Ka Roger expresses sympathy for FPJ’s family, friends

Communist Party of the Philippines spokesperson Gregorio “Ka Roger” Rosal has expressed his “sincerest sympathies to the family, friends and supporters of Fernando Poe Jr. (Ronald Allan Poe), who passed away earlier this morning.” Poe became comatose and later died after suffering a stroke.

Rosal said “the Filipino people will always remember FPJ as an actor who chose to depict characters who were poor and downtrodden but dared to defend their rights and fight their oppressors.”

Rosal said that in real life, Poe was “was deeply interested and involved himself in matters of social concern” that he even used to invite “comrades” to discuss with them the activities of the revolutionary movement. “On a personal level, he had profound sympathy for the plight of the poor and was always ready to contribute what he could for undertakings that would benefit the worker and peasant masses,” Rosal added.

“I recall several extended phone conversations that I had with FPJ as a presidential candidate. Then, he expressed great interest in achieving a lasting peace by addressing the roots of the armed conflict in the Philippines,” said.

In the movie Asedillo, FPJ played the role of a rebel fighter. TV director Uro de la Cruz recalls “a scene in the movie in which (FPJ) enters a town and everyone closes their windows.”

“Huwag ninyo akong talikuran, ako ay isda, kayo ang aking dagat [Don’t turn your backs on me, I am a fish, and you are my ocean],” was Asedillo’s response, which reminds viewers of Mao Tse Tung’s statement “The guerrilla is like a fish in the sea.”

A press release from Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo’s office said the film Asedillo “left a deep imprint in the nation’s consciousness the peasants fight for social justice and the struggle against United States imperialism.”

Ocampo also expressed condolences to the family, relatives, friends, and fans of FPJ. He credited FPJ, through his movies, for helping in bringing into the popular consciousness the plight of the society’s underdogs: workers, farmers, drivers, and even peasant and nationalist rebels.

“Ang diwa ng paglaban laban ng mga sawing-palad ay hindi matatapos sa bawat pelikula ni FPJ o sa kanyang pagyao. Ito ay mananatiliong buhay sa puso ng mga Pilipino na nais ibangon ang mga dukha at na-aapi,” Ocampo was quoted as saying.

Bro. Eddie Villanueva, a communist cadre turned evangelist who ran against Poe and other candidates in the presidential elections last May, said Poe fought injustice.

“FPJ will always be remembered by the nation as an actor who tried his very best to serve his people in show business and politics. In reel and real life, he fought for the victims of injustice. That is his secure legacy to and fondest memory of the Filipino people,” Villanueva said.