Cordillera People's Democratic Front
National Democratic Front of the Philippines
April 30, 2022
As the Cordillera People’s Democratic Front (CPDF) celebrates its 36th anniversary, it calls on the national minorities of the Cordillera to further strengthen the struggle towards self-determination through armed resistance, legal and extralegal opposition against devastating projects and tireless alliance-building.
The CPDF is the member organization of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines that advances the interests of the tribes and clans of Cordillera. Since its establishment in 1986, the CPDF has unfailingly merged the NM struggle with the national democratic struggle of the rest of the Filipino masses. In turn, allying with other organizations has added to the resolve of the peoples of this region to end the rule of a rotten government-landlord and their imperialist overlords.
So effective is the struggle of the national minorities that the Anti-Terror Council recently tagged the CPDF as terrorists, along with 15 other organizations. But how valid is the terror tag itself? It can be recalled that during the Spanish colonization, these foreign authorities demonized any group that resisted their rule. Imagine that period’s ‘terror tag’ against the Igorot people when they waged the most successful resistance against the invaders. Eventually defeating and banishing the Spanish government and subsequent colonizers signified that defending ancestral lands against imperialist greed is a just and noble cause. This is the same cause that the CPDF has consistently espoused throughout its existence. How then can a terror tag from a highly questionable ‘anti-terror’ council hold water when history itself has proven that this cause is legitimate?
Adding to the illogical accusations is the reactionary government’s vain efforts to invalidate the people’s democratic revolution. In social media platforms especially, there abounds disinformation attempting to paint revolutionary martyrs as ‘victims’ of the revolution. But words are wind; for instance, comrades like Mark ‘Ka Corel’ Yocogan and Jan Michael ‘Ka Simon’ Ayuste remain heroes to the Cordillera peoples. They were victims, indeed; but only of overkill by the 69th Infantry Battalion on October 30 last year in Mountain Province. That the Philippine Army opted to slay Red warriors rather than have them tried in legal battle only further stokes the revolutionary fury of the national minorities.
Nothing can dissuade the Cordillera peoples from advancing the people’s democratic revolution. Only through the path of war can minorities achieve democracy and self-determination, even genuine autonomy. The tribes and clans are in effect refusing to be treated as second class citizens of this country by taking up arms and marching onwards with the rest of the Filipino masses. Under the leadership of a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines, the CPDF chooses to be comrades-in-arms with other oppressed, exploited and marginalized sectors. With such lofty cause and unfaltering alliance, victory is inevitable for the national democratic revolution. ###
Agbiag ti maika-36 a tawen ti Cordillera People’s Democratic Front!
Resist imperialist plunder and defend ancestral territories!
Advance the people’s democratic revolution!
https://cpp.ph/statements/rev-alliances-and-peoples-war-is-path-to-self-determination/
As the Cordillera People’s Democratic Front (CPDF) celebrates its 36th anniversary, it calls on the national minorities of the Cordillera to further strengthen the struggle towards self-determination through armed resistance, legal and extralegal opposition against devastating projects and tireless alliance-building.
The CPDF is the member organization of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines that advances the interests of the tribes and clans of Cordillera. Since its establishment in 1986, the CPDF has unfailingly merged the NM struggle with the national democratic struggle of the rest of the Filipino masses. In turn, allying with other organizations has added to the resolve of the peoples of this region to end the rule of a rotten government-landlord and their imperialist overlords.
So effective is the struggle of the national minorities that the Anti-Terror Council recently tagged the CPDF as terrorists, along with 15 other organizations. But how valid is the terror tag itself? It can be recalled that during the Spanish colonization, these foreign authorities demonized any group that resisted their rule. Imagine that period’s ‘terror tag’ against the Igorot people when they waged the most successful resistance against the invaders. Eventually defeating and banishing the Spanish government and subsequent colonizers signified that defending ancestral lands against imperialist greed is a just and noble cause. This is the same cause that the CPDF has consistently espoused throughout its existence. How then can a terror tag from a highly questionable ‘anti-terror’ council hold water when history itself has proven that this cause is legitimate?
Adding to the illogical accusations is the reactionary government’s vain efforts to invalidate the people’s democratic revolution. In social media platforms especially, there abounds disinformation attempting to paint revolutionary martyrs as ‘victims’ of the revolution. But words are wind; for instance, comrades like Mark ‘Ka Corel’ Yocogan and Jan Michael ‘Ka Simon’ Ayuste remain heroes to the Cordillera peoples. They were victims, indeed; but only of overkill by the 69th Infantry Battalion on October 30 last year in Mountain Province. That the Philippine Army opted to slay Red warriors rather than have them tried in legal battle only further stokes the revolutionary fury of the national minorities.
Nothing can dissuade the Cordillera peoples from advancing the people’s democratic revolution. Only through the path of war can minorities achieve democracy and self-determination, even genuine autonomy. The tribes and clans are in effect refusing to be treated as second class citizens of this country by taking up arms and marching onwards with the rest of the Filipino masses. Under the leadership of a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines, the CPDF chooses to be comrades-in-arms with other oppressed, exploited and marginalized sectors. With such lofty cause and unfaltering alliance, victory is inevitable for the national democratic revolution. ###
Agbiag ti maika-36 a tawen ti Cordillera People’s Democratic Front!
Resist imperialist plunder and defend ancestral territories!
Advance the people’s democratic revolution!
https://cpp.ph/statements/rev-alliances-and-peoples-war-is-path-to-self-determination/
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