Canada-Philippines Solidarity Organization celebrates the Red Fighters and 55 years of the New People’s Army (NPA), founded on March 29, 1969.
Five and a half decades after its inception, the Filipino masses continue to struggle under the weight of US imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism. Faced with worsening economic crises, exploitation, and land grabbings by corporations, Filipinos have no choice but to take up arms against a US-backed government that has no concern for the welfare of the people and knows only repression and war.
Amidst worsening conditions for the masses, the NPA remains strong and committed to mass work among the poorest poor in the Philippines. Despite neglect from the state, NPA militants gain the love and devotion of the masses through providing services they would otherwise not receive, such as medical care, social programs, and education. Through this service and armed struggle, the NPA continues to build organs of political power in the countryside that advance the people’s war towards its ultimate victory.
This past year has shown the necessity of armed struggle against repression, from Palestine to the Philippines. Oppressed peoples globally will not allow their governments to attack them or systematically exterminate them, whether at the hands of Israel’s brutal genocidal campaign or by the Philippine government’s systematic bombing of the countryside. The people can and must resist this state terrorism, and insist that international law be upheld in supporting their right to armed resistance.
In the face of intense repression on behalf of the Philippines government, the NPA shows their commitment and love for the people as they wage armed struggle for the pursuit of genuine democracy. We salute the red fighters and their commitment and sacrifice to this cause.
All victory to the NPA! Long live the people’s national democratic revolution!