`The Philippines left needs to appreciate the national question'

I joined the New People's Army (NPA) in 1969. I was one of the first field commanders of the NPA. When I was captured in 1971, we had already established bases in the Cordilleras.

The national democratic program [the immediate program of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)] included the recognition of the right to self-determination of the indigenous peoples. This attracted a lot of activists from the indigenous peoples' movement to the NPA.

A number of [CPP members] from the Cordilleras proposed the creation of a Moro National Liberation Front-type [the MNLF is one of the national liberation movements representing the Moro peoples in the southern Philippines] organisation for the Cordilleras. This initiative was suppressed by the CPP central committee.

The pressure for this never let up, until the CPLA was formed. The CPLA seceded from the CPP in February 1986. It at first remained within the NPA, but left a few months later. I was also involved in a group which called for the separation of the Cordillera nation, which would later be a part of a federated structure in a revolutionary Philippines state. We called this the seventh column of the CPP. But the CPP wasn't even prepared to consider our program.

In the Philippines, the indigenous people are peoples of the indigenous culture who were able to maintain themselves outside the control of the Spanish colonial state. Therefore, they were able to preserve indigenous Philippines culture. This includes social elements such as collective leadership and direct democracy. We refer to these as being a part of our indigenous socialist vision. The existence of these egalitarian institutions is our contribution to the Philippines revolutionary movement.

We need to launch a cultural revolution which will defend socialism -- as a philosophy, a way of life and as a model of development -- from the slanders of global capitalist forces. We also need a socialism that will be able to study in depth and critically the situation on a local and international level. I see a cultural revolution as a necessary prerequisite to the emergence of a new revolutionary movement. When I speak of cultural revolution, I mean a propaganda movement like that of the 1890s led by Rizal and Bonifacio [leaders of the 1896 revolution against Spanish rule].

The key elements of such a cultural revolution is an organisation that will advocate and actively cultivate a socialist consciousness amongst the people and be able to send spokespeople into various fora, including the congress of the Philippines. Our representatives must project the socialist platform. We also need our own media, periodicals and publications. These are also essential to clear the image of socialism.

What we need is a socialist movement that is capable of generating new forces of the Philippines revolutionary movement and of uniting all the different socialist traditions and tendencies. The basic ideas of Marx are still relevant. The task of the Filipino socialists is to go back to the basic socialist principles in the Communist Manifesto. These ideas of Marx and Engels reflect the basic principles, which have continuing validity. So too do the principles expounded by Lenin and other socialist leaders such as Mao and even Trotsky.

I would like to congratulate the leaders of the SPP on their initiative in forming the party. I think new hope has developed for the unification of the revolutionary movement. Now, more than ever, we are able to succeed in the tasks of the Philippines revolution.

The inability of the Philippines left to deal with the national question was reflected in its resistance to accommodate movements for self-determination such as those of the Cordillera and Moro peoples. While now the left seems to take for granted the causes of ``indigenous'' peoples, it still misunderstands the various dimensions of the national question because not all communities are nations.

The indigenous movements that are now ``officially'' supported by the left have alienated themselves from the overall movement and struggle of the Filipino people. In this sense the Philippines left still needs to appreciate the national question.

We are still in the process of forging the Philippines nation. This means recognising the smaller nations inside the Philippines nation. This implies the recognition that the organisation of the Philippines should be a federation -- this is unavoidable.

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