FFPS Global Secretariat
Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle (FFPS) salutes the New People’s Army (NPA) on its 57th anniversary. We stand beside the Filipino people as they celebrate the advance of their army and as they recognize that without the people’s army, the masses have nothing. The NPA is the most consolidated expression of the basic alliance between the workers and the peasants in the Philippines is one of the fundamental organizations of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
Now, as US imperialism becomes more naked and blunt, the necessity and strength of the NPA becomes more important than ever. Under the deranged and erratic Trump regime, the US is becoming increasingly desperate and greedy for control of natural resources. In recent months the US has targeted resource rich countries, capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and launching a war of aggression against Iran that has resulted in widespread death of civilians and wreaked havoc on the world economy and the daily costs of poor and working class people.
Amid this growing US aggression, the NPA and the national democratic revolution in the Philippines remain the main deterrent to the US consolidation of the AFP as a proxy force against China. Despite the preposterous claims of the Marcos regime that the revolutionary movement is at its deathbed, the AFP remains preoccupied with fighting the NPA with its battalions deployed in guerrilla fronts all over the country. As US imperialism’s insatiable thirst for plunder continues, the NPA and the national democratic revolution remains the people’s hope for self-determination and national sovereignty.
Indeed, the NPA has proven itself to be a true people’s army. Under the absolute leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), it protects the Filipino people from the reactionary Philippine army, private goons from landlords, and corporations that destroy the environment. It organizes and supports the farmers in their struggles for agrarian revolution against the landlords. It helps the communities to build the seeds of a new government, providing the masses with healthcare, education, justice and much more.
The founding of the NPA in 1969 marked the latest upsurge in the more than 200-year long national liberation struggle. For the Filipino people have a proud history of resisting colonialism and social injustice. This tradition spans from the Katipunan’s struggle against Spanish colonial rule to the Hukbalahap’s fight against Japanese occupation and later Philippine regimes subservient to the US. These movements made strides, but oppression and exploitation continued to breed resistance. A new generation of Filipino youth stood up, build up a new revolutionary movement together with the revolutionaries from the Hukbalahap, and the NPA was formed.
In these 57 years the NPA remains as important and necessary as it was on its founding day. The basic problems of imperialist domination, feudal exploitation and oppression, and bureaucrat capitalism still exist. As the crises of imperialism worldwide intensifies, the exploitation and oppression of the Filipino people also intensify. In a desperate attempt to curb the resulting people’s unrest the current Marcos Jr. regime has intensified repression, suppressing democratic rights and imposing de-facto martial law in the Philippine countryside. It is the NPA together with the organized masses that protect these communities from state terror and that advances the struggles of the people for liberation.
With their steadfast commitment to advance the revolution, the NPA has wholeheartedly subjected itself to the rectification movement and has already made strides. As non-Filipinos, we draw inspiration in the humility of the whole movement in recognizing and rectifying their errors to advance.
As anti-imperialists in our own countries, we celebrate the advance of the NPA and the national democratic revolution in the Philippines as we believe that their victory will be a big blow against US imperialism. And as solidarity allies, we celebrate the NPA’s and the Filipino people’s unwavering commitment to the revolution. The biggest contribution of the Philippine revolution to all people’s suffering under imperialism is to win their National Democratic Revolution and overthrow the US puppet state.
In this light, we recognize our important role as solidarity forces and will continue to expand and deepen all forms of solidarity to the Filipino people’s struggle for national liberation through broadening and consolidating our ranks in our home countries; educating peoples worldwide about their struggle and it’s historic role in the anti-imperialist movement of the world and; integrating with the Filipino masses in struggle!
Long live the New People’s Army!
Long live the Filipino people in struggle!