Today, the revolutionary mass movement of Filipinos overseas represented by COMPATRIOTS – NDFP commemorates the 161st day of Gat Andres Bonifacio and celebrates the enduring spirit of resistance and courage exemplified by Filipino revolutionaries. Bonifacio’s legacy is a powerful symbol of the Filipino people’s struggle for freedom and democracy.
Today, as Filipino workers continue their fight for a family living wage, Bonifacio’s legacy becomes ever more relevant. Just as Bonifacio and the Katipunan fought against the tyranny of colonial rulers, modern Filipino workers must unite to resist the economic colonization imposed by imperialist powers and their local collaborators.
The struggle for a family living wage for Filipino workers is not just a call for higher pay; it is a demand for workers’ rights, justice, dignity, and the end of decades of ruthless exploitation. Filipino workers continue to suffer under a brutal system that forces them to live off slave wages, while the ruling elite—comprised of big monopoly capitalists, comprador bourgeoisie, and their foreign imperialist masters—amass unimaginable wealth at workers’ expense. These parasites, who have long controlled the wealth of the nation, exploit the labor of Filipino workers to feed their insatiable greed, leaving the masses in grinding poverty and despair.
The source of this exploitation lies in the system of imperialist control that has been imposed upon our country. Through neoliberal policies forced on the Philippines by foreign powers, the country has become a puppet of imperialism. The government, under the grip of foreign investors and multinational corporations, has abandoned the needs of the Filipino people in favor of sustaining the profits of their imperialist masters. These policies have destroyed local industries, casualized labor, and worsened the living conditions of Filipino workers. Neoliberalism has kept the Philippines in a perpetual state of poverty, a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society where foreign capital and local elites continue to rob the nation blind.
The National Democratic Revolution (NDR) is the path forward. The NDR calls for the overthrow of the semi-colonial, semi-feudal system that has kept the masses in poverty and misery. It is a call for a national democratic revolution that will break the chains of imperialist oppression and create a society where the working class is at the center of power. The workers, the farmers, and other oppressed sectors must rise together to dismantle the existing order and replace it with one that is built on equality, justice, and social ownership of the means of production.
The NDR is not just a political struggle—it is a revolutionary process that requires the active participation of all Filipino workers both in the country and abroad. Filipinos Overseas including OFWs, who are among the most exploited in the world, must also take up the banner of revolution and fight for the liberation of their fellow workers and other exploited classes back home. The struggle for a family living wage is a global fight, as workers everywhere are subjected to the same imperialist forces and capitalist exploitation. The Filipino working class must join hands with workers of all nations in the struggle for socialism and the total liberation of the oppressed.
We must reject the empty promises of the ruling elite and their imperialist backers, and instead, build a movement that will challenge their power and contribute to the global struggle against fascism and US Imperialism. ##
