The Story Behind Ka Roger’s Death

The machinery of deception of the CPP-NPA-NDF has struck us once again. Amid all the brutalities and barbaric acts committed by the communist movement against innocent civilians, they are still able to wash their hands and redirect the public attention to an almost forgotten issue like the death of their spokesperson Gregorio “Ka Roger” Rosal whom they claimed had died of a heart attack in June of this year. So why the delayed announcement? Was it done for some ulterior reasons? The eulogy on the death of the revered “voice” of the communist armed struggle posted on their website could provide us some clues on the circumstances of his death and how the CPP leadership exploited this incident by coming up with fictitious information.

The CPP Info Bureau claimed that the reason for the delay on the announcement of Ka Roger’s death was to give ample time to inform his relatives of his demise. With the advent of modern communication technology, do you believe it would take that long to inform relatives of their comrade’s death? Who knows if he really died four months ago or a year ago? The delayed admission does not really change anything. It just created more speculations. It was also mentioned that he had suffered several strokes since 1997 and was no longer functioning effectively as spokesperson since 2006 because of the lingering illness that has affected his body’s cardio-vascular system. For an NPA cadre to suffer and die with this kind of disease is very unusual. A cadre is supposed to live a simple yet active lifestyle that is free from worldly vices. The strokes he suffered had ultimately taken its toll on his motor and brain functions as years passed by. 

 

So, since his first stroke in 1997, we could surmise that Ka Roger had refrained from trekking the unforgiving terrain of the countryside contrary to what the party would like to portray him. The CPP even admits that he died within a “guerilla zone”, the NPA’s term for a locality where they have less influence but enough supporters to provide them refuge. In short, he had been staying most of his time outside their base area and away from where the “red fighters” operate which is quite logical since he badly needed the medical attention for his fragile health condition. In fact, the bureau stated that during his critical moments, his daughters and some closed relatives stayed with him. With these facts alone, we can now get some ideas of how the late Ka Roger lived his life as one of the top NPA cadres. 

Ka Roger’s rise from the ranks of the communist movement began in 1986 when he was appointed as member of the Executive Committee of the Southern Tagalog Regional Party Committee (STRPC), then in 1987 as NDF spokesperson in Southern Tagalog Region and finally as CPP spokesperson in 1993. Just like any other top CPP-NPA cadre, Ka Roger also enjoyed the privileges accorded to high-ranking communist leaders. He must have been fond of eating high-cholesterol foods with some nightly booze and slept comfortably in one of their safe houses inside a plush subdivision of an urban center, a stark contrast to the miserable condition of ordinary red fighters who are fortunate enough to eat a “value meal” of rice and dried fish and sleep under makeshift tents in the jungles. The taste of power and the lavish lifestyle that Ka Roger experienced when he became a ranking cadre of the communist movement might have triggered his heart ailment which slowly deteriorated his health and his brain’s ability to function well. This explains his adeptness in spreading brazen and absurd lies to the public since his brain could no longer distinguish fiction from reality after suffering from strokes. While all those press conferences held in the jungles of Bondoc Peninsula were merely photo ops, another deceptive technique by top communist cadres to project to the public that they live, eat, and work with ordinary red fighters when in reality they do not. Unless there are major events and activities to attend that require their presence.

On top of all these is the CPP’s ability to exploit even the death of their top comrade in order to cover up their flagrant and deliberate violations of the Filipino people’s rights. For an ideology who doesn’t believe in the existence of an Almighty creator, the death of a comrade is of no value other than for propaganda. If Ka Roger could just rise from his grave, he would have cursed his comrade from the CPP Information Bureau who made a mockery of his death by spreading lies and deception to cover up the communist movement’s crimes at his own expense.

- Malayang Filipino

Photo courtesy of mypinoy.tv