2nd Anniversary of the establishment of Duterte’s Anti-Terror Law
Today, July 3rd, marks the 2nd anniversary of the so called anti-terror law passed by the Duterte regime in their futile attempts to stop the people’s democratic revolution. These laws were established, not for the safety of ordinary Filipinos, but in an attempt to give state sponsored terror against the people of the Philippines the appearance of legality. They are used to suppress activists by further enabling the police and military to engage in terror tagging of peace activists such as Rey Casambre, as well as the extrajudicial killings and anti-indigenous violence against the Lumad, Aetas, and Moro peoples among others. Japar Gurung and Junior Ramos, along with two women, of the Aetas people were among the first to be arrested under these laws and they have continued to be used against these communities as shown by murder of Chad Booc and other Lumad volunteer teachers on Feburary 24, 2022.
None of this state violence would be possible without the assistance of US imperialism which both funds the NTF-ELCAC and provides training for the AFP as demonstrated by recent joint military drills — the largest ever to date was carried out in late March this year. The imperialist rulers of the Philippines remain the largest recipient of US military funding, publicly receiving upwards of $200 million annually in aid and additional millions in arm sales and donations of equipment. Without this imperialist aid the big bourgeois and comprador classes of the Philippines could not maintain their war on the peoples democratic revolution.
This violence committed by the bourgeois dictatorship against the people of the Philippines is not new but merely a continuation of pro-imperialist policies enacted by successive governments of the Philippines. There is a clear continuity between the martial law enacted under the Marcos dictatorship and these laws passed by the Duterte government and their assured continuation under the new Marcos-Duterte tandem. Rather than becoming despondent, however, it is important to recall the words of Prof. Jose Maria Sison that despite these terror laws, “[the] state terrorism of Duterte is a sure-fire recipe for the advance of the people’s democratic revolution, like the Marcos dictatorship.”
CPSO stands with Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle in calling for the bourgeois government to carry out peace talks in good faith and to stop the US funded aerial bombings committed against the Filipino people under the pretext of fighting terror — a war crime with untold collateral damage. CPSO also calls for the immediate end to western imperialist funding for these acts of violence against the people and for people in the so-called country of Canada to demand their government stop supporting the Duterte-Marcos regime and end the exploitation of the Filipino people through Labour Export polices as well as the criminal mining operations.
Abolish NTF-ELCAC! Activism is not a crime! Fight for genuine peace in the Philippines!