#natdem

Rectify errors and strengthen the Party! Unite and lead the broad masses of the Filipino people in fighting the US-Marcos regime! Advance the people’s democratic revolution! 

CPP Central Committee | Communist Party of the Philippines

Filled with boundless revolutionary vigor, optimism and joy, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines extends its warmest militant greetings to the entire membership of the Party on the occasion of its 55th anniversary. Today, let us celebrate the achievements of the Party and all revolutionary forces during the past year in arousing, organizing and mobilizing the people in anti-imperialist, anti-feudal and antifascist struggles and advancing the people’s democratic revolution. At the same time, let us self-critically point out our weaknesses, shortcomings and errors in order to rectify and overcome them, and make even greater strides in the coming year.

Let us pay tribute to Ka Jose Maria Sison, founding chairman of the CPP Central Committee, whose first death anniversary we commemorated last December 16. Let us pay homage to Benito Tiamzon, Wilma Austria, Julius Giron, Mariano Adlao, Jorge Madlos, Menandro Villanueva, Antonio Cabanatan, Dionisio Micabalo, Eugenia Magpantay, Alfredo Merilos, Dennis Rodina, Agaton Topacio, Randall Echanis, Rosalino Canubas, Sandra Reyes, Ezequiel Daguman, Emmanuel Fernandez, Rolando Leyson Jr, Helenita Pardalis, Rogelio Posadas, Jude Fernandez, Josephine Mendoza and all the many heroes and martyrs of the Filipino people and the Philippine revolution. During their lifetime, they made great sacrifices and made invaluable contributions to the Filipino people’s cause of national and social liberation.

The Party will forever treasure the legacy of Ka Joma. For more than five decades, Ka Joma was an indefatigable worker of the Philippine revolution and served as its inexhaustible beacon. He further enriched the theory of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism through its application on the concrete conditions of Philippine society and by setting out the strategy, tactics and tasks of the Philippine revolution. Ka Joma’s body of work will remain a crucial guide for the revolutionary and democratic forces in carrying forward the national democratic revolution to complete victory.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines recognizes the sacrifice of all proletarian cadres and members of the Party who continue to selflessly serve the Filipino people’s cause for national democracy and its socialist perspective. Imbued with the communist spirit of giving everything they can to the cause of the working class and all toiling people, they shoulder all the mountainous tasks for advancing the revolution in their fields of responsibilities.

We extend our revolutionary greetings to the thousands of young cadres who joined the ranks of the Party during the past few years, and who are injecting immense energy to our protracted struggle. Many of you are now performing important tasks of leadership as members of the Party’s central organs, as commanders and political officers of the New People’s Army, and leaders of the revolutionary mass movement in both the cities and countryside. Deeply rooted among the broad masses of workers and peasants, the young generation of Filipino communists are displaying infinite determination to bring the Philippine revolution forward into the future.

On this occasion of commemorating our founding anniversary, the Central Committee extends its solidarity with all anti-imperialist, progressive and democratic forces around the globe who are waging militant resistance against national oppression and wars of aggression. We extend fraternal greetings to all our proletarian class sisters and brothers across the world who are promoting and applying Marxism-Leninism-Maoism on the concrete conditions of their countries and leading the workers and toiling people in their struggle for liberation and socialism.

The recent visit by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida form part of its drive to expand its geopolitical influence through expansion of its military power and reach. Japan has been carrying out this push over the past decade or so under the auspices of the US imperialism. The visit paved the way for plans to allow Japanese military forces to use the country as its Southeast Asian outpost.

Kishida’s visit pushed for plans to forge a visiting forces agreement or reciprocal access agreement to allow Japanese military forces to freely go in and out of the country and use Philippine ports for purposes of refuelling and resupplying its warships and providing recreation for its crew.

Japan’s plans to expand its military operations here in the country further erode Philippine sovereignty and pull the country closer into the growing vortex of inter-imperialist wars in the region. It made a publicity stunt of providing a grant for a “coastal radar” system involving a ¥600 million or ₱235 million Japanese loan to buy old generation surplus equipment from Mitsubishi Electric Corp., a Japanese company. It dangled promises to fund infrastructure projects.

Japan has long employed its surplus capital to take advantage of the backward economic situation in the Philippines to serve its own economic interests. It extends loans through its Export-Import Bank, the Asian Development Bank and so-called official development assistance to fund infrastructure projects and other programs which invariably require the Philippines to buy Japanese equipment and consumables as a way of unloading Japan of its surplus commodities.

Marcos bureaucrat capitalists fawned over Kishida during his recent visit in the rush to get their share of the promised funds. They displayed utter subservience to Japan and promised to sign and ratify the agreement even before it has existed. The Marcos regime and the ruling classes in the Philippines always act slavishly and bow to every imperialist power they meet.

Japan is a junior imperialist partner of the US that has its own ambitions of regaining its “old glory” as an imperial power. It is part of the Quad alliance with the US, Australia and India. Goaded by the US, Japan has been strengthening its military power, including plans to produce fighter jets. It is set on expanding its armed presence in the Philippines and various parts of Asia. Japanese militarism has been on the rise in recent years. In line with its National Security Strategy formulated in December 2022, it plans to spend $321 billion for its military in 2023-2027, a 56% jump from the previous period of 2019-2023.

The US wants Japan to increase its military presence in the South China Sea in line with the so-called “Indo-Pacific Strategy” of the US to encircle China from the “first island chain” of countries nearest China. US machinations are further militarizing the area leading to increased dangers of armed conflict. The imperialist US is dragging its military allies in the area and using the Philippines as an outpost for their naval forces.

Japan is doing the bidding of the imperialist US. At the same time, as a capitalist giant and imperialist power, it also serves its advantage to strengthen its military might and use it to expand its economic interests and geopolitical influence. It is being driven to increase military spending in the hope of energizing its economy that has been dragged down by three decades of stagnation. As an imperialist power, Japan needs to expand its sources of raw materials, spheres of influence, and fields of investments for its surplus capital.

The Filipino people must unite and resist the plans allowing Japan to gain a military foothold in the Philippines, in line with US imperialist strategy. At the same time, they must demand that all imperialist powers, including the US and China, withdraw all its military forces in the South China Sea in order to prevent any possibility of armed hostilities breaking out which invariably will drag the country into a war that goes against the people’s interest.

Resisting US and Japanese intervention forms part of the overall struggle of the Filipino people for national and social liberation, which must be advanced vigorously and with even more urgency.

Marco Valbuena | Chief Information Officer | Communist Party of the Philippines

Marco Valbuena | Chief Information Officer | Communist Party of the Philippines

August 01, 2023

The Marcos regime and its military and police forces must be roundly condemned for the increasingly malevolent use of the deceitfully named Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL) in their heightened campaign of suppression against various democratic forces, critics, and political opponents.

Over the past few weeks, human rights defenders and members of cause-oriented organizations have been “designated” as “terrorists” by the Anti-Terrorism Council or charged in court for “terrorism” in a patently arbitrary manner, without due process and in utter violation of broadly accepted standards of judicial processes.

The ATL is now being used as a tool for suppression with impunity. The most recent victim of the draconian ATL is Hailey Pecayo, a 19-year old human rights worker, who earned the ire of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for having actively exposed the role of the military for the killing of a nine-year old child in Batangas last year. She is now being charged by the AFP under the ATL, together with other members of their human rights group.

Before Pecayo, at least six others, including Windel Bolinget and three other members of the Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA), were tagged as “terrorists” by the ATC. In a much earlier resolution, Dr. Natividad Castro, a medical doctor working for the Karapatan Alliance in Mindanao, was similarly tagged by the ATC. It is particularly noteworthy that the ATC resolutions against Bolinget and Castro both came after courts dismissed false charges filed by the AFP linking them to armed actions of the NPA.

The use of the ATL as a tool of suppression has now reached absurd and brazen levels with the ATC “designating” Congressman Arnolfo Teves and 12 others accused of perpetrating the March 4 killing of former Negros Oriental Governor Noel Degamo. Marcos officials have resorted to using the ATL against Teves after failing to build up a court case him. Aiming the ATL against Teves also serves as warning of the extent that Marcos will use the law for his purposes.

The CPP denounces the use of the ATL as a weapon of political suppression. The Party also expresses its continuing protest against the “terrorist designation” of the CPP, the New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front, of its leaders and representatives, and others being linked to the revolutionary cause.

Despite the September 21, 2022 ruling of the Manila Trial Court dismissing the petition filed by the government to declare the CPP and NPA as “terrorists” under the Human Security Act (the former name of the ATL), the Marcos regime and its agents insist on pinning the “terrorist” tag as part of its systematic campaign against all patriotic and democratic forces.

In light of the heightened attacks against the broad democratic sectors using the ATL, the Filipino people’s demand for the abrogation of the draconian law has become even more urgent. All democracy-loving people must make a stand and lend their voice to the struggle to defend the people’s rights and freedoms against state repression.

The Party supports the Filipino people’s clamor to end the so-called “war on terror” which, in fact, is a camouflage for unbounded state terrorism. This fascist framework has long been abused by the Philippine ruling class state, in order to justify the systematic erosion of the people’s civil and political rights.