October is Peasant month in the Philippines. Peasants, farm workers and fisherfolk make up 75% of the country’s population. They produce the majority of the Philippines’ food, but most do not own the land they live and work on and can’t afford to buy the staples they produce (i.e., rice, onions, corn, etc.) Peasants face harsh economic repression through predatory land rent demands of landlords, usury, and other forms of feudal exploitation.
The landlord class dominates all aspects of society in the countryside, through reactionary violence. Their interest is defended through armed goons and the fascist, semi-colonial, U.S.-backed state which unleashes brutal “counterinsurgency” campaigns on the poorest peasants.
The economic and political power of the landlord class in the countryside is being overthrown step by step through protracted peoples’ war.
Reactionary Philippine governments have introduced various bogus land reforms. All of these ultimately serve the interests of the landlords. The ruling classes will not relinquish power without a fight!
It is only with armed struggle that political power can be wrested from them. Agrarian revolution must be linked to the armed struggle and the establishment of revolutionary bases.
The revolutionary struggle of the peasants in the Philippines is deeply linked with the struggles of all oppressed peoples of the world against imperialism and war.
The antifeudal movement in the countryside is decisive in strengthening and expanding the mass base of the NPA and securing the victory of the revolution.
Let us continue to stand together with the NDFP and the fighting Filipino masses who are struggling to free the Philippines from the evils of US imperialism, domestic feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism!
You can offer tangible support in this fight, join CPSO or ask us how your organization can become a friend of the Filipino people in struggle!