Rotterdam,
26 July 2020
Dear Agcaoili family, friends and comrades;
After the sudden demise of comrade Fidel Agcaoili we convey sincerest condolences to you, his widow, children, relatives, friends and comrades.
Comrade Fidel was a revolutionary fighter all his life. Already in the early 1960s he joined revolutionary organizations and the Communist Party of the Philippines. Coming from an upper class family he could have enjoyed a comfortable life, but he chose the side of the oppressed and exploited people and their revolutionary struggle for national liberation and socialism. Therefore, in 1972 he had to go underground. Nevertheless, in 1974 he was arrested with his wife and two children. He was tortured and he had to serve more than 10 years of detention as a political prisoner under the Marcos fascist dictatorship. After his release in 1986, he joined the revolutionary movement and again his life was not safe. He joined the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the NDFP and played a key role. In 2017 he became the Chairperson of the NDFP Negotiating Panel. It is nice to read the opinion of an adversary, the former government chief peace negotiator Silvestre H. Bello III: “We join all peace-loving Filipinos in grieving the passing of a revolutionary whose passion for peace is as ardent as his love for structural change on the land of his birth.” (Business Mirror, July 24, 2020)
Comrade Fidel had a valuable contribution in building the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS). The Rode Morgen, as a member of the International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organisations (ICOR), finds it important that ILPS as well as ICOR have called for building an anti-imperialist, antifascist front. Our opponents are highly organized! So must we!
The Rode Morgen pays deep respects and tribute to Comrade Fidel V. Agcaoili.
Long live the achievements of Comrade Fidel Agcaoili!
Long live international solidarity!
On behalf of Rode Morgen,
Wim van Wijk
