Groups worldwide hold actions in support of Filipino peoples’ struggle for national liberation
27 August 2023
UTRECHT, The Netherlands – Various groups led by the Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle (FFPS) held simultaneous demonstrations worldwide last 26 August in support of the Global Day of Action for the Filipino People’s Struggle for National Liberation.
“The Philippines remains under the control of US imperialism through unfair trade relations, and the continued expansion of US military bases through EDCA (Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement),” said Coni Ledesma, member of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) negotiating panel during the main demonstrations held in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
In addition to the main event in the Netherlands, various actions were held in other countries including:
- In Canada, the FFPS Vancouver chapter organized an information stand and a local protest action against US imperialism. In Toronto, FFPS member CPSO (Canada Philippines Solidarity Organization) held a flash mobilization.
- In Germany, local allies of FFPS held forums and simultaneous demonstrations across at least 7 cities including in Memmingen, Leipzig, Regensburg, Rostock and Ulm.
- In Switzerland, groups based in Basel took solidarity photos holding a banner in support of the Filipino people’s struggle for national liberation.
- In Spain, supporters drew graffiti on the streets of Madrid and disseminated posters in Valencia promoting solidarity with the Filipino people.
- In the United States, FFPS member POPS (People Organizing for Philippine Solidarity) and allies in Portland, Oregon held a march and unveiled a banner in a local campus calling for an end to US-backed war crimes in the Philippines, while Kaibigan, a local FFPS member in Seattle, Washington held a forum exposing continued US military intervention in the Philippines.
“The presence of US Navy troops and war planes in the West Philippine Sea is a testament to Marcos Jr’s subservience to the US. By allowing the US to position its weapons and military bases in the country, the Marcos-Duterte regime is pulling the Filipino people into inter-imperialist conflict between US and China,” added Ledesma as she criticized the recent sighting of a P-8 Poseidon jet, a maritime surveillance aircraft of the US Navy in the West Philippine Sea.
“The Filipino people’s struggle for national liberation and genuine democracy is not terrorism. It is not terrorism if the people choose to fight back against national oppression and foreign imperialist domination,” said Thomas Hofland, chairperson of Revolutionaire Eenheid, a Netherlands-based FFPS member organization, during one of the demonstrations held in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
“It is urgent to support the Philippine revolution in all its forms, and especially the armed struggle. Because it is the people’s war that builds the people’s peace,” added Veron Soewari of FFPS.
Soewari also emphasized the relevance of supporting the Filipino people in their struggle, “Wherever we are in the world, we will do everything to support the Philippine national democratic revolution and with it, advance the global struggle against US imperialism and all systems of oppression and exploitation.”
“The National Democratic Front thanks the FFPS, its members and all allies for their solidarity with the Filipino people’s struggle for national liberation,” added Ledesma.
The Day of Action was held in commemoration of the cry of Pugad Lawin which signaled the beginning of the Philippine Revolution against Spanish colonial rule in late August 1896.