In late August 1896, Filipino revolutionaries of the Katipunan led by Andres Bonifacio led the “Sigaw ng Pugad Lawin” (cry of Pugad Lawin). It was then a cry for rebellion against the Spanish colonizers. It was said that during this day, the first clash between the armed Katipuneros and civil guards of the colonizers happened. It also refers to the tearing up of cedulas (community tax certificates) – a symbol of subservience to the Spanish – by the unnumbered revolutionaries and the Filipino masses. The cry of Pugad Lawin launched a national revolution against foreign domination, land monopoly and the peoples’ oppression and repression.
Today, under the Marcos Jr. regime, the Filipino people continue to suffer from US domination, foreign and local monopoly of land, extreme poverty and state repression. In his first year, Marcos Jr. has made all efforts to rebrand the Marcos family, aiming to consolidate their hold in power and erase memories of Marcos Sr’s brutal dictatorship. He has initiated the program “Bagong Pilipinas” (New Philippines) which is closely related to his father’s “Bagong Lipunan” (New Society).
Despite all the desperate measures to save his family’s face, the situation of the people continues to be full of reasons to revolt. Currently, the Philippines has the highest inflation rate in Southeast Asia; wage increases in the country remain unsubstantial and full time and stable jobs remain scarce. The government has continued and strengthened importation laws gradually killing the farmers – the majority of the population.
US-Marcos state terrorism
Moreover, the Marcos regime has continued the fascist mindset of its predecessor. The Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL) and the structures that it created like the Anti-terrorism Council is continually used to demonize and discredit the revolutionaries, the progressives and critics by declaring them as terrorists. Activists are being charged with trumped up cases violating the ATL. With local formations, the National Task Force to End Local Communist and Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC) is systematically used to make it seem that the revolutionary movement is losing ground by staging thousands of fake surrenderees and pressuring families of activists and revolutionaries to make them “surrender” or “clear their names.” The killings and enforced disappearances of activists and revolutionaries continue. The communities of farmers and indigenous peoples are continually being bombed.
As a puppet of the US, the Marcos regime has allowed more US military exercises and more US military facilities in the country while continuing economic relations with China and remaining mum about China’s expansionism in the West Philippine Sea.
Under a presidency that is marked by desperation to save face and a desperation to please the US imperialist power, the Filipino people yearn for genuine peace that is based on self-reliance, self-determination and genuine democracy where the majority of the people enjoy their rights as a people.
The Filipino People’s struggle for liberation continues!
Thus, even more than a hundred years later after the Cry of Pugad Lawin, the Filipino peoples’ struggle continues through a new type of revolution – the people’s democratic revolution – participated in by thousands of revolutionaries from the National Democratic Front and its allied organizations. Through the people’s war, the Filipino people lay the ground to a genuinely sovereign, nationally industrialized country governed by a people’s democratic government.
As the Friends of the Filipino people in Struggle, we continue to recognize the justness of the Philippine revolution. We continue to support their aspirations for genuine peace equivalent to social and national liberation.
In this light, we call on all members, friends and allies to hold an action on August 26, 2023 to commend the Filipino people’s struggle for people’s peace through people’s war; to condemn state terrorism perpetrated by the US-Marcos Regime including but not limited to bombing of communities in the Philippines; to condemn the US and other foreign powers’ interventionism in the Philippines. We encourage everyone to have a coverage of your event to be live-streamed or otherwise distributed in your own social media platforms, and kindly request that you send videos and/or pictures of your action to the global secretariat (secretariat_ffps@protonmail.com), so that a compilation of this global day of action can be publicised on our various platforms as well.
Our main calls:
- “Support the militant struggle of the Filipino people!”
- “People’s war is for people’s peace!”
- “Stop the bombings in the Philippines!”
- “We support the Filipino aspiration: National Liberation against US imperialism!”
- “Revolutionaries are not terrorists!”
We encourage everyone to add calls relevant to their local situation and active campaigns.
As a build up to our Global Day of Action we encourage everyone to mobilize all friends and allies to a forum dubbed as “Building People’s Peace through Building People’s War” on the following dates and zones:
August 6 (Americas and Europe):
- 8PM Amsterdam (CEST)
- 11AM Portland (PDT)
- 2PM Toronto (EDT)
- Register via: https://tiny.cc/FriendsForumAug6
August 13 (Asia & Oceania):
- 5PM Auckland (NZST)
- 3PM Sydney (AEST)
- 2PM Seoul (KST)
- Register via: https://tiny.cc/FriendsForumAug13
Let us use this occasion to arouse, organize and mobilize the broadest number of Friends and allies to support the Filipino people.
For more information, please contact the secretariat at secretariat_ffps@protonmail.com