Philippines: CPP marks 57th Anniversary with nationwide and overseas gatherings
We hereby share a press release issued by the Information Bureau of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) published by Philippine Revolution Web Central (PRWC).
Various gatherings and celebrations were held across the Philippines and abroad to commemorate the 57th anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) on December 26. Despite heightened counterinsurgency operations by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), paramilitary groups, and the Philippine National Police (PNP), Party branches, New People’s Army (NPA) units, revolutionary organizations, and mass supporters successfully organized activities in both urban and rural areas.
According to initial reports received by the CPP Information Bureau, anniversary events took place in Metro Manila, Southern Tagalog, Bicol, Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Negros Island, and North Central Mindanao. Participants took part in readings and discussions of the CPP Central Committee’s anniversary message, reaffirming their commitment to aspirations of the Filipino people.
In Southern Tagalog, NPA units held commemorative activities led by Ka Cleo del Mundo, spokesperson of the NPA-Southern Tagalog (Melito Glor Command). Del Mundo urged fellow Red fighters to strengthen their resolve and continue advancing the people’s democratic revolution under the CPP’s leadership.
In Mindoro Island, an NPA unit under the Lucio de Guzman Command also marked the occasion. Spokesperson Ka Madaay Gasic reported that NPA units engaged in extensive mass work across 84% of Mindoro’s towns over the past year. He also cited 16 active defense, defensive battles and encounters the past year which inflicted a platoon-sized casualty against military, paramilitary and police forces.
“Kabaligtaran ng kanilang layunin na pinsalain at durugin ang ating hukbo, ang mga aksyong pag-atake ng AFP-PNP ay nasasalag at aktibong nilalabanan ng mga yunit ng Hukbo,” he said. (Contrary to the AFP-PNP’s goal of destroying our army, their offensives are being effectively resisted and countered by NPA units.)
In Eastern Visayas, members of the NPA-Leyte Island (Mt. Amandewin Command) held their own commemoration despite sustained combat operations by the military’s 802nd Infantry Brigade, which resulted in the deaths of three Red fighters in mid-November.
Apart from NPA-led activities, allied organizations of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) also organized protests and solidarity events nationwide. Two separate marches were held in Manila and Pasay City on December 21 and 22, respectively, participated in by the Kabataang Makabayan (youth), Artista at Manunulat ng Sambayanan (artists and journalists), Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagogn Kababaihan (Makibaka), Revolutionary Council of Trade Unions (workers groups), the Makabayang Kawaning Pilipino (government employees) and Compatriots (Filipino migrant workers).
NDF-affiliated groups also launched a series of graffiti painting and postering campaigns in Metro Manila and Cebu City, while overseas chapters held similar events. In Australia, Compatriots members organized gatherings and wheatpasting activities. Meanwhile, the Netherlands-based NDFP International Office hosted an online broadcast featuring a reading of the CPP Central Committee’s anniversary statement, which drew nearly 300 participants.
“These activities are a direct slap on the face of Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the AFP and the National Task Force-Elcac, who all desperately try to downplay the steady growth of the revolutionary movement,” CPP Chief Information Officer Marco L. Valbuena said. He added that the successful anniversary events illustrate the Party and allied groups’ determination to advance the ongoing rectification movement, now entering its third year.
