Overseas compatriots around the world today raise our fists in tribute to Ka Louie Jalandoni, a pillar of the people’s democratic revolution and stalwart of genuine peace. He passed peacefully on June 7th at the age of 90 years old.
Ka Louie dedicated the majority of his life to serving the toiling masses wherever he went. Born into a family of big landlords in Negros, Ka Louie decided to side not with his blood ties, but rather with those who poured their blood, sweat, and tears into the land: the toiling sugar workers.
His work as a Catholic priest bound him with the rural poor, and in the Philippine countryside, Ka Louie was awakened as a revolutionary. He would go on to play a leading role in founding the Christians for National Liberation in 1972, and soon after joined the Communist Party of the Philippines. For his service to the people, Ka Louie was imprisoned by the fascist Marcos Sr. dictatorship in 1973.
Immediately after he was freed by the mass movement in 1974, he linked arms with the La Tondena workers to launch the first major labor strike under martial law. This ushered in more than a decade of militant mass struggles and ultimately contributed to the ouster of the Marcos dictatorship itself.
Being forced to seek political asylum in the Netherlands in 1976 did not stop Ka Louie from advancing revolutionary work. In 1977, he was formally designated as the International Representative of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. In the decades following, he made invaluable contributions to the NDFP’s international work, including as its chief negotiator in peace negotiations with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines.
Part of Ka Louie’s international work also included directly serving the Filipino masses overseas. We will never forget Ka Louie’s warmth, ideological clarity and practical wisdom, fortitude, humility, and humor—all of which he readily shared with our compatriots in the Netherlands and from around the world. Those who had the opportunity to be in the company of both Ka Louie and Ka Coni Ledesma—his lifelong comrade and partner in the revolution—enjoyed such joys two-fold.
COMPATRIOTS-NDFP will be forever thankful to have had such a model of revolutionary perseverance and strength helping to guide the work of our revolutionary mass movement—especially our work overseas—through his leadership in the NDFP. While we mourn his passing and extend our deepest sympathies to his comrades and loved ones, we also commit ourselves to honoring Ka Louie’s legacy by living lives in service of the masses, in waging wholeheartedly the rectification movement called for by the Party to all revolutionary forces, in building COMPATRIOTS-NDFP across the world as part of strengthening the NDFP as a whole, and in dedicating ourselves fully to the advance of the people’s democratic revolution until victory.
Long live the tireless fighting spirit of Ka Louie Jalandoni!
Continue the struggle for national and social liberation!
Long live the National Democratic Revolution!