Beloved Comrade Luis “Ka Louie” Gamboa Jalandoni, passed away last June 7 in Utrecht, The Netherlands. He was 90.
We honor the revolutionary legacy of Ka Louie, who stood firmly upholding the fundamental principles of peace based on genuine social justice and the resolution of the roots of armed conflict, with the overthrow of the three basic problems of Philippine society – imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism. Within and outside the peace negotiations, Ka Louie was ever watchful of the bogus peace maneuvers and schemes of successive US-sponsored reactionary Philippine regimes.
As we give honor to the legacy of Ka Louie as a peace stalwart, it is of paramount importance for us to study and uphold the principles embodied in the Hague Joint Declaration (HJD), the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CAHRIHL), and the Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER).
Furthermore, the robust international relations and solidarity for the Philippine revolutionary movement abroad is testimony to the broad achievements of the NDFP that Ka Louie, and other comrades worked hard for. His metamorphosis from his landlord origins to becoming a proletarian revolutionary serve as a fountain of deep inspiration for the current and future generations of revolutionaries.
As an internationalist and solidarity activist
After arriving in the Netherlands in 1977 and getting his asylum request approved together with his wife Ka Coni Ledesma, Ka Louie was designated chief international representative of the NDFP. He initiated the breakthroughs in forging contacts and relations with national liberation movements such as in Palestine led by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), Western Sahara led by the Polisario Front, South Africa led by Pan African Congress of Azania, Ireland led by the Sinn Fein, Chile led by the Movement of the Revolutionary Left, Eritrea led by the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, liberation movements in Latin America, and parties in power such as in Cuba, Greece (the former Pasok Party), and Venezuela, to name a few.
Ka Louie tirelessly and perseveringly represented the NDFP in countless international events, including the UN World Social Summit in the early 1990s, political conferences, and meetings of various progressive groups in Europe and other global regions. He also brought the revolutionary message of the NDFP to local community meetings of Dutch, Belgian, and German groups, including many Filipino migrant organizations.
Having been a former Roman Catholic priest, Ka Louie tapped into his former missionary confreres in the Netherlands, Ireland, the UK and Italy to build a solidarity movement, which became a powerful pressure against the then US-Marcos fascist dictatorship, and solicited significant political and material support not only for the anti-dictatorship movement but more importantly for the Philippine revolutionary movement.
Ka Louie’s and the other comrades’ efforts at solidarity work and international recognition for the NDFP bore fruition with the historic convening of the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) Session on the Philippines in November 1980 in Antwerp, Belgium. The PPT tried the US-Marcos fascist dictatorship for its crimes against the Filipino people, and condemned the US-Marcos fascist regime for its abuse of state power. The milestone PPT declared the NDFP as the genuine representative of the Filipino people.
As a peacemaker and revolutionary diplomat
In 1989, Ka Louie was designated as the chairperson of the NDFP Peace Panel in talks with the Government of the Philippines (GPH). He took over from Ka Satur Ocampo, who was the first Panel chairperson. The NDFP Peace Panel worked tirelessly and diligently for the passage and implementation of the HJD, JASIG, and CAHRIHL amid deadlocks that led to several breakdowns of the negotiations. Ka Louie and the entire Peace Panel never wavered and always sought solutions acceptable to both sides diplomatically. Consequently, negotiators from the GPH informally praised Ka Louie for his ability to adapt without compromising revolutionary principles. He never lost his cool and always remained firm even during heated discussions. His gentle tone always served as a powerful medium, tempering conflicts during intense negotiations. Ultimately, Ka Louie helped position the NDFP on a significantly higher moral ground than the reactionary GPH, thereby reinforcing the NDFP’s status of belligerency.
Amid time spent in peace talks, Ka Louie would steadfastly perform his tasks as chief international representative and revolutionary diplomat, exploring, developing and establishing formal relations with several Marxist-Leninist parties, revolutionary organizations and formations and groups. He would tirelessly engage them in discussions, and bring them the message of the Filipino people’s revolutionary armed struggle and socialist aspirations. At the same time, he also led comrades in reciprocating the support of these organizations and groups to the Philippine revolution by attending and participating in their events, joining their rallies on scores of issues, accepting their invitations for countless speaking engagements, and generously hosting them at the NDFP office and his residence in Utrecht. Ka Louie participated in almost every May Day celebration rally organized by fraternal parties and organizations inside and outside the Netherlands.
Speaking during the 45th anniversary celebration of the NDFP in Amsterdam, Ka Louie proudly stood before a jam-packed audience to proclaim the gains of the NDFP in its international work, without extolling himself for the contributions he quietly made for these gains to be possible. Ka Louie declared that the NDFP continues to achieve powerful international support, announcing the formation of an international solidarity organization aimed at gathering more systematic and organized support for the national democratic revolution in the Philippines.
As a propagandist and dedicated CPP member
As a more organized way to spread information on the revolutionary struggle in the Philippines became necessary, Ka Louie led in establishing the NDFP International Information Office (now the NDFP International Office) in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Upon its establishment, the NDFP office became a conduit and hub for information on the NDFP and the armed resistance of the Filipino people.
After its first international recognition at the session of the PPT in Belgium, the NDFP began publishing the Philippine Updates in the 1980s, to which Ka Louie served as its first editor.
Ka Louie would later on lead the publishing of Liberation International in 2001 to bring the message of the Philippine revolutionary movement to a wider audience globally. Its first editor was Antonio Zumel Jr. aka Manuel Romero, the first Chairperson of the NDFP. When Ka Tony passed away in 2001, Ka Louie took over as its editor. His noms de plume were Ed Ladera and Edong Legislador. While doing a multitude of tasks, Ka Louie still took it upon himself to patiently send copies of Liberation International to the NDFP’s contacts, specifically embassies of friendly governments, even personally pasting the stamps on the envelopes and dropping them at the nearest mailbox.
When the second great rectification movement began in Europe in the 1990s, Ka Louie stood firm on the side of the Party and tirelessly explained to comrades the necessity of the rectification movement. Ka Louie, together with other comrades, held intensive discussions, traveling to meet kasamas in different countries and patiently explaining the errors, and lessons learned in order to advance the Philippine revolution. He helped secure the Party’s resources and networks, which the renegades even threatened to seize.
Ka Louie exemplified revolutionary goodwill towards Filipino migrants. In one milestone speech, Ka Louie declared that Filipino migrants, when enjoined to join the revolution, become the “shield” that “protects” the movement outside the Philippines. Indeed, one of the best reasons why the so-called “terrorist” tagging of Ka Joma Sison, and later of Ka Louie, did not affect the Filipino and Dutch communities in the Netherlands was because Ka Louie and Ka Joma sincerely served the Filipino migrants, who in turn wholeheartedly welcomed and embraced them into their communities.
Ka Louie and the NDFP leaders opened the doors of the NDFP office in Utrecht to Filipino compatriots, and even other nationalities, at times providing shelter to the undocumented migrants and au pairs, lending the office space for use for compatriot meetings, birthday parties, garage sales, fiestas, and other popular Filipino events. The NDFP office became a hub, a Filipino center, short of functioning as a real embassy, looking after the rights and general welfare of Filipino compatriots. Ka Louie and other NDFP leaders like Ka Joma would always be there and attend their activities and listen to their situation.
Finally, Ka Louie is a loving and dedicated family person. He would always find time for his family during breaks in his schedules, and play with his grandchildren and the children of other kasamas who would drop by his house to visit. He and Ka Coni were inseparable and would do things together. He would stay close to his siblings and other relatives, endlessly exchanging topics on family life, politics and the revolutionary movement. What he could not probably explain and convince his family to accept – about some fundamental tenets of the life of a revolutionary, he was able to demonstrate by example by his faithful adherence to his ideology and practicing the principle of simple living and hard struggle.
We cherish Ka Louie’s legacy, together with the legacy of other revolutionary heroes and martyrs as further inspiration to advance the Philippine revolution until we seize political power, overthrow the exploitative and oppressive structures of Philippine society, and build a genuinely free, democratic, and socialist Philippines for the Filipino people.#