For a long time, since the emergence of the working class in some industries in the second half of the 19th century, we can celebrate many victories of this class stemming from their work, struggle and sacrifices. However due to the limited time in this forum, I can only narrate briefly the development of the working class.
My advice to all who would like to further study the history of the working class democracy is for them to read my article on it in the book Struggle for National Democracy, Manila, Amado V. Hernandez Foundation, 2001, p.89-104; and also its link with the Communist International in the development of the Communist Party in the book Crisis of Imperialism and People’s Resistance, Aklat ng Bayan, 2009, p.236-59.
Short history of the working class
The industrial workers started from the status of individuals offering their labor power to capitalists that bought this at values pressed down and thus increase their profit.
The payment or wage set by the capitalist is a small part of the entire value of the commodity created by the workers. A far greater part of the value of the newly created commodity is appropriated by the capitalist to extract profit and pay the land rent and interest on bank loans.
To fight for the improvement of their wage and living conditions in an organized way, the workers learned to form unions for economic struggle at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1930, they reached the stage of forming a party upholding the leadership of the working class and aiming to change the ruling social system through political struggle against the exploitative capitalist class.
This was the Communist Party of the Philippine Islands. It did not take long before the US colonial government suppressed this Party. It was made illegal on the accusation of sedition and its leaders punished. The Party operated secretly and the related unions took caution. However, the Socialist Party operated legally based on the masses of peasants and farmworkers. The Communist Party was made legal in 1937 when the Commonwealth government due to the need for the popular front against fascism. The US government acceded.
In 1938, the Communist Party and the Socialist Party merged. This strengthened the basic alliance of the working class and the peasantry. With the Japanese fascist aggression in 1941-42, the merger party formed the Anti-Japanese People’s Army (Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon/Hukbalahap) on March 29 1942. The inter-imperialist war became a good opportunity for strengthening the workers’ party, the people’s army and the mass organizations and organs of political power. However, the merger party leadership committed a series of serious errors
The Right opportunist line of retreat for defense was implemented. The squadrons were divided up into small teams thus slowing the advance of the people’s army. This was followed by the line of friendly welcome for the return of US imperialism for this to fulfill the promise of granting independence to the Philippines. This was indeed granted but it was fake; the Philippines was made a neocolony and US dominance over the puppet government remained in the economic, political, military and cultural fields.
The US and its puppets violently took back the lands of the landlords from the peasants who took these over during the war. The masses wished to rebel. However, the leaders of the party rode on this by implementing the “Left” opportunist line of all-out offensive against the enemy to win victory merely within two months; failing to take into account the necessity of protracted people’s war that attends not only to military offensives but also to the agrarian revolution and building the mass base in the countryside.
After the series of people’s army offensives in August 1949, the enemy countered with offensives in the countryside and the city. The people’s army camps in the Sierra Madre were isolated and the party leadership in Manila was captured in October. The armed struggle took a slide until the enemy broke its spine. The leadership that took over from the previous one carried a Right opportunist line that resulted in its orders to liquidate the people’s army in 1955 and the Party branches and organs under a hiding Party general secretary in 1957.
Independently of the old party, the proletarian revolutionaries started to form study groups on Marxism-Leninism in 1959 and undertake propaganda and mass actions among the students and workers. In 1961, they launched a huge mass action against anticommunism. In 1962, a few of them joined the old party. They discovered that the Party had no branches and organs. Nonetheless, I was immediately included in ten executive committee, which was considered as the seed for renewed party building.
The proletarian revolutionaries were the ones who produced new cadres and members for the old party and the mass organizations of workers, peasants, and youth. Within the expanded executive committee, conflict developed between the proletarian revolutionaries and the revisionists; and both sides expelled each other in 1966. In May 1967, the proletarian revolutionaries issued a declaration expelling the revisionists.
Victories of the working class in leading the Philippine revolution
The separation of the proletarian revolutionaries from the revisionist party was a big victory for the working class movement. A thoroughgoing rectification movement was undertaken to criticize and repudiate new revisionism and subjectivist and opportunist errors of the revisionists since the latter part of 1942. Today we call this the First Great Rectification Movement. It emphasized the building of the revolutionary party, the people’s army and the revolutionary united front. It opened the way for the reestablishment of the Communist Party of the Philippines guided by Marxism-Leninism-Maoism on December 26, 1968.
Simultaneous to the rectification movement was the framing of the Constitution of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the Program for a People’s Democratic Revolution. The writing of the book Philippine Society and Revolution followed in 1969. These documents clarified and set the leadership of the working class in the Philippine revolution in the current period. The theory of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism was applied on the history and circumstances of the Filipino people. The Party proved itself as the advance detachment of the working class and as the most productive and progressive class in society.
The Party set the general line of people’s democratic revolution through protracted people’s war. Its objective is to win and complete the struggle for national liberation and democracy against US imperialism and the ruling classes of big compradors and landlords. Thus, would the semicolonial and semifeudal conditions be ended and the road to socialist revolution and construction be opened. At every opportunity and in various ways, the Party and other revolutionary forces aroused, organized and mobilized the broad masses of the people.
The Party successfully exercised the leadership of the working class in the democratic revolution in firm alliance with the peasantry through the revolutionary armed struggle, implementation of genuine land reform and expansion and consolidation of the mass base in the countryside. Under the leadership of the working class and its party, the New People’s Army grew in number and strength from almost nothing and from being weak in 1969. The agrarian revolution in two stages (minimum and maximum) was undertaken.
With the leadership of the working class through the Party, the National Democratic Front (NDF) was established in 1973. It is a framework for uniting the organizations of the working class and peasantry with various organizations of the urban petty bourgeoisie and the multisectoral organizations of the people. While the NDF is a united front of progressive forces, it is always open to patriotic alliance with the national or middle bourgeoisie. It is also prepared to go into temporary and unstable alliance with parts of the reactionary classes to hasten the isolation and defeat of the enemy, the worst reactionaries.
The working class and its Party are able to advance the revolution by carrying out the program for national liberation and democracy of the toiling masses, genuine land reform and national industrialization; social justice; national, scientific and mass culture; proletarian internationalism and solidarity with peoples of all countries. This is the program of the Filipino people against the enemy state that is the instrument of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism.
The ruling classes still prevail through violence and deception; and the support of US imperialism. Marcos imposed fascist dictatorship in the country for a long time. But the revolutionary movement further strengthened itself. The Filipino working classes and people prevailed upon and overthrew the dictatorship. Regimes pretending to be democratic but in fact similar to the Marcos regime followed. They continue to use violence against the toiling masses. Inspite of all these, the people’s revolutionary movement continued to grow under the leadership of the working class guided by Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. At another turn in 2001, one regime was overthrown and the succeeding regime was almost overthrown.
In the years 1989-91, the revisionist ruled countries ran into trouble. These countries became openly and thoroughly capitalist and the Soviet Union collapsed. The imperialists and their puppets gloated that socialism was dead and the revolutionary movement in the Philippines would also wither away supposedly due to lack of support from abroad. The Philippine revolutionaries laughed off the claims of the counterrevolutionaries; for the fact is the CPP was reestablished and remained firm on the line of struggle against imperialism, revisionism and reaction. The revolutionary movement is deeply rooted among the toiling masses and remain seriously in their struggle.
The Right and “Left” opportunists also attempted to liquidate the Party and the theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. They secretly attempted to do so since 1988 at exposed themselves completely from 1992 onward. As early as 1980, they united on the subjectivist position that the Philippines is no longer semifeudal supposedly because fascist Marcos had industrialized it. They committed grievous errors in line throughout the decade of the 1980s. The “Left” opportunists sought to “regularize” the people’s army and follow urban insurrectionism, contrary to the line of protracted people’s war. The Right opportunists sought to liquidate the leadership of the working class and to simply ride on the line of the anti-Marcos reactionaries. The Party launched the Second Great Rectification Movement in 1992. It fought for the line of people’s democratic revolution through protracted people’s war. It defeated the subjectivists and opportunists. Eventually the most rabid among them exposed themselves as agents of counterrevolution and the reactionary parties.
In 45 years of revolutionary struggle under working class leadership. The Party strengthened itself ideologically, politically and organizationally. From 80 members and candidate members in 1968, the Party today counts more than a hundred thousand members covering almost all provinces and is deeply rooted among the toiling masses. The New People’s Army from a few Red fighters with nine automatic rifles and 26 inferior guns has grown to thousands of Red fighters armed with powerful guns and is supported by tens of thousands of militia forces and hundreds of thousands self-defense unit membership. The NPA today cover more than 110 guerrilla fronts covering wide swathes of 71 provinces.
The NDF is led by the working class through its Party. It ranges over 17 revolutionary forces. These include the Party, the New People’s Army, the Revolutionary Council of Trade Unions, National Association of Peasants, Kabataang Makabayan (Patriotic Youth), Cordillera People’s Democratic Front, Christians for National Liberation, Association of Patriotic Teachers, Patriotic Government Employees, Patriotic Health Association, League of Scientists for the People, Federation of Labor Organizations, Council of Lawyers for the People, Moro Revolutionary Organization for Liberation, Revolutionary Organization of Lumads, and Compatriots.
The People’s Democratic Government exists in all guerrilla fronts. It is the totality of local organs of democratic power. It is led by the Party and the working class. It is supported by mass organizations of workers, peasants, women, youth, cultural activists and children. Assisting the local organs of democratic power are the committees on organization, education, land reform, production, health, defense, culture and others. The committees ensure that tasks and campaigns are launched for the welfare of the people.
Currently, the Party is pursuing the plan to advance the people’s war from the strategic defensive towards the strategic stalemate. It is carrying out the political, military and socioeconomic requirements such as: expanding Party membership to 250,000; increasing Red fighters to 25,000, increasing guerrilla fronts to 180; and the number of mass organization membership into millions upon millions with bigger numbers of the masses covered by the organs of democratic power; implementation of the agrarian revolution and improvements on production, livelihood, health and culture.
Favorable conditions for the advance of the Philippine revolution
The crisis of the world capitalist system protracts and worsens. Proven totally bankrupt is the neoliberal economic policy that sped up the accumulation of capital in the hands of the monopoly bourgeoisie and its financial oligarchy. The imperialist powers cannot solve the crisis of overproduction and overaccumulation of capital because they refuse to get rid of the neoliberal policy and because they continue to grab huge profits by passing on the burden of the intensifying crisis on to the toiling classes and the third world countries.
Depression is deepening throughout the world. The degree of exploitation and oppression continues to escalate. The suffering of the toiling people and the middle social strata continues to intensify. The people’s suffering is a bad thing. But this is what moves them to fight their exploiters and oppressors. The ruling classes are themselves pushing the toilers to wage revolutions.
Now, we can say that the crisis favorable for the revolution. Explosions of mass protests and strikes are widening and more frequent, the anti-imperialist and socialist movement is being enlivened and the numbers of those desiring revolution, especially in underdeveloped and poor countries, are increasing. The imperialists and their puppets can no longer boast that revolution and socialism are dead as a result of their claimed effective cure—that is the neoliberal policy—to economic and social problems.
Focusing on the Philippines, income from exports of raw materials and semimanufactures are down, while expenses for imports of manufactures and semimanufactures are up. Mining and other extractive industries proliferate but the real quantity of the minerals mined is not revealed and smuggled out. The government budget and external trade deficits are increasing, thus the debt burden is also increasing. Taxes and the price of social services are rising. But these come with the wastage and embezzlement of the people’s national wealth in nonproductive and ineffective programs and projects, in corruption through the pork barrel system, in huge military spending and growing debt interest and amortization.
Despite all these, the Aquino regime boasts of growth in the Philippine economy. But the supposed economic growth come from so-called hot money or portfolio investments that come and go to and from the stock market and the money markets and pushes speculation in private construction and consumerism among the tiny upper rung of the population. Due to the absence of genuine land reform and national industrialization, the Philippines remain underdeveloped and poor. Unemployment, wage decreases and rising prices of basic commodities and services are worsening rapidly.
Due to the global capitalist crisis, there is a big employment downturn for migrant labor in other countries. The permanent crisis of the Philippines has worsened due to the global capitalist crisis. The ground for revolution is certainly growing ever more fertile in the Philippines. The organized forces of the revolution need only excel at strengthening themselves and fighting imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism. The Filipino people are very capable of winning the national-democratic stage of the Philippine revolution with the leadership of the working class. Thus, the socialist revolution can fol-low when the working class hold state power and much more capable of leading the Filipino people in socialist revolution and construction.
