Revolution in the Philippines and Marxist-Leninist Study

I have put together a comprensive study guide, broken up by subject, and shorter list of ten essential classics of Marxism-Leninism, all with the intention of making Marxist theory accessible, comprehensible, and practical, so that it may be used as weapon in the class struggle. In the same vein, here is an excerpt from Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought as Guide to the Philippine Revolution by Armando Liwanag, Chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (1993) that also sheds some light on questions of Marxist study.

In 1959, a few young men and women, independent of the old merger party of the Communist and Socialist Parties, started forming study circles to read and study the works of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao Zedong that could be gotten from secret collections. They initially did so amidst the open and legal studies about the problems of national independence and democracy. The Marxist-Leninist works that they read included the Communist Manifesto, Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, Wages, Prices and Profit, The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, Two Tactics of Social Democracy, State and Revolution, The Foundations of Leninism, the Analysis of Classes in Chinese Society and Talks at the Yenan Forum on Art and Literature.

The most avid students of Marxism-Leninism read and studied Das Kapital, The Dialectics of Nature, Materialism and Empirio-Criticism, History of the CPSU (Bolsheviks), Short Course; the first edition of the Soviet-published Fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism and the Selected Works of Mao Zedong. The volumes of the selected works of the great communists began to reach the Philippines in 1962. To get hold of Marxist reading materials in the period of 1959-62 was by itself an achievement in view of the anticommunist hysteria and repressive measures since the end of World War II.

The objective of the beginners in the study of Marxism-Leninism was to seek solutions to what they perceived as the fundamental problems of the Filipino people, use Marxism-Leninism to shed light on the history and concrete circumstances of the Filipino people and find ways to resume the Philippine revolution and carry it out until victory. In the study of Marxism-Leninism, with special reference to the Philippine revolution, they sought to grasp the three components of Marxism, which are materialist philosophy, political economy and scientific socialism as laid down by Marx and Engels, developed by Lenin and Stalin and further developed by Mao Zedong.

The beginners in the study of proletarian revolutionary theory were exceedingly receptive to Mao’s teachings because of their proven correctness and success in so vast a country neighboring the Philippines and their recognized applicability to the Philippines. The most read works of Mao Zedong were On Contradiction, On Practice, the Analysis of Classes in Chinese Society, The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War, Problems of Strategy in Guerrilla War Against Japan, On Protracted People’s War and On New Democracy.

The fruits of this study, theoretically, is to be found in the analysis that the CPP developed. See the CPP History page and the CPP Documents page at philippinerevolution.net.

The Communist Party of the Philippines warns against escalation of US military intervention

The following is from Philippine Revolution Web Central:

CPP warns against escalation of US military intervention
September 30, 2009

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today warned the United States government against using the killing of two US soldiers in Sulu yesterday to justify an escalation of its military intervention in the country and demanded an immediate pullout of all US troops from Philippine territory, an end to the local operations of the US Pacific Command’s 600-strong Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTFP-P), and the termination of the one-sided Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

CP of the Philippines: GMA-Obama deal to make permanent US military presence in the Philippine treasonous

The following statement of August 22, 2009, is from Communist Party of the Philippines:

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today charged Gloria Arroyo with treason “for conspiring with the US to continue and make even more permanent US military presence in the Philippines–in violation of Philippine sovereignty and the puppet government’s own constitution.”

The CPP said that “The forging of a secret agreement between the Philippine puppet and her new imperialist master has become more obvious in a recent official announcement by the US Defense Department that the stationing of US military in the Philippine will continue.”

Communist Party of the Philippines: The State of Gloria Arroyo’s Lies

The following is from Philippine Revolution Web Central:

Communist Party of the Philippines
July 28, 2009

Gloria Arroyo’s supposed last State of the Nation Address (SONA yesterday was full of lies, fantasies and evasions. As expected by practically everyone — the opposition, the entire Filipino people and even her own allies and underlings — it was no different from her past SONA.

Not even the ghost writer believed what he wrote for her. No one, except the most naïve, believed what they heard. Not content with the orchestrated 126 “applauses” by her sycophants in the hall and hakot crowd at the gallery, her props even included canned computer-generated applause that sometimes missed the timing and became obvious.

Her pompous show yesterday was not in any way a state of the nation address. It was nothing but a “state of lies.”

Selected Writings of Jose Maria Sison (Two Volumes)

These important writings of Jose Maria Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army and current political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and Chairman of the International League of People’s Struggle, are availible now from Aklat ng Bayan.

Jose Maria Sison: Tasks and prospects of workers of the world amid global financial and economic crisis

The following is from the International League of People’s Struggle:

Speech to the 25th International Solidarity Affair
By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson, ILPS International Coordinating Committee

On behalf of the International Coordinating Coordinating Committee and member-organizations of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), I convey warmest greetings of solidarity to the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and to all the delegations to the 25th KMU International Solidarity Affair (ISA).

Philippines: U.S. soldier wounded fighting New Peoples Army

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines, which urges an end to U.S. intervention in the Philippines.

US soldier wounded in failed anti-NPA combat operation in Masbate April 28, 2009

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today disclosed that a US soldier embedded in a combat unit of the 9th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army was wounded last April 15 after joint US and government troops attempted to encircle and attack a unit of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Barangay Baras, Esperanza, Masbate. The Red fighters were able to fight back, resulting in the death of three government soldiers and the wounding of the US trooper. An NPA fighter was martyred in the clash.

Jose Ma. Sison on the International Situation

The following is from the website of the International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS):

Salient points about the international situation

For the 3rd Congress of BAYAN USA

By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson, ILPS International Coordinating Committee

Beloved compatriots and friends,

We, the International Coordinating Committee and the entirety of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), convey militant greetings of anti-imperialist solidarity to ILPS member-organization BAYAN-USA, to its leadership, its member-organizations and all the delegates to its Third Congress.

We congratulate all of you for your accumulated and current political and organizational accomplishments in the service of the Filipino communities in the USA and the entire Filipino people who are struggling for national liberation and democracy against US imperialism and the exploiting classes of big compradors and landlords in the Philippines.

We take this opportunity to express best wishes to the Filipino women who are participating in this congress and are all set to hold tomorrow the founding assembly of Gabriela-USA. This consolidation of women’s organizations is a further strengthening of the BAYAN-USA and the national democratic movement of Filipinos in the US.

My assignment is to present to you the international situation. Within the time allotted, I can give you some salient points. We can further discuss these in the open forum.

CPP denounces Obama-Arroyo “deal” to keep the VFA

The following is from PhilippineRevolution.net:

PRESS RELEASE
Information Bureau
Communist Party of the Philippines

CPP denounces Obama-Arroyo “deal” to keep the VFA

March 16, 2009

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today denounced US President Barrack Obama and Gloria Arroyo for forging a “deal” over the phone this weekend to push on with the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) amid intense criticisms against it and widespread calls for its abrogation.

Jose Maria Sison: What the People Can and Must Do About the Financial and Economic Crisis

Thanks to Kalovski Itim for pointing out this article from the website of the International League of People’s Struggle:

Contribution to the Forum on the Global and Financial Crisis
on 30 January 2009 at De Balie, Amsterdam

By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson, ILPS International Coordinating Committee

It is of utmost importance for the working class and the rest of the people exploited by the system of monopoly capitalism to discuss and clarify to themselves what they can and must do about the current grave financial and economic crisis.  They are necessarily concerned about being ceaselessly victimized by the monopoly bourgeoisie, extending  from the extraction of the surplus value in the process of production to the complexities of capital overaccumulation and abuses of finance capital.

In this connection,  I wish to point out certain facts in order to show in a comprehensive and profound way how the current grave crisis has come about  and how the working class and the rest of the people have been exploited and oppressed on a global scale, especially in the last three decades under the signboard of “neoliberal globalization”. Consequently, it becomes easier to discuss what the people can and must do about the crisis in terms of raising their consciousness, organizing and mobilizing themselves for making protests and demands in order to bring about the necessary social change for the better.

The global and domestic economic crisis is pushing the people to wage revolutionary struggle

The following statement is from the Communist Party of the Philippines:

January 30, 2009

The worsening global and domestic economic crisis is pressing down hard on the masses of the Filipino people. The rotten ruling system is sinking so deep, it is helpless to lift itself and is only pushing the masses into ever worse squalor. Millions are being dislocated by the crisis. It is becoming increasingly clear to the Filipino people that there is no other option but to wage revolutionary struggle to put an end to the rotten, plunderous and oppressive semicolonial and semifeudal system.

In the past few weeks, tens of thousands of Filipino workers in the semiconductor and other semimanufacturing sectors have lost their jobs as subsidiaries and comprador firms of multinationals in the export processing zones closed or drastically slowed down production. Government statistics show about 20,000 workers have been retrenched as of last week while up to 34,000 were working with reduced hours. The actual situation is much worse.

“Coffee and Snow”

Great new music video from Blue Scholars:

Thanks to Prometheus Brown.

Happy New Year.