CPP/NDF: Expand and strengthen the NDFP and the unity of the Filipino people!

From the CPP Website (Apr 24): Expand and strengthen the NDFP and the unity of the Filipino people!

The Filipino people will be celebrating the 40th founding anniversary of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines on April 24th. This celebration is especially significant as the armed revolutionary movement all over the Philippines continues to gain strength and advance.

From the establishment of the NDF Preparatory Commission in 1973, the NDFP is now composed of 16 revolutionary mass organizations. It represents millions of people under the emergent organs of new democratic people’s government.

Since 1973, the NDFP has played a major role in the revolutionary struggle of the Filipino people. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines, and on the strength of the basic alliance of workers and peasants, the NDFP embraces the progressive and patriotic classes, sectors and forces. The NDFP played a big role in uniting the people and advancing their struggles against the US-Marcos dictatorship and the succeeding reactionary governments. It likewise played a big role in the struggles for genuine land reform, against the US military bases and for human rights.
It represents the people in establishing diplomatic relations with other governments and building anti-imperialist solidarity with peoples in various parts of the globe.

It represents the people’s democratic government in peace negotiations with the ruling state to push for national and democratic changes in order to resolve the roots of the armed conflict in the Philippines.

The NDFP’s role as an instrument of the Filipino people in building their national and democratic unity and strength is especially crucial now in the face of the further deterioration of the semicolonial and semifeudal system and the worsening corruption, puppetry and brutality of the US-Aquino regime.

The US-Aquino regime has proven that its class rule is no different from that of previous reactionary regimes. It is not far off from the Arroyo regime and other previous governments notorious for rampant corruption.

Aquino’s “righteous road” and “clean governance” slogans repeated ad nauseam could not cover up the stench of anomalies reeked by his regime.

The Aquino regime’s biggest businessman-cronies like Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, Lucio Tan, Manny Pangilinan, Henry Sy, Lucio Co and their ilk are also the biggest tax evaders. They are the biggest beneficiaries of contracts under the Public-Private Partnership Program. The Cojuangco-Aquino camp has been seizing contracts for infrastructure projects from its businessman-rivals and exacting the biggest percentages to line its pockets. It is engaged in a dog-eat-dog struggle for control over the operations of smuggling and illegal gambling syndicates and other criminal operations.

On the other hand, the Filipino people are being squeezed dry with taxes and other fees. Taxes on basic commodities, including petroleum products remain sky-high, and are a huge burden on the people. Budgets for health services and education are grossly inadequate. Hospitals and public schools are in various states of decay. Urban poor shanties are being demolished to give way to infrastructure projects for foreign companies.

Aquino’s gimmickry could not cover up the people’s poverty. Unemployment and underemployment are worsening. Workers’ wages remain pegged and their rights to form unions and strike suppressed. Genuine land reform is absent, and reactionary laws used to pave the way for foreign and feudal control of vast landholdings.

Aquino challenges the people’s patriotism by granting full access to US soldiers, warships and warplanes and allowing unbridled insults to Philippine sovereignty. He allows the use of the Philippines for US hegemonism, warmongering and intervention in the Asia-Pacific. He permits the US military to operate and base itself in the Philippines. It is no wonder that his imperialist master has been all praises for Aquino, even including him in Time magazine’s list of the most influential personalities.
Thus, it likewise comes as no surprise that in the face of the worsening crisis of the ruling system in the Philippines, the Filipino people’s desire for national and democratic change has heightened. They want an end to the oppression, exploitation and suffering wrought by the US-Aquino regime’s pro-imperialist and antipeople policies. They are determined to advance their revolutionary struggles and bring the people’s war to the next stage of the strategic stalemate in the coming years.

Towards this end, the NDFP must be strengthened and consolidated as the center of the people’s national-democratic unity. We must propagate the NDFP 12-Point Program as the framework for building national solidarity.

The NDFP must lead in building the people’s patriotic unity in the face of the ruling Aquino regime’s worsening puppetry and violations of national sovereignty. We must build the broadest possible unity to oppose and effect the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement, the Mutual Defense Treaty and other unequal treaties.

We must likewise build a broad unity against evil designs to amend the reactionary constitution of 1987 to allow fullblown foreign capitalist ownership of local businesses and reestablish the US military bases or allow them to operate in the country anew.

We must gather broad support to advance the peace negotiations between the NDFP and the Government of the Philippines. We must demand respect from the US-Aquino regime for all previously signed agreements, among them those pertaining to the release of NDFP peace talks consultants in order to pave the way for negotiations on socio-economic issues.

Organs of people’s democratic government must be built on various levels and the Filipino people’s capacity for self-governance strengthened. These measures form part of efforts to strengthen the NDFP as the representative of the Filipino people.

The NDFP’s initiatives to build solidarity with anti-imperialist struggles in various countries and rally the broadest possible support for the Filipino people’s struggle must be strengthened.

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/statements/20130424_expand-and-strengthen-the-ndfp-and-the-unity-of-the-filipino-people