Our emphatic response is no, but some are flaunting the question as if the issue is already settled. That the Left is guilty of political opportunism by collaborating with the government of Rodrigo Duterte; that it shed its revolutionary credentials by joining Duterte’s Cabinet; and that it was already shamefully late when it severed ties with Duterte.

In some forums, the Left’s so-called ‘unprincipled alliance’ with Duterte is tagged for enabling the latter’s bloody ‘war on drugs’. Some even insinuate that the Left had a role with Duterte’s rise to power in local politics, including the operationalization of the notorious ‘Davao Death Squad’ (DDS).

It is easy to dismiss these claims as coming from partisan groups which are hopelessly anti-Left. But since these allegations are being peddled in corporate media and other opinion-making institutions, it is necessary to clarify some of the Left’s recent political decisions and debunk the moralizing posture of its ideological rivals.

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