides to start hitting official targets like generals, government agency heads and unpopular local cops like what the Sparrow Units of the late 1980s did? How does that make Madame Arroyo look to the nation and the international community? What happens to the drive to attract foreign investors? "

Mr. Billy Esposo must be very proud of his huge and expansive mind for having thought this up. But the rest of us, who only have puny minds with which to apprehend reality may find his premises a bit difficult to comprehend. Is it not already a terrorism when the CPP NPA goes around with gun-toting thugs and remote control land mines demanding "revolutionary taxes" from ordinary citizens, business enterprises and local government units?

With such a towering genius as Billy Esposo, it is apparently not yet terrorism when the NPA burns down three small public school buildings in the hinterlands because the local superintendent refused to yield to their extortion demand for 300,000 pesos, or else. I guess he would call that "Revolutionary Public Education"?

How would Mr. Big Brain Billy Esposo describe the presence of drug labs in CPP NPA infested areas? Puny minds want to know! Public Health Medical Missions?

When the New People's Army attacks cell phone transceiver stations it perhaps does not occur to the cerebral Mr. Esposo what a tremendous loss it is for the most ordinary people who've come to rely on wireless communications in the rural and urban areas ill served by landlines and telephones. You see, with nearly 50% of the population owning cell phones, even small vendors, professionals, farmers, and small businesses have come to rely on the wireless cellphone network for all their communication needs. Unfortunately, the NPA knows how lucrative the telecommunications business has become, and so a large amount of their extortion income actually comes from one phone company --(PLDT/Smart)-- which almost never gets bombed by the terrorist rebels, who appear to concentrate their regular bombing runs on rival Globe telecomm cell sites to demonstrate what happens to recalcitrant capitalists that don't give in to terrorist demands.

Critical infrastructure, like electric power transmission towers, is often attacked by both communist insurgents and Islamist rebels with no thought for the damage done to the lives of the poor and disenfranchised that they nobly claim to be fighting for.

And what does the Cerebral Billy E. call it when political parties and candidates for public office receive from shadowy messengers "application forms" for permits to campaign with expensive application fees during election season? When they assassinate government officials or their ideological rivals, when they raid police stations and "confiscate" arms and ammunition in order to sustain their violent armed struggle, does he not think those are terrorist acts?

I think Billy Esposo needs to have his big head examined. Following his logic, we may as well repeal the laws against murder and robbery as these apparently are the real reasons we have so many murderers and thieves in government. Why even enact laws against graft and corruption, when such a big, brilliant mind as Billy Esposo's informs us that the reason the Philippines is the corruption capital of Asia is probably because we've made it ILLEGAL to engage in graft and corruption?

With such a scintillating mental giant as Billy Esposo, why do we need Senators and Congressmen, Presidents and Generals? After all, he claims they've passed their own death sentences for passing a law that will cause the CPP NPA to feel so insulted and oppressed at being called terrorists that they will indeed engage in their old-style Sparrow Unit assassination pogroms against these terrible class enemies of the people. Now of course, since there was no terrorist label back then, I wonder what caused them to engage in those assassinations, extortions, bombings and killing fields he speaks of? Or does it really matter WHAT they are called before they will engage in any means to establish a totalitarian dictatorship of the professoriat?

See, all we have is our puny mind and these silly questions for which Billy Esposo has all the answers. He thinks that by passing the Anti-terrrorism law we will drive away foreign investors. Oh slap me on my puny noggin for thinking that it was the 40 year old communist insurgency and graft and corruption that's been driving the investors away from this sad archipelago of puny minds. Only such a brain as Billy Esposo can perceive the "bigger complications" of the Human Security Act of 2007!

Of course, the Cerebral Billy assures us puny ones that even when [sic!] the CPP-NPA engages in even more horrific acts of terrorism, we really have nothing to fear as long as we don't side with the government and the military class enemies of the people because, "The Reds are smart operators and will likely avoid hitting civilians in the crossfire."

Speaking of terrorists here is the JoMa of Them of All caught on video gloating over the millions of members in hundreds of front organizations and naming all his comrades in the above ground "legal" parliamentary struggle.

But just in case the communist terrorists go on some kind of offensive, maybe what the people will do is similar to what these simple Filipinos did recently in La Trinidad, Mt. Province:

Unarmed Villagers Shield Outgunned Soldiers From Rebels (ABSCBN News)!

Except they WILL be armed with the Law!

Not until the law actually comes into effect in July will the organized criminal syndicates that perfume themselves with all sorts of noble-sounding other labels actually be called "terrorists" yet it is obvious even to puny minds that they are ALREADY engaged in terrorism.

So to his humongous argument espositus let the puny minds exclaim: Nego supositum!