Amidst the vicious counterrevolutionary attacks of the fascist US-Duterte regime against the armed revolutionary movement of the Filipino people and the progressive legal democratic movement, foreign friends of the Filipino people dauntlessly held the red banner of international solidarity, declaring support to the Filipino people’s movement for national and social liberation and their comprehensive struggle against imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism.
The Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle/Friends of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (FFPS/FNDFP) held their first General Assembly last April 24. The day marked the 48th founding anniversary of the NDFP, the revolutionary alliance of 18 underground sectoral organizations which include the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA). The FFPS/Friends of the NDFP was founded three years ago during the 45th anniversary celebration of the NDFP in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The FFPS/FNDFP declared during their founding assembly to “organize ourselves into a solidarity movement to defend the Filipino people and their right to pursue their strategic aspirations for national liberation”. They vowed to join the Filipino people in advancing and achieving the realization of the NDFP’s 12-point Program, and the victory of the Philippine revolutionary struggle.
“We are united in the belief that the Filipino people as a sovereign people have the right to struggle against US domination and struggle for genuine social change and against oppressive rule”, they proclaimed.
“As Friends, we commit to support the mass movement of all the oppressed peoples of the Philippines in their aspiration to: build a true people’s democratic government; promote and uphold the social welfare of the oppressed classes through programs for genuine agrarian reform, livelihood development, literacy & education, nutrition, sanitation & health; and to defend their movement and aspirations on all fronts from any attacks,” they further affirmed.
During their founding assembly, the FFPS/Friends of the NDFP finalized and approved their “Manifesto of Unity”, their General Program of Action (GPOA), formed the Coordinating Committee and elected its Chairperson. Their membership includes organizations which come from the US, Canada, Oceania, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. Robert Reid, a trade union leader from New Zealand and longtime supporter of the Filipino people and the NDFP was elected Chairperson of the FFPS/Friends of the NDFP.
“We will amplify the goals of the NDFP in our home countries and expand its international base of support. As Friends of the Filipino People in Strugglewe are committed to continuing the long history of international solidarity with the Filipino people and their struggle for national and social liberation. Together towards a free Philippines and a free world!” triumphantly declared Robert Reid.
In a message for the 48th anniversary celebration of the NDFP which followed the FFPS/FNDFP establishment, NDFP chief political consultant Prof. Jose Ma. Sison said: “The NDFP’s most important role in the democratic revolution is to arouse, organize and mobilize the broad masses of Filipino people in their tens of millions and to seek international solidarity, support and cooperation. For the purpose, it encompasses 18 allied organizations representing all patriotic and progressive classes and sectors of Philippine society belonging to various political tendencies, ethno-linguistic communities and religious beliefs.
The allied organizations include the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army, Revolutionary Council of Trade Unions, Katipunan ng mga Samahang Manggagawa, Pambansang Katipunan ng Magbubukid, Malayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan, Kabataang Makabayan, Katipunan ng Gurong Makabayan, Makabayang Samahang Pangkalusugan, Liga ng Agham para sa Bayan, Lupon ng Manananggol para sa Bayan, Artista at Manunulat para sa Sambayanan, Makabayang Kawaning Pilipino, Revolutionary Organization of Overseas Filipinos and their Families, Christians for National Liberation, Cordillera People’s Democratic Front, Moro Resistance and Liberation Organization, and Revolutionary Organization of Lumad.
The NDFP has been successful at promoting and building the revolutionary organs of political power at the grassroots and higher levels, expanding and consolidating all its allied organizations, broadening the national united front against every unjust regime, carrying out diplomatic and solidarity relations and raising resources for the advance of the people’s democratic revolution,” Professor Sison stressed.
The following are among the major campaigns the FFPS/FNDFP will undertake: reach out to and gather other solidarity organizations and individuals to support the aspirations of the Filipino people; campaign for the prosecution and conviction of Rodrigo Duterte and his cohorts in the International Criminal Court, other tribunals and in the US Congress, European Parliament and other national parliaments and fora; and, campaign to delist the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) in the USA, EU and others and to delist Prof. Jose Ma. Sison from the terrorist listings in the USA, Australia and New Zealand.
The founding and general assembly of the FFPS/FNDFP follow the long history of warm support and solidarity that the NDFP has been winning through its revolutionary struggle in the Philippines and solidarity work overseas since its founding and the struggle against the Marcos fascist dictatorship.
It should be recalled that in 1980 in Antwerp, Belgium, the prestigious Permanent People’s Tribunal (started by prominent Nobel Peace Prize winners) in a session on the Philippines, convicted the Marcos fascist regime of crimes against humanity, bestowed on the NDFP a “status of belligerency” recognizing it as the genuine representative of the Filipino people.
This was followed by a second and third sessions of the PPT which also convicted the criminal Arroyo and (George) Bush regimes, and the genocidal Duterte regime, respectively, for crimes against the Filipino people.
The international solidarity work of the NDFP expanded worldwide and achieved many political victories for the revolutionary struggle in the Philippines, namely, in developing and advancing the socio-economic work of the CPP and NPA and the people’s democratic government in many guerrilla fronts. It has also drawn many prominent international personalities to the struggle of the Filipino people on human rights, the environment, democratic rights, social and economic equality and genuine peace.
Solidarity activists who have worked among the poorest and oppressed in the Philippines and with the resistance movement, upon their return to their respective countries, organized countless solidarity groups and formations for the Philippine struggle.
When the NDFP international representatives led by its Chief International Representative Luis Jalandoni, took root in Europe, the NDFP earned and continues to gather endless support, big and small, political and material, from freedom and democracy-loving citizens all over.
Just how far has the international solidarity movement has amplified the just struggle of the NDFP and the Filipino people can be manifested in the support that the thorny path of the peace negotiations between the NDFP and the Government of the Philippines (GRP) has gathered, as it resonated the basic aspirations of the Filipino people for national freedom, democracy, genuine socio-economic development, social justice and long-lasting peace. (NDFPIIO Media Group)
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