Communist Party of the Philippines: Conditions are excellent for further advancing the people’s democratic revolution
We hereby share a statement issued by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) shared by Philippine Revolution Web Central (PRWC).
With great joy, let us celebrate the 57th anniversary of the great Communist Party of the Philippines! On this historic occasion, the Central Committee extends its warmest greetings to all cadres and members of the Party, to members of allied revolutionary organizations of the National Democratic Front, to friends, fellow communist, revolutionary and anti-imperialist forces in different corners of the world, and to the entire Filipino people.
On this day, let us remember and honor all the heroes and martyrs of the Philippine revolution. Let us rise and, with clenched fists, pay tribute to the memory of Comrade Jose Maria Sison, founding chairman of the Central Committee, who served as guide and beacon of the Party and several generations of communist and revolutionary activists. Let us also pay tribute to the memory of all the heroes and martyrs of the Filipino people, including the most beloved leaders who served in the Central Committee, the Red fighters of the New People’s Army, and all the cadres and members who wholeheartedly dedicated their lives to the cause of liberation for all oppressed.
Let us salute Comrade Luis Jalandoni, former international representative of the NDFP and chief of the NDFP panel in peace talks, who passed away in June in The Netherlands; and Comrade Maria Malaya (Myrna Sularte), who was killed by the enemy in a battle in the mountains of Butuan City in February. Let us also extend our salutations to Comrade Basavaraju, former general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), and Comrade Madvi Hidma, commander of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army in India, and to all other revolutionaries around the world who gave their lives for the international proletariat. Let us draw inspiration from their glorious lives.
On this day, let us also greet all new members of the Party, especially the young cadres from the ranks of the toiling masses, intellectuals, and other sectors of society. You are the future of the Party and the Philippine revolution. Study hard, seek guidance, sharpen your minds, and be humble in facing the challenges of leadership in various fields of revolutionary work. You have the support of veteran and experienced cadres and members of the Party who are willing to offer advice and share their experiences.
Let us today raise the banner of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, the solid theoretical foundation on which the Party stands. This is the universal theory for the liberation of the working class and all oppressed classes. Let us consolidate the basic principles of the Party and its program for a people’s democratic revolution through a protracted people’s war, to end the oppressive semicolonial and semifeudal system, overthrow the three basic problems of imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism, and achieve democracy and national liberation to create the conditions for a socialist future.
We are now entering the third year of our rectification movement, which is primarily a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist study movement. In the spirit of the rectification movement, we have reviewed our experiences and critically identified our weaknesses and errors. The Central Committee is pleased to report that our rectification movement continues to bear fruit and has achieved meaningful advances in the ideological, political, and organizational fields. We are confident that with the continued efforts of all cadres and members of the Party, under the leadership of the Central Committee, we will achieve even greater victories in the years to come.
Under the guidance of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, let us sharply analyze the main contradictions that shape the current situation in the country and the world. Let us grasp the chronic crisis of the semicolonial and semifeudal system in the Philippines, and the prolonged stagnation of the global capitalist system. This opens up many great opportunities for advancing the cause of the working class and all oppressed and exploited classes for liberation.
At the beginning of the current year, we expected the crisis of the ruling system under the US-Marcos regime to erupt. However, this was surpassed by the speed with which the situation matured and exploded since the middle of the year. This shows not only the depths of the economic and social crisis, but even more so, the overflowing anger of the Filipino people against the oppression and suffering inflicted on them by the exploiting and plundering ruling classes.
The crisis will undoubtedly continue in the face of the Marcos regime’s immense corruption, unleashing of fascist terrorism, and the utter foreign subservience. The US-Marcos regime today is the most concentrated form of the oppression and suffering of the Filipino people. In the coming year, the protest movement that has surged in recent months is bound to grow and expand, to hold accountable and force the ouster of Marcos and Duterte, who both represent the most reactionary factions of the ruling classes. At the same time, widespread struggles in the countryside will surely erupt in the face of unbridled land grabbing and plunder of the country’s resources.
The conditions in the Philippines are indeed excellent for the Party to lead the further advance of the people’s democratic revolution through protracted people’s war. Let us seize the opportunity to further expand and strengthen the Party and the entire revolutionary movement, and look forward to bigger achievements in the future.
I. Escalating conflicts in the face of unresolved crisis of the global capitalist system
The entire world is rocked by four main contradictions: between the monopoly bourgeoisie and the working class, between imperialism and the oppressed peoples around the world, between imperialist powers and countries assertive of national sovereignty, and between rival imperialist countries. Currently, the intensifying political, financial, economic, trade, and military conflicts between the biggest imperialist countries are the principal contradiction, particularly in the face of the US imperialism’s relentless imposition of its hegemony over the entire world. This is the principal contradiction that shapes the current situation in the entire world.
Armed conflicts are erupting in various parts of the world, primarily due to the aggressive actions of US imperialism. This is closely linked to the prolonged economic stagnation in major capitalist countries, which the monopoly bourgeoisie have failed resolve. This is the result of the continuing crisis of overproduction in almost all industries, and the growing inventory of unsold goods. There is an excess of productive capacity, especially in the major industrialized countries. This is due to the rivalry between companies to outdo each other in producing the most goods.
There is overproduction in almost all industries due to the continuous development of productive forces, particularly the advances in technology (including the use of artificial intelligence or AI). There is excess capacity in the production of electronic equipment, semiconductors, batteries, electric and gasoline-powered vehicles, solar panels, steel, oil and petroleum, chemicals, ships, commercial transportation, airplanes, and many others. There is also overproduction in almost all agricultural products (rice, corn, soybeans, wheat, and others), especially in capitalist countries.
Productive forces are being laid to waste or destroyed. Due to overproduction, many industries are operating below their production capacity. In the US, for example, only 60%–70% of its car production capacity is being utilized. In Germany, only 70% of its total production capacity is being used, idling billions of dollars worth of production equipment. In China, factories have the capacity to produce up to 45 million electric vehicles, but this is not being fully utilized because global market sales are only at 16–18 million. More and more companies are losing money or being gobbled up in the face of intense capitalist competition.
The AI bubble is growing rapidly, fueled by the monopoly big bourgeoisie. Trillions of dollars are set to be invested in AI in the coming years, with an unprecedented scale of investment in infrastructure and bonds, far exceeding expected demand and returns. This is being compared to the “dotcom” bubble of the 1990s, which eventually burst and resulted in a financial crisis.
The problem of massive layoffs, reduced working hours, or factory closures is becoming more severe. In the US, nearly 560,000 companies went bankrupt in a year from September 2024, a 10% increase from the previous year, the highest since 2010; including 32 with over $1 billion in assets, which closed in 12 months from September 2024. Over the past decade, at least 100,000 capitalist farms in the US have folded due to the continued decline in commodity prices. In Germany, a total of 22,000 companies are expected to shutter this year (60 per day), the highest in a decade. In the UK, over 2,000 companies are closing every month this year, while 50,000 businesses are in a critical situation. In China, only 15 companies (out of 129) are expected to remain standing in the e-vehicle industry in the next five years.
Unemployment continues to worsen globally. In the technology sector, it is estimated that over 200,000 workers will be laid off by the end of the year (70% of them in the US), including 24,000 at Intel, 14,000 at Amazon, 13,000 at Verizon, and 9,000 at Microsoft. The US automotive industry has announced that 15,000 workers (20% more than last year) will be laid off this year. Up to 60,000 workers in the electric vehicle sector in China are estimated to have been laid off since 2024. Over 48,000 employees of United Parcel Service were also fired due to the decline in deliveries.
The global economy is stuck in stagnation and slow growth. The economies of all capitalist centers are facing growing threats of recession. The slow growth of the global economy has been going on for close to two decades since the 2008 financial crisis. The global economy rebounded in 2022 after collapsing in 2020–2021. This year, growth estimates, including that of the World Bank and IMF, is put at only 2.3%, lower than the already low 2.5% growth in 2024, due to widespread business closures, layoffs, and low demand caused by high inflation, especially in consumer goods.
The US economy remains on the brink of recession, which is estimated to grow by only 1.7–2% this year. Almost half (22) of the US states are already in recession. Under the “America First” policy of the Trump government, desperate measures were implemented to revive the economy and industry. These include raising tariffs on almost all imported US goods with the declared intention of protecting and supporting local industry and manufacturing. However, over the past 11 months, industrial production has remained stagnant or even declined, including in steel and automobiles, due to excess global production and inventories.
The European Union’s economy is expected to grow by a mere 1.3%, including the flatlining German economy, which is expected to grow by only 0.2% (down from -0.3% in 2024). The United Kingdom has been on the brink of recession since last year. Japan’s economy contracted by 2.3% in the third quarter, and it’s not expected to grow by more than 1% for the entire year. China’s economy continues to slow down, with an expected growth of only 5% (down from over 10% growth in 2000–2010), due to the collapse of real estate projects (including unoccupied condominiums and office buildings), accumulated unpaid local debt, and a decline in investment in manufacturing and infrastructure.
In total, it is estimated that 40–60 countries are currently on the brink of recession. In addition to the major capitalist centers, this includes several advanced economies in Europe such as Austria, Germany, Italy, France, and Switzerland, which have negative or zero economic growth rates, as well as a dozen or so underdeveloped countries.
The severe crisis of the capitalist system is further exacerbating environmental degradation and the climate crisis. The major capitalist countries are openly refusing to curb their exploitation of natural resources and raw materials, leading to increasing industrial pollution and global warming. The annual “climate change conference” sham initiated by the UN, including the recent one held in Brazil, has proved itself inutile.
Amid the crisis of the global capitalist system, the underdeveloped, agrarian, and backward economies of colonial, semicolonial, and semifeudal countries are further deteriorating. These countries have been crippled by decades of neoliberal policies that have exposed them to a flood of foreign surplus goods and the plunder of foreign capitalist investment. Due to unequal exchange, they suffer from chronic trade deficits, financial crises, and debt dependence. As the competition among the monopoly bourgeoisie for the cheapest raw materials intensifies, these countries are increasingly being exploited by imperialist powers. Billions of people in these countries suffer from widespread unemployment, low wages, land grabbing, and other forms of suffering and oppression.
Countries continue to resort to borrowing to try to overcome the crisis in their economies, finance state subsidies for struggling companies, fund infrastructure, and increase defense spending. In just the first six months of 2025, global debt surged by $21 trillion to nearly $340 trillion by mid-year. The total global debt represents approximately 290% of global production, almost equal to the peak reached in 2023. Most of the global debt is held by the US, Japan, China, and several major European countries, with the US accounting for one-third. Public debt is expected to grow from $102 trillion at the end of 2024 to $115 trillion by the end of the year. The public debt of underdeveloped countries has reached $31 trillion, doubling in the past 15 years. At least 35 countries are at risk of debt default.
The deepening global crisis of capitalism has triggered intense rivalries among imperialists and conflicts around the world. Trump imposed additional tariffs on almost all countries as leverage to obtain trade concessions (including the entry of more US products and contracts for the sale of surplus military equipment). By doing so, he further intensified economic and trade competition among imperialists and deepened anti-US sentiments worldwide.
The threat of major armed conflicts breaking out in various parts of the world continues to grow, with the increased military spending of imperialists. This surged by 9.4% in 2024 to $2.72 trillion, the largest increase in over three decades. This rise continued into 2025. Military spending by the US is expected to reach $1 trillion this year. Under the new National Security Strategy (2025) of the US (mainly focused on China and Russia), it declared its goal of developing the “most powerful, most advanced, and most technologically advanced” military force.
The US emphasizes that it needs to surpass China in power over the seas and the “first island chain” surrounding the country. Its supposed goal is to “avoid confrontation,” but its measures only increases the likelihood of armed conflict and wars. In its own hemisphere, the US is now planning to invade Venezuela (in South America) under the guise of “fighting drug cartels” to overthrow the anti-imperialist government of Maduro and establish a puppet government. After the prolonged war in Ukraine provoked by the US and NATO, the US is now pushing for an agreement to divide the country’s resources and land. In the Middle East, the US continues to collaborate with the Zionist state of Israel in the genocidal war against Palestine, which has killed at least 67,000 Palestinians in the two-year bombardment of Gaza since October 2023. Despite the US-brokered “ceasefire” in October, Zionist forces continue its attacks, resulting in the killing of at least 400 Palestinians. The US is planning to control parts of the Gaza Strip, even if it goes against Israel’s plan to annex the entire territory. In July, the US and Israel bombed Iran, which defended itself with counterstrikes.
The “comprehensive strategic partnership” between Russia and China continues to strengthen in the form of increased trade (especially in oil and energy) and military cooperation. The BRICS alliance (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) continues to expand, now with ten member countries, after Indonesia joined this year (after Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates).
In response to Trump’s tariffs, many countries continue their efforts to move away from the dollar in financial transactions, even as it remains dominant. This includes yuan-based oil sales by Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern (especially to China), the yuan and rubble-based China-Russia trade, and local currency trade in ASEAN. From negligible levels before 2022, non-dollar transactions now account for 20% of global trade, contributing to the decline in the dollar’s value and the increasing purchase of gold. Since 2022–2024, gold sales have exceeded 1,000 tons, from the annual 450–500 tons in 2010–2021.
The ongoing crisis in capitalist countries has triggered intensifying class contradictions. Workers” struggles continue to intensify in capitalist centers, including the Amazon workers” strikes in the US and other countries. This year, massive strikes by workers in China for wage increases, particularly at the BYD company (an electric vehicle manufacturer), broke out in mid-year. Widespread strikes and protests by workers in Japanese ports took place from March to May. In Europe, general strikes by workers and citizens took place in Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, and France in December, against austerity policies that mainly affect pensions, wages, and social services. Major strikes have also taken place in recent months in Germany, Spain, the UK, and other countries.
In response to the growing resistance of workers and people, states are markedly turning to openly fascist policies. In the US, Donald Trump’s authoritarianism is worsening, with blatant disregard for laws and legal processes in the violent crackdown on immigrants, who make up a large part of the working class. Encouraged by the monopoly bourgeoisie, fascist and conservative parties and movements are growing stronger, with some elected to government. Attacks against Muslims and Arabs (at worst levels in the US in the past three decades, linked to the Trump administration’s suppression of pro-Palestinian protests), Blacks and Latinos in the US, LGBT individuals, and migrants in Europe continue to worsen. As part of the growing fascist trend, laws and policies that suppress civil rights are being implemented, such as the strengthening of mass surveillance, the use of drones, AI, and other technologies that violate privacy rights. After more than three years, the Zionist state’s genocidal war in Gaza continues. Mainly at the instigation of the US, the United Nations is being undermined by fund reductions, particularly for its human rights agencies.
The growing fascization of states in the US and other countries is pushing people to strengthen anti-fascist struggles around the world. Major anti-fascist rallies and protests have taken place, including a 7-million-strong rally in over 2,700 gatherings in the US against Trump’s fascist ambitions. In Europe, large anti-fascist rallies have taken place in the Netherlands, France, Germany, the UK, Norway, and other countries. Mass demonstrations by millions of people continue around the world against the ongoing genocide by the US and the Zionist state in Gaza.
Mass struggles are also erupting in underdeveloped countries, due to rising prices, low wages, declining living standards, land grabbing, corruption and the luxurious lifestyle of government officials, burdensome taxes, government waste on prestige projects, the decay of social services, and extreme inequality. Protests against corruption have taken place in Kenya, Nepal, Indonesia, Morocco, Madagascar, Peru, the Philippines, and other countries. Many of these have been dubbed “Gen-Z protests” due to the widespread spontaneous mobilization of young people suffering in the midst of a deep socio-economic crisis. Some have been used by reactionary or reformist parties, but many have also consolidated as progressive and revolutionary forces.
The conditions in the world are extremely favorable for the strengthening of proletarian revolutionaries around the globe, and the establishment of communist parties, to serve as beacon for the toiling masses and other oppressed and exploited classes. In various countries, proletarian revolutionary groups and parties are strengthening themselves ideologically, through the study and deepening of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, and its application to their concrete situations. This effort is reflected in the five theoretical conferences held by the NDFP since October 2023, which were attended by many communist parties and other revolutionary organizations to discuss various important issues facing the proletariat worldwide.
In countries where communist parties exist, the proletariat is at the center and forefront of various forms of democratic mass struggles, building a broad united front to defend the interests and welfare of the masses against imperialist neoliberal policies, poverty programs, corruption, and fascist reactionary states. In India, Turkey, Peru, Colombia, the Philippines, and other countries, communist parties continue to strive to combat terrorist and total war policies of suppression, and lead revolutionary armed struggles.
The situation is ripe for the emergence and growth of communist parties and for the intensification of revolutionary struggles around the world. The condition of crisis created by the capitalist system provides fertile ground for the spread of revolutionary ideas and mass action. Communist parties play a central role in leading the working class and other oppressed classes in the struggle for freedom, democracy, and socialism.
II. Deepening economic and political crisis under the US-Marcos regime
The ruling semicolonial and semifeudal system under the US-Marcos regime continues to sink deeper into crisis. The rotten system at its core is becoming increasingly putrid, amid blatant corruption of Marcos and his fellow bureaucratic-capitalist thieves, the accumulation of enormous wealth by the comprador bourgeoisie, the intensifying plunder of the country’s resources by foreign capitalists, widespread dispossesion of land and livelihood of the masses, and the increasing suffering and oppression experienced by the Filipino people. The situation urgently demands revolutionary change to reject the old path and bring the country onto the road of freedom, democracy, and progress.
In the face of the ongoing crisis of the global capitalist system, the local economy of the Philippines is being pulled deeper into crisis. The imperialist US and ruling classes continue to stifle the development of productive forces, causing it to remain agrarian, backward, and non-industrial.
The local economy still lacks the capacity to meet the needs of the people and develop the country. Local production is dependent on the importation of consumer and capital goods, and is focused on exporting raw or semi-processed materials and assembled goods from imported components. The country’s economy remains dependent on foreign capital and debt, despite the World Bank’s push to increase local borrowing.
Due to the unequal trade, the country continues to experience a large trade deficit, which reached $54 billion in 2024 (up from $52 billion in 2023). This is expected to remain at the same level in 2025. The surplus in the balance of payments (balance of foreign transactions, including trade, income, and remittances from abroad, foreign loans, aid, and investments) plummeted by over 83%, from $3.7 billion in 2023 to $609 million in 2024, despite the significant inflow of $38.34 billion in remittances from overseas Filipino workers.
The Marcos government’s debt has surged to ₱17.5 trillion as of October 2025 (including ₱5.5 trillion or $93 billion in foreign debt), a 40% increase since Marcos took office in 2022, to finance the trade deficit, cover the balance of payments, and fund large but unproductive infrastructure projects.
The local manufacturing sector continues to decline due to reduced orders and weak sales in the global market. This includes a nearly 5% decline in exports of electronic products in the first part of the year, including semiconductors which account for a large portion of foreign investment in the Philippines and 55–60% of the country’s exports.
Agricultural production remains low, although there has been a slight recovery in 2025 from a 2.2% contraction last year. The main reasons for this are the continued backwardness of production tools, small-scale production, and vulnerability to typhoons and floods. Local agricultural production has further deteriorated due to the import liberalization of rice (which reached 4.8 million tons in 2024) and other products, resulting in losses for farmers and a decline in production. A similar situation is being experienced in the fisheries, poultry, and livestock sectors.
There is a marked increase in the number of job losses. From April 2024 to April 2025, an estimated 500,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector were lost, including 76,000 jobs in the semiconductor and electronics sector. This year, over 300,000 jobs have disappeared. Hundreds of thousands of jeepney drivers, fisherfolk, market vendors, and other small-scale livelihood earners are also being deprived of their livelihood due to programs that benefit foreign and local capitalists.
In the countryside, millions have lost their jobs in recent years due to land grabbing, evictions, and the conversion of thousands of hectares of land into real estate, mines, plantations, renewable energy projects, and for other purposes. They are forced to become farmworkers, seek various sources of livelihood in the agrarian or natural economy, or find temporary work in town centers. The policies of fascist repression, particularly limiting working hours in farms imposed by AFP soldiers, have added to the hardships of the peasant masses.
The Marcos government is deliberately downplaying the severe problem of unemployment. To make the unemployment rate appear low (around 5%), 10–15 million unemployed women (mostly in rural areas) who perform unpaid household work are not counted as part of the “labor force”. Additionally, several million people classified as “discouraged workers” who have given up looking for work are not included. On the other hand, self-employed individuals and unpaid family workers (who are actually unemployed) are counted as “employed”, making up 13–16 million or up to 34% of the reported employed population.
If the millions of women removed from the labor force and categorized as “housewives” are included, and those who are actually unemployed are removed from the “employed” count, the true unemployment rate in the Philippines is at least 52% or more than half of the country’s labor force. This does not include the large number of underemployed individuals who are often without work, particularly in rural areas.
In the face of the severe unemployment problem, 2.47 million Filipinos left the country to work abroad in 2024, the highest in the past five decades, and the number is expected to increase. Around 10 million are “gig workers,” equivalent to 22% of the total employed population, including nearly 200,000 “platform workers”. These include around 90,000 delivery riders who compete daily for limited orders or passengers, suffer from terrible traffic, and have their meager earnings swindled by capitalist app owners.
The standard of living of the majority of the population continues to decline, due to the continuous rise in prices of goods, especially fuel and food. The price of rice remains high at ₱40-₱50 per kilo. The cost of education, transportation, healthcare, housing, water, electricity, and other services continues to increase, most of which are business run by big capitalists.
The living wage for a family of five is estimated to be around ₱1,225 per day. The daily minimum wage of ₱695 (as of July) in the National Capital Region is only about half of this, and the minimum wage in various regions is even lower. The mass of workers earning minimum wages are mired in poverty. They endure cramped urban shantytowns and face the threat of eviction from their homes. Millions of unemployed people line up and are willing to accept low-paying contractual or seasonal jobs.
The peasant masses are in the countryside. They constitute the majority of the productive classes of the country, but their numbers are hidden in the official statistics of the reactionary government. In order to justify the neglect of the countryside, and to make it appear that the economy is no longer agrarian, the official statistics of the reactionary state exclude a large part of the productive population in the countryside, including peasant women and children who participate in production.
Most of them do not own land or have only a small parcel of land to till, or they are tenants or sharecroppers, or work as farmworkers. They experience increasingly severe forms of feudal and semifeudal exploitation and oppression, particularly in the form of onerous land rent and extremely low wages. They do backbreaking work and bear the high cost of production, high interest rates, are deep in usurious debt, as well as the low prices of their products, high prices of goods, and other hardships. Their situation has worsened due to import liberalization, resulting in a flood of imported rice, onions, garlic, and other agricultural products, and the flooding of fields due to deforestation.
Millions are being evicted from their own land due to the widespread land grabbing by landlords, bourgeois compradors, and bureaucratic capitalists, who use the courts and various agencies of the reactionary government, often employing military and police force, to make way for the expansion of plantations, mines, ecotourism projects, real estate, “renewable energy” (such as large solar farms), or projects supposedly for “climate change mitigation” (such as bamboo plantations).
Small fisherfolk are being robbed of their livelihood by the intrusion of large commercial trawlers or ships into the 15-kilometer municipal waters, contrary to the reactionary law that stipulates that they are for the exclusive use of small fishermen. They are also being deprived of their livelihood by land reclamation, and when US and AFP forces conduct military exercises along the coastlines for several days or weeks. They also face the threat of the construction of “coastal wind energy projects.” They also bear the burden of liberalized fish imports, high fishing costs, and interest on loans.
The entire country is experiencing the severe effects of climate change. This is result of the destruction of mountains and rivers that have been plundered for decades by greedy foreign capitalists and their local collaborators. The suffering of the toiling masses, in both urban and rural areas, is immeasurable in the face of severe flooding and landslides, resulting in the destruction of crops and sources of livelihood, damage to homes, and massive loss of life.
To maintain their relative comfort, teachers, ordinary government employees, small professionals, public transportation owners, small market vendors or stall owners, freelance or gig workers, call-center agents, and other sectors that make up the petty bourgeoisie, also toil long hours. Amid a severe social crisis, most of them are no longer able to save to own their own homes or accumulate capital, and many rapidly slide into the living conditions of the toiling masses. Millions of young people are no longer able to complete college education due to high tuition and other expenses.
There is an extreme gap between the life of the masses of the Filipino people and the ruling elite. While the lives of the Filipino masses deteriorate or remain stagnant, the wealth of the big comprador bourgeoisie, landlords, and bureaucratic capitalists continues to grow. Since Marcos took office, the combined wealth of the three richest people in the Philippines—Enrique Razon, Manuel Villar, and Ramon Ang—has increased by 56% from ₱485.6 billion to ₱1.3 trillion, while the wealth of the 50 richest people has grown by 25% from ₱979 billion to ₱4.9 trillion, far exceeding the 7.5% increase in wages for workers in the National Capital Region this year.
While the toiling masses are mired in poverty, the ruling elite live in luxury and extravagance. They squander their wealth on mansions, expensive cars, private resorts, and yachts, gold watches and jewelry, casino gambling, and jetsetting on their private planes.
They accumulate enormous wealth through partnerships with foreign big capitalists and banks, as agents for the export of raw materials (minerals, fruits, copra, marine products, rubber), importation of manufactured goods and equipment, and as managers of foreign investors in companies that exploit cheap labor for assembly and export. They are behind the land grabbing and privatization of public services such as electricity, water, telecommunications, and transportation. They control the largest banks, companies, and conglomerates, including International Container Terminal Services (ICTS), SM Investments, BDO, SM Prime, Meralco, BPI, San Miguel Corporation, Ayala Land, PLDT, China Bank, and other large corporations. They fund and support the largest political parties and benefit from government favors in contracts, laws, infrastructure projects, and court decisions.
The ruling elite, in partnership with US imperialism, perpetuate the country’s backwardness. They have no interest in developing basic industries, advancing agriculture, or promoting a self-sufficient economy. They accumulate wealth from the country’s backwardness.
The ruling elite is currently represented by the Marcos fascist and puppet regime. He manages the neo-colonial state, whose main pillar is the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) controlled by US imperialism. In the face of increasing rivalry with China over the past decade, US imperialism has tightened its control over the Philippines. US military intervention has intensified through the increasingly large Balikatan exercises, conducted under the Mutual Defense Treaty, Visiting Forces Agreement, Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), and other unequal military agreements between the US and the Philippines.
The presence of US troops, vehicles, and military equipment in the Philippines has grown exponentially under Marcos. The US has opened additional secret EDCA sites, serving as bases for US troops and military advisers, and as storage facilities for US missiles and other weapons. This is part of the increasing US military presence in the Asia region, in partnership with puppet governments in Japan and South Korea. Military exercises and maneuvers by US forces are incessant. The imperialist US is taking advantage of the Philippines-China conflict in the South China Sea to provoke armed conflict. It is using the pro-US group Akbayan as a civilian war provocateur, promoting Sinophobia or anti-China sentiments, to frame the US as “ally” or “defender” of Philippine sovereignty.
Government officials of the US describe the level of US-Philippines “cooperation” as being on “hyperdrive,” in the face of unprecedented US military intervention in the country. The US recently established Task Force Philippines to further tighten its grip over the AFP, and to more employ it in US military operations in the country. Following this, the US Congress passed the Philippine Enhanced Resilience Act or PERA, which will provide the Philippines with up to $500 million in annual Foreign Military Financing, or a total of $2.5 billion from 2026–2030, ten times more than the average military aid to the country.
The neo-colonial state is mired in deep political crisis, marked by intense factional strife within the ruling elite, and isolation from the people of the corrupt and notorious Marcos regime. In recent years, Marcos has allowed the arrest and imprisonment of former tyrant Rodrigo Duterte in the facilities of the International Criminal Court in The Netherlands, on charges of crimes against humanity related to the mass killings in the sham “drug war”. There was also intense conflict over the impeachment of Sara Duterte, which a broad range of progressive forces pushed in alliance with Duterte’s rivals in Congress. However, fearing he would be next, Marcos himself stopped the Senate trial, in collusion with Duterte’s allies.
One of the most rotten reactionary elections took place in May, marked brazen cheating, the flood of corruption money for vote-buying, violence, and political accommodation arranged by US operators. This reflects the rotten ruling political system. On the other hand, the participation of progressive and patriotic parties in the election was significant, despite being targeted by state armed forces. Their candidates were exceptional for upholding the grievances of the masses, exposing the rotten election, and promoting national and democratic aspirations of the people.
Amid a severe economic crisis and sharp decline in the living conditions of the broad masses of the people, widespread anger at corruption and plunder of public funds erupted. Public investigations revealed enormous amounts of public funds embezzled by bureaucrat capitalists in anomalous and flawed flood-control projects, with hundreds of billions of pesos pocketed by officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), congressmen, senators, and high-ranking Malacañang officials.
Starting in September, a wave of anti-corruption protests swept the country, led by young students, commonly referred to as Generation Z or Gen-Z, similar to protests in other countries. However, unlike the brief spark of protests in other countries, the protests by young students in the Philippines continued, under the umbrella of national-democratic forces. This movement gained strength and drew support from various democratic sectors.
In the face of protests, a former congressman and ally of Marcos revealed that he himself had received ₱25 billion in “SOP” funds, and that he is the mastermind in the insertion of anomalous projects in the budget of his government. To save his own skin, Marcos was forced to sacrifice his close officials who were implicated in the embezzlement, resulting in cracks and intensified infighting among Malacañang factions. Marcos ordered a show investigation in an attempt to cover up his direct liability for corruption in flood-control projects which he directly funded through “unprogrammed appropriations”.
With the surge in the protest movement, broad anti-corruption alliances were formed across the country. Progressive and democratic groups, especially among the youth, intensified their calls for Marcos and Duterte to step down or be ousted, even as the pseudo-progressive Akbayan attempted to divert the people’s anger from Marcos. A proposal has been put forward to establish a “national transition council” to replace the Marcos-Duterte government, demand accountability for all those involved in corruption, and implement changes to the election and governance system. Although this proposal is still within the framework of the current system and will not bring about fundamental change, it reflects the deep-seated frustration and distrust of the people towards the reactionary system and the ruling elite, in the face of repeated cases of corruption over the past decades.
To prevent the growth of street protests, Marcos used police and military forces to suppress democratic rights. On September 21, on the 53rd anniversary of martial law, over 270 people were arrested in Mendiola as a confrontation between police and brave young protesters erupted. During a rally on November 30, Malacañang was turned into a virtual garrison, surrounded by thousands of police to prevent protesters from approaching and being heard by Marcos.
The crackdown on rallies constitutes just one aspect of the escalating fascist repression of the Marcos regime. This year, Marcos issued the National Action Plan for Unity, Peace and Development (NAP-UPD), now serving as plan for the widespread suppression of democratic rights under the guise of counterinsurgency. It uses the Anti-Terror Law and Anti-Financing Terrorism Law to repress mass organizations and civil society groups, link them to the revolutionary movement, and suppress their activities.
In urban areas, state agents conduct surveillance, intimidation, and harassment to prevent workers from unionizing and young people and other sectors from organizing. Known rally leaders or participants are targeted for “home visits” by police to “persuade” them to withdraw from their organizations and not participate in actions. Fabricated charges are being filed left and right, including the threat of filing cases against over 90 youth leaders and participants in the September 21 Mendiola rally.
Under the NAP-UPD, the AFP, in partnership with the NTF-Elcac, continues to impose de facto martial law in hundreds of barangays across the country. Repressive and oppressive measures are being implemented against the peasant masses, including limiting working hours for farmers in their fields, requiring people to sign a logbook when leaving or entering the village, limiting the amount of rice they can buy, imposing curfews, and other policies to control the movement of the people. Military units are being deployed to barangays or clusters of peasant villages, particularly those suspected by the AFP of supporting the revolutionary movement, under the guise of preventing support for the New People’s Army (NPA).
The imperialist US is the primary adviser and provider of financial and material support for Marcos” and the AFP’s counterinsurgency operations. The AFP relentlessly scours villages and conduct operations against the NPA. Triad intelligence, psywar and combat operations continue, in a desperate attempt to crush the people’s army or prevent guerrilla forces from conducting mass work. In areas under focused military operations of AFP divisions and area commands, large-scale operations are being conducted in what it believes are NPA guerrilla zones. The AFP uses battalions to pursue platoons or squads of the people’s army. This is accompanied by the offer of amnesty for surrenderees. Since 2023, Marcos and his emissaries have used backchannel talks with the NDFP in an attempt to co-opt it into negotiations for the surrender of the revolutionary movement.
The AFP also deploys squads or groups of fascist soldiers, sometimes disguising themselves as guerrilla forces, in an attempt to deceive the masses. The AFP also uses rogue elements in villages to smuggle electronic devices (GPS trackers) into guerrilla units, in order to target Red fighters with artillery, strafing, and aerial bombing using FA-50 jet fighters or Super Tucano attack planes.
Where and when the AFP conducts counter-guerrilla operations, in includes among its targets the village peasant masses. Whenever armed encounters occur, the masses are forcibly evacuated from their villages as punishment, under the fascist AFP officials” belief that they are the mass base of the NPA. In the past year, over 7,600 farmers have been victims of forced evacuation.
They are part of the nearly 240,000 victims of fascist repression and violence by the US-Marcos regime since December 2024. This includes 40 victims of murder, 34 of illegal abduction, and over 300 of torture. The fascist US-Marcos regime primarily targets groups or forces active in defending the rights of the peasant masses and workers, and promoting the national and democratic aspirations of the people.
Contrary to the agreement between the reactionary government and Moro forces recognizing the autonomy of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, Marcos continues to intervene and impose his authority on internal matters of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, and has repeatedly delayed elections. The peace agreement is now at risk due to Marcos” failure to fulfill Manila’s obligations despite the surrender of arms by thousands of Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The Moro masses continue to complain of rights abuses by fascist AFP forces.
As history has repeatedly shown, no level of fascist repression can stop the people from rising. In fact, as repression worsens and intensifies, the people’s desire to defend and fight back grows stronger.
In the face of the deepening crisis of the semicolonial and semifeudal system in the Philippines, and the accompanying worsening suffering and hardship of the people, the situation creates favorable conditions for advancing the people’s democratic revolution. The Party must seize the opportunity to further expand and consolidate, in the framework of deepening and completing the rectification movement. Along with all revolutionary forces, it must excel in mass work to arouse, organize and mobilize millions of people on the path of revolutionary struggle.
III. Situation and tasks to further strengthen the Party and revolutionary movement
Impelled and guided by the rectification movement over the past two years, the Party continues to comprehensively strengthen itself ideologically, politically, and organizationally. Cadres at all levels of the Party have exhibited determination to identify, criticize, and overcome past weaknesses and errors and bring our revolutionary practice to a new level.
The acute crisis of the semicolonial and semifeudal system in the country and the global capitalist system clearly shows that the people’s democratic revolution in the Philippines remains valid, just and urgent. This is the only way for the Filipino people to completely liberate themselves from the oppression of imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism, and to build a bright socialist future.
From the setbacks and losses experienced by the Party and the revolutionary movement, we have achieved modest advances in various fields of revolutionary work over the past year, although some areas have lagged behind and some have suffered losses due to still unrectified weaknesses and in the face of relentless attacks of the enemy.
Together with all revolutionary forces, the Party is further strengthening itself to lead the advance of the democratic people’s revolution through a protracted people’s war. The Party is now well-positioned to lead the broad masses of the people in all fields of struggle, primarily in the field of armed struggle.
We have further strengthened the Party’s ideological foundation since we launched the study movement on Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and the Party’s basic principles in 2023. The study movement aims to eliminate, primarily, empiricism and, secondarily, dogmatism in ideology; to eliminate conservatism, liberalism, tailism, and sectoralism in politics; and to eliminate bureaucratism and ultra-democracy in organization. Through criticism and self-criticism, alongside rectification, we have further strengthened the unity of Party cadres and committees.
Under the leadership of the Central Committee, the rectification movement has been further deepened by summing up our experiences. We have drawn lessons from the first and second great rectification movements, while reviewing the history of the Party’s building and growth since its founding 57 years ago.
Party cadres and committees continue to strengthen and develop social investigation and class analysis (SICA) within their areas of leadership. The goal of conducting and deepening SICA is to identify the main problems and issues faced by the broad masses, especially the forms of oppression and exploitation suffered by the basic classes and sectors, and to determine the appropriate methods and tactics for arousing, organizing and mobilizing the people. Only on the basis of conducting SICA can we formulate correct plans and slogans that will be embraced by the masses and galvanize their struggles.
In response to the Party’s call, the revolutionary mass organizations of workers, peasants, youth, women, teachers, artists, health workers, church people, scientists, lawyers, indigenous peoples, overseas migrants, and others are continuously being expanded and invigorated. Through rallies and various forms of propaganda, they have strengthened the call to advance and join the people’s war.
They bring together and consolidate the advanced sections of the masses taking part in mass struggles. They serve as the underground backbone of the broad, open mass movement, guiding the masses to avoid reformism in waging their struggles. In urban areas, the call for enlistment, especially from among the petty-bourgeois intellectuals, to go to the countryside for temporary or long-term deployment is growing stronger. Their contributions to invigorating educational, cultural, and other aspects of work in the people’s army are invaluable.
In line with the policy of boldly expanding without letting a single undesirable in, we have steadily expanded the Party’s ranks by recruiting from the newly emerging revolutionaries in the mass movement, both in urban and rural areas. This is possible because Party cadres and members are at the core of mass struggles and are with the masses in their actions. They are spread all over the country.
Wherever there are at least three members, we establish a Party branch as the basic organizational unit. The growth in numbers and strengthening of Party branches serve as yardstick of the breadth and depth of the Party’s roots among the masses, and its ability to lead the masses on the revolutionary path. Party branches are at the core and forefront of revolutionary mass organizations and their national and democratic struggles.
In the cities, we establish Party branches in factories and workplaces, in urban poor communities, schools, offices, and other places. In rural areas, we establish Party branches in villages or clusters of villages. Where they were dismantled by enemy suppression or other reasons, branches are now vigorously being rebuilt.
In the countryside, in particular, the establishment of Party branches and committees is key to leading the broad masses in their struggles for land reform and armed struggle. Under the Party’s leadership, village revolutionary committees are being established, which are organs of political power serving as the village united front, based on the basic mass organizations of peasants, youth, women, children, and cultural workers, as well as the revolutionary alliance or unity with the middle forces in the village. The Party is further building alliances between the village folk, and the masses and middle forces in the town centers.
The Party arms the masses. We form and mobilize people’s militia units as formations of the New People’s Army (NPA), together with self-defense units of mass organizations, to advance widespread guerrilla warfare. Wherever they are established, the people’s militia units help strengthen the fulltime units of the NPA where they exist, and where they do not exist, they take the initiative to establish new guerrilla units of the NPA. Wherever NPA guerrilla forces can be estblished, expanded and strengthened, the Party establishes guerrilla zones and guerrilla fronts where the armed struggle can be waged to annihilate the enemy part by part.
Guided and inspired by the rectification movement, the Party continues to defeat the relentless terrorist and psychological warfare of US imperialism and the Marcos fascist regime, with the declared goal of defeating the Party, the NPA, and the entire revolutionary movement. The Party will not be defeated because it has an unwavering commitment to the proletarian ideology, principles and cause, and an iron determination to serve the people.
The NPA continues to defeat the AFP’s “focused military operations” by denying them a focus or target. Some have suffered losses, often due to internal weaknesses. The NPA’s continued efforts in various regions are a slap on the face of Marcos, who in July bragged that “there are no more guerrilla groups” in the country.
With the lessons of the rectification movement, the NPA has reorganized and redeployed to cover and mobilize a wider area, and to maneuver more quickly and silently. For the most part, we have kept the enemy deaf and blind, avoided defensive battles, preserved our strength, allowing the NPA to gradually expand again. It has regained or re-established its previous bases, while expanding into new areas. With determination to fight and wage active defense, the NPA resists and defeats enemy attacks. As a sign of recovery, some units have launched small tactical offensives. Some units have more advanced experience in rectification and rebuilding, while many are catching up, even as some lag behind.
The key to all this is the close relationship and deep roots of the NPA among the masses, and the adaption of the organization’s and guerrilla tactics of the army. To achieve this, Red fighters strengthen their assistance to the masses in production, provision of health and education services, and cultural work. The NPA helps in conducting and deepening social investigation and class analysis (SICA), organizing the masses and raising their determination to defend and fight for their interests.
The NPA and revolutionary forces also continue to resist the enemy’s relentless intelligence operations, psychological warfare, and surrender campaigns under the guise of “localized peace talks.” We thoroughly expose the hollowness of the AFP and NTF-Elcac’s promise of a “better life” which fails to solve the basic problem of landlessness, and especially because the so-called “reintegration” is a sham. Also exposed are the corruption-ridden fake “development projects,” funded with billions of pesos embezzled by military officials in cohort with contractors. More importantly, we expose the true purpose of the promised “peace” is to suppress the masses so that foreign capitalists and their accomplices can freely enter to seize land and natural resources.
In recent years, there have been elements who betrayed the Party and the masses. They are now completely isolated from the masses and are thoroughly hated. Many of them have been discarded and abandoned by the enemy after they lost their usefulness in psychological warfare. The most notorious ones who have become criminal assets of the enemy are being charged in people’s courts and are meted with corresponding punishment demanded by the masses, commensurate to the crimes they have committed.
The vast majority, 99%, of the Party’s members and mass revolutionary organizations remain loyal to the Party’s principles and cause. There have been parts which became passive due to intense fascist repression. However, they can easily be regrouped by guiding them in carrying out the necessary duties.
By standing for a just and lasting peace, the US-Marcos regime’s attempts to force the National Democratic Front (NDF) into a trap of surrendering the armed revolution continue to be thwarted. Over the past two years, there has been no significant progress in the talks between the NDF and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) to revive formal peace talks.
The main reason for the impasse in the peace talks is Marcos” insistence on scrapping all agreements made over the past 30 years of NDFP-GRP negotiations, including The Hague Joint Declaration, the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, and others. Marcos shows he does not honor the GRP’s signature, undermining the trust of the NDFP and the people.
Marcos insists on a “restart” of talks within the framework of “demobilization and disarmament” of the NPA, without first resolving the basic problems of the people, which are the root of the civil war in the country. The NDFP delegation has taken a firm stance against this proposal. If the Marcos regime does not change its militarist stance in the talks, revolutionary forces are prepared to suspend talks with the GRP until Marcos is replaced by someone more open to resolving the basic problems of land and injustice. With or without peace talks with the GRP, the Party is determined to wage revolutionary struggles to fight for the national and democratic aspirations of the people.
The objective situation in the country and the world is excellent for advancing revolutionary struggles. The subjective situation is also favorable, because the rectification movement has placed the Party and all revolutionary forces in a better position now, compared to two years ago, to seize opportunities to lead the broad advance of the people’s democratic revolution in the coming years. However, the challenges we face remain significant, and the tasks we must shoulder in the next one or two years are heavy, in order to strengthen the Party ideologically, politically, and organizationally, and raise its capacity to mobilize millions of people along the path of the people’s democratic revolution through protracted people’s war.
Ideologically, the rectification movement must continue to deepen and expand in its third year, with its eight aspects: a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist study campaign, a campaign for in-depth study of the Party’s constitution and program, a campaign to review the documents of the First and Second Great Rectification Movements, a campaign for summing-up, a campaign for social investigation and class analysis, a campaign for criticism and self-criticism, a campaign for evaluation and promotion of cadres, and a continuing campaign to ensure the implementation of the three-level Party education course.
As we have emphasized before, the rectification movement is primarily a study movement, aimed at raising the theoretical knowledge of cadres and members and strengthening their grasp of the Party’s ideological line, principles, and policies. This is the key to raising our revolutionary practice. The methods and style of work must be improved in order to raise and achieve targets, and deepen and rectify our thinking and methods which impede greater advance. The rectification movement will continue until we have decisively identified, eliminated, and overcome the weaknesses and mistakes of the past, and achieved a clear direction for expansion and advance.
There is an urgent need to conduct summing-up at all levels and all fields of work, especially over the past 20–25 years since the end of the second great rectification movement. Summation during this period will give us a deeper understanding of the historical context of our weaknesses over the years. The Central Committee has the task of leading this summing-up, together with all regional committees across the country.
All Party committees must prioritize carrying out of SICA, focused on systematically identifying the most pressing social and economic issues faced within their areas and levels of leadership. Conducting SICA is crucial in invigorating the masses to wage struggles to fight for their interests. Based on this, plans must be formulated to arouse and mobilize the broad masses.
Special theoretical studies should also be conducted on prominent issues faced by the people. In the face of the corruption issue under the Marcos regime, all Party members should thoroughly study bureaucratic capitalism, guided by the theoretical article released by the Central Committee. Articles in Rebolusyon should be thoroughly studied by all Party members.
In organization, boldly expand the Party without letting in a single undesirable. Recruit as candidate members the most advanced elements from mass activists who are at least 18 years old, willing to accept Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and the Party’s constitution and program, and agree to fully undertake work in any Party organization and regularly pay dues. Accept them as full members after the candidacy period specified in the constitution.
Continue to consolidate and strengthen the Party in accordance with democratic centralism, or democracy guided by centralism, and centralism based on democracy. Continue to strictly implement the decisions of the Central Committee and the leading committees of the Party to synchronize our march forward.
Strengthen the committee system by ensuring regular and systematic meetings of committees to form collective decisions on issues faced, and to collectively undertake plans. Establish executive committees and secretariats of leading committees for daily leadership and monitoring of work. Ensure that individuals are collectively supervised in the implementation of tasks.
Continue to strengthen the system of regular and special reporting to higher organs, and close guidance of lower committees. Continue to strengthen various systems or means of communication.
Strictly implement security policies as a crucial organizational task. Enforce policies on the use of computers, communication gadgets and electronic devices, encryption and safeguarding computer files, encoding of records, and cutting links with fixed points, especially those leading cadres identified by the enemy. Units of the NPA should ensure guerrilla secrecy, use of unknown routes, inspection of items brought into the unit, and strengthening the secrecy movement among the masses.
Identify and consciously train the second and third lines of leading cadres. They should be develop proficiency in theory and comprehensive grasp of the Party’s principles and policies. We should train them as professional revolutionaries who will embrace serving the Party and the revolution as their lifelong career. Give them new tasks and duties, and assign them to new work in different fields or areas.
Implement the policy of “simple living, arduous struggle.” Strictly adhere to the defined standards for expenses of committees and individuals. All Party committees should strive to be self-reliant. They should generate necessary resources for their own operations, and make the utmost effort to contribute to the Party’s central fund.
In the political field, we should vigorously strengthen the New People’s Army and invigorate the revolutionary armed struggle, advance the revolutionary mass movement in urban and rural areas, expand the national united front, and expand our international work.
The NPA is the primary organization under the absolute leadership of the Party. We should vigorously strengthen it to advance the revolutionary armed struggle as the main form of struggle in advancing the protracted people’s war.
The NPA is now in a good position to further strengthen itself. This is after we have reorganized and reoriented its operations to focus primarily on deepening and expanding the mass base, to help the masses in advancing their antifeudal and antifascist struggles, and to invigorate their support and participation in the armed struggle.
Strengthen and expand the mass work of NPA units and help the masses to strengthen and raise the level of their struggle. At the same time, raise the capability of the NPA to wage guerrilla warfare. Vigorously raise the NPA’s ability in employing the tactics of concentration, dispersal and shifting, to maintain military and political initiative. Keep the enemy blind and deaf to the presence and movements of guerrilla units. Frustrate and defeat enemy combat, psychological warfare, and intelligence operations.
NPA units should maintain high political awareness, military discipline, and militance among the Red fighters. Strictly follow regulations on encampment, marching, and mass work.
We should mobilize NPA squads and platoons to spread the armed struggle in the vast countryside, in coordination with people’s militia units and self-defense units. Force the enemy to spread its forces thinly, to create more opportunities for tactical offensives.
We should launch tactical offensives that we are capable of winning to punish fascist criminals, paramilitary elements, and treasonous elements who have betrayed the masses, and to seize their weapons. Launch necessary armed actions to defend the interests and welfare of the masses against land-grabbers, those who plunder and destroy the environment, and criminal bureaucratic-capitalist thieves who steal public funds.
We should link the advancement of revolutionary armed struggle with the expansion and invigoration of peasant struggles in the countryside. Vigorously advance antifeudal and antifascist struggles, linked to anti-imperialist struggles. Strengthen the peasant movement for land reform, in accordance with the minimum and maximum goals set in the Party’s Revolutionary Guide to Land Reform.
In the countryside, launch widespread struggles to lower land rent, abolish usury, and raise the wages of farmworkers. This campaign should reach the widest possible number of peasants. The maximum program of land distribution can be implemented where it can be defended with armed strength, and where it can be managed.
Along with the struggle for land reform, advance struggles to defend against the land grabbing by foreign large companies, in collusion with landlords and big bourgeois compradors, and against the conversion of agricultural land for the expansion of mines, plantations, eco-tourism projects, real estate, “renewable energy,” dams, and others. These policies are impoverishing the peasant masses and depriving them of livelihood, while also damaging agricultural production and the country’s ability to produce enough food for the people.
At the same time, launch broad struggles for fair prices of palay, onions, garlic, vegetables, and other farm produce, and against the liberalization of agricultural imports. Build peasant alliances along different crop lines. Continue to expose and fight against the sham land reform and other state programs that facilitate and legalize land grabbing, including the World Bank’s SPLIT program and Marcos” “new emancipation law”.
In the revolutionary mass movement in urban areas, we must prioritize efforts to further strengthen the organization and mobilization of the massses of workers, semi-proletariat, and student youth. Strengthen organizing among the industrial workers in the largest companies in the national capital region and other major cities across the country. Alongside this, strengthen the organization among workers and semi-proletariat in urban poor communities. Further strengthen the organization of the student youth in major cities across the country.
Strengthen sectoral, economic, and local struggles, along with anti-imperialist, anti-bureaucratic capitalist, and antifascist struggles, and support for peasant struggles in the countryside. Strive to achieve a fresh momentum in the protest movement against corruption in the early part of next year to hold Marcos and Duterte accountable as the king and queen of corruption, and to demand their resignation or ouster.
Expose US imperialism’s support for the corrupt Marcos regime. Along with this, launch a broad propaganda campaign against the growing presence of American troops in the Philippines, the deployment of weapons of war, the construction of additional military bases and facilities, endless war exercises, and the growing threat of a war that could drag the country. Expose the role of the US and pro-US groups in instigating conflicts in the South China Sea.
Continue to strengthen underground revolutionary mass organizations, strengthen propaganda and calls for a people’s democratic revolution, amid the advance of the broad open mass movement. Encourage the broadest possible support and participation in the armed struggle and peasant struggles in the countryside.
Under the leadership of the working class through the Party, the national united front must continue to be strengthened to expand support for the people’s national and democratic struggle. We should unite the broad masses against imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism. This should be built on a solid foundation of the basic revolutionary alliance between the workers and peasants, primarily in the concrete form of the New People’s Army, a peasant army under the absolute leadership of the working class, and other forms of alliance or unity between the labor movement in the cities, and the rural peasant movement.
On the foundation of the basic revolutionary alliance, we build a progressive alliance between the toiling masses and the urban petty bourgeoisie; and a broader patriotic alliance between the progressive forces and the national bourgeoisie. The Party can also form temporary alliances with unstable and unreliable allies, often with one or some sections of the ruling class against those most reactionary, fascist, and subservient to US imperialism.
A strong basic revolutionary alliance is key to building a national united front. We should be vigilant against the Right opportunist tendency to slide into reformism or legalism; or the “Left” opportunist tendency to shut the door to unreliable or unstable forces that can contribute to the advancement of the national-democratic movement, directly or indirectly.
In the immediate future, a broadest united front must be formed against the Marcos and Duterte, who now represent the most reactionary and fascist factions of the ruling class, in order to completely isolate, fight, and oust the ruling regime.
On the basis of the strength of the movement of the toiling masses and urban petty-bourgeoisie against the US-Marcos regime, allied forces, especially in cultural institutions such as churches and schools, and those in civil service, must be encouraged to actively expose and condemn corruption and the rotten system. They should be urged to side with the revolutionary united front.
Expose and condemn US imperialist agents and ruling class hangers-on like Akbayan for deceiving the masses and diverting their struggles.
The Party should continuously strengthen revolutionary work overseas, organizing Filipino migrant workers, building an international anti-imperialist united front, and strengthening international proletarian solidarity.
Filipino migrants organizations in countries where they are employed should strengthened to fight against various forms of oppression and discrimination by their foreign employers, as well against oppressive and repressive policies of the reactionary Philippine government. They should be aroused to link their struggles to the national-democratic struggle in the country, and encouraged to return and participate in the revolutionary movement.
Build the broadest network of solidarity with all peoples around the world to support the Filipino people’s revolutionary struggle in every way. Form the largest number of support groups and friendship organizations among them and encourage them to contribute to the national and democratic struggles of the Filipino people.
It is the Party’s duty to contribute to the continuous strengthening of the international anti-imperialist united front. The Party supports the formation or strengthening of international anti-imperialist alliances and campaigns against US imperialism, which is now the number one imperialist power that instigates and provokes armed conflicts in different parts of the world.
The Party must continue to strengthen its fraternal relations with various proletarian forces in different countries, to promote and spread Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, for it to be applied in practice in different countries. While there is no basis yet for establishing an international center, the Party supports theoretical discussions, dialogues, and practical cooperation among communist parties and forces with the aim of encouraging the formation and strengthening of communist parties as the vanguard of new democratic or socialist revolutions in various countries.
Advancing the people’s democratic revolution in the Philippines remains the Party’s biggest contribution to the international communist movement. Every step forward and success achieved by the Party in advancing the Philippine revolution is a blow to US imperialism, and a contribution and inspiration to all proletarian forces around the world.
The Communist Party of the Philippines, together with all revolutionary forces in the Philippines, is determined to advance the people’s democratic revolution with all its might. With the favorable situation and the correct leadership of the Party, the Central Committee foresees the protracted people’s war marching forward towards complete victory.
