Let us wholeheartedly celebrate the upcoming 60th anniversary of Kabataang Makabayan on November 30. Let us reflect on its invaluable contributions to the history of the national democratic struggle of the Filipino people. More importantly, let us look forward to the even greater and crucial contributions that Kabataang Makabayan and the revolutionary youth movement can make in the ongoing struggle to overthrow imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism, and to achieve national and social liberation.
Let us dedicate this occasion to give the highest honors to Comrade Jose Maria Sison, founding chairman of KM and of the Central Committee of the Party, for his militant and courageous revolutionary leadership. Let us also pay tribute to all the heroes and martyrs produced by KM, many of whom became leading cadres of the Party, Red fighters, and commanders of the New People’s Army (NPA), and who served as organizers of the revolutionary mass movement both in the cities and countryside.
The establishment of KM, six decades ago, on the birthday of the revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio, marked a resumption of the interrupted struggle for national freedom. The KM raised the Red flag and recognized the need to again take the path of armed revolution to achieve the people’s century-old aspiration for national independence.
The members of KM diligently studied Marxism-Leninism-Maoism as a scientific mode of thinking, and used it to analyze, expose and criticize the oppressive and exploitative conditions of the people under the semicolonial and semifeudal system in the Philippines. It called on the people to fight for complete freedom and democracy, national industrialization, and genuine land reform.
The KM vigorously conducted propaganda among the youth and the masses, built its chapter, and launched mass actions raising patriotic and democratic demands. From scores to a few hundreds, tens of thousands of youth participated in street demonstrations led by KM that shook the foundations of the neocolonial state, which resorted to fascist repression.
The formation of KM in 1964 served as preparation for the re-establishment of the Communist Party of the Philippines in 1968. The KM trained proletarian revolutionaries to form the original backbone of the Party. Through KM, the then newly established Party ensured that it was deeply rooted among the masses of workers, farmers, the semiproletariat, and other oppressed classes and sectors. The Party reaped the fruits of the abundant seeds sown by KM to advance the people’s democratic revolution throughout the country.
When Marcos Sr imposed martial law in 1972, KM was forced to go underground to continue organizing in urban areas, while many also went to the countryside to participate in the peasant movement and in the armed struggle. It was in the original core of the National Democratic Front, which led in unifying the people against the Marcos dictatorship. Through relentless struggle, the field of resistance was gradually reopened, eventually leading to strikes and protest actions that culminated in the downfall of the tyrant.
In the past decades, KM has served as a close ally of the Party in shouldering the responsibilities of advancing the national democratic revolution. Through KM, in partnership with the NPA and other revolutionary mass organizations, the Party continuously receives fresh blood, ensuring that it remains vibrant and vigorous.
KM was a partner of the Party in the Second Great Rectification Movement in 1992 in repudiating and combating elements that betrayed the Party and attempted to lead astray the revolutionary movement, either towards reformism or adventurism. These disorientations separated the youth movement from the movements of the basic masses and the armed struggle, gradually weakening KM and the entire youth movement. Through rectification, KM was strengthened again as a comprehensive revolutionary organization. In recent decades, KM has remained a wellspring of new Party cadres and new Red fighters of the NPA.
Together with KM, the Party is confident that the current widespread rectification movement will succeed and that it will continue to advance. KM must be continuously strengthened to mobilize the youth along the path of the national democratic struggle. It must vigorously reject harmful ideas and petty-bourgeois tendencies, including liberalism, ultra-democracy, anarchism, and other concepts propagated by the bourgeoisie that promote excessive individualism and separate them from the masses.
In the midst of the crisis of the ruling system, it is the duty of KM and the national democratic forces to widely rouse the youth and students, unite their ranks, and mobilize them in their numbers along the path of struggle. The KM must be established, along with other revolutionary mass organizations, in all places where the youth are present. The youth are expected to actively participate in the people’s struggles against fascism and state terrorism, economic policies that favor foreign big capitalists, US military intervention, imperialist instigation of wars, and in the democratic mass struggles of workers, peasants, and other sectors.
As the Filipino people continue to suffer oppression and exploitation from US imperialism, in collusion with the comprador bourgeoisie, landlords, and bureaucrat capitalists under the fascist US-Marcos regime, the basis remains to continuously expand and strengthen Kabataang Makabayan. As the crisis of the global capitalist system, and the semicolonial and semifeudal system in the Philippines remains unresolved and continues to worsen, it is increasingly necessary to advance the struggle for national democracy through protracted people’s war.
The path ahead remains long and arduous, and many sacrifices still need to be made to advance the difficult struggle for national democracy. The Party is confident that the KM will remain a steadfast partner, together with other revolutionary mass organizations, in advancing the revolution and achieving victories.
