By Max Lane
The largest demonstration of Filipino progressive forces since 1987 took place in Manila on July 26. Between 35,000 and 50,000 workers, students and others marched on the Congress to demonstrate against the Ramos government's "Philippines 2000" plan.
The demonstration was organised by a new coalition of left forces called People's Challenge. The People's Challenge comprises most of the Manila region branches of the mass organisations affiliated with BAYAN, the largest legal left-oriented political formation.
Also in People's Challenge are BISIG (Union for Socialist Action and Thought), Movement for Popular Democracy (MPD), the left social democratic PANDAYAN and activists from the recently dissolved old pro-
Moscow Communist Party who are now organised in Conference for Freedom and Democracy.
BAYAN Manila affiliates which mobilised for the demonstration included the First of May Movement (KMU) trade unions, and BAYAN suburban chapters. The Manila branches of the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) and the League of Filipino Students (LFS) also joined the People's Challenge demonstration. These forces provided the bulk of the 35,000 plus. Green Left Weekly's sources in Manila estimate that BISIG and MPD delegations also comprised between 2000 and 5000.
The People's Challenge will be presenting an alternative plan to Philippines 2000 next month. At the demonstration, however, the coalition put forward a number of immediate demands. These included a reduction of electricity rates back to 1992 levels, a halt to new taxes, a moratorium on squatter demolitions, repeal of anti-labour laws and the restoration of the right to strike in so-called growth areas, a moratorium on conversion of agricultural land to industrial use, the release of imprisoned peasant leader Jaime Tadeo, the repeal of a recent decision to deregulate university fees and a 2000 peso wage increase for government employees.
The coalition stated its commitment to "carry on a renewed and revitalised struggle for genuine people's empowerment and development". People's Challenge spokesperson Ronald Llamas, president of BISIG, also attacked President Ramos' Philippines 2000 plan as being devoted only to debt repayment, which absorbs over 30% of export earnings, and as having departed from his "already anaemic agrarian reform program". Llamas described the new coalition as exploratory and focused on concrete "do-able" demands for the time being.
A small number of members of Congress held a press conference to support the demonstration. They signed a pact with the People's Challenge to develop an alternative to Ramos' Philippines 2000. Also speaking at the demonstration was Romeo Castillo, the Metro Manila vice-chairperson of KMU. He stated that the government's goal of achieving NIC [newly industrialising country] status was "strewn with policies that would severely disenfranchise the workers of their basic trade union rights to organise and to strike".
A parallel demonstration was organised by national level leaders and activists from some BAYAN affiliates. This was a much smaller demonstration of around 500 people. The Manila Times reported that this group held an indoor rally at the University of the Philippines with "less than 2000" people.
The government and establishment media have tried either to disrupt or to downplay the demonstration. The anti-riot police blocked off many of the roads being used by demonstration contingents so that some groups had to hold smaller impromptu rallies in various parts of the cities.
Ramos studiously ignored the demonstration in his Philippines 2000 speech to Congress and concentrated on his call for increasing the intensity of the fight against crime and population growth. Major conservative papers, such as Philippines Inquirer, tried to distract attention from the significance of such a sign of revival in the mass movement by concentrating on a clash between the two demonstrations at one point.
The mobilisation of over 35,000 people indicates the continuing strength of the Filipino left, especially in Manila and among the working class, which provided most of the people for the demonstration. The demonstration is the first time since the Marcos period when the major parts of the left have acted in a united fashion for a mass mobilisation — a sign that a major part of the left has rethought its attitude to united front political actions.
This rethinking is no doubt also connected to the major realignment proceeding inside the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the National Democratic Front (NDF).
The CPP and NDF are underground political organisations, but their ideas and policies exercise considerable influence amongst a broad bloc of the legal left, usually referred to as the "national democratic movement" and concentrated in the BAYAN-affiliated organisations.
The CPP is the leading organisation in the NDF, which also includes the New People's Army (NPA) and various underground worker, student, women and youth organisations.
On July 15 the Manila Rizal Regional Committee (MRRC) of the CPP held a press conference to declare its autonomy from the central leadership of the party, headed by founding chairperson Joma Sison, and called for a unity congress of the CPP.
The MRRC, which claims to have the support of at least one other regional committee, stated it supports the current attempts to achieve a political settlement, as long as the basic grievances of the people are dealt with. It was willing to consider participating in elections. It called on supporters to concentrate efforts on the establishment of a "united front" with non-Communist Party groups.
The MRRC did not, however, reject the necessity for the revolutionary movement to be armed. To emphasise this, its press conference was attended not only by the chairperson of the MRRC, Carlos Forte, but also by Sergio Romero, the commander of the Manila-Rizal section of the NPA, known as the Alex Buscayno Brigade (ABB).
The MRRC leaders stated that they would be providing the government's anti-crime commission with a list of major criminals against whom they demanded the government take action. They indicated that if the government did not take action, then the ABB would.
However, a well-informed left-wing academic commentator, Alex Magno, writing in the July 16 Manila Chronicle, commented that this statement was linked to the need to rehabilitate the image of the ABB after one section broke away and started a kidnapping racket.
The declaration of autonomy comes after several years of internal debate and ideological struggle inside the CPP. This internal debate and struggle became particularly sharp after the overthrow of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and the CPP found itself more and more marginalised, despite its strong membership base.
Out of the discussion of why this was happening came some major questioning of the CPP's adherence to various Maoist theories, such as that advocating protracted people's war, whereby "revolutionary power" is slowly accumulated in the countryside as the guerilla army encircles the cities. Criticisms emerged that this strategy underestimated the importance of political work in the cities and resulted in tactical decisions that ignored the potential for mobilising the urban population, especially in the Manila region.
As the debate unfolded, frustration also developed over the absence of mechanisms in the CPP to handle the debate. Tensions became much sharper when the central party leadership adopted a document formally reaffirming that the CPP must adhere to Maoist strategy despite the fact that significant sections of the party still had questions or had already rejected the Maoist strategy. This turn of events also introduced the issue of party democracy into the discussion.
The MRRC's continuing struggle against the reaffirmation document resulted in the central leadership formally disbanding it some weeks ago. Following the MRRC press conference, NDF spokesperson Louis Jalendoni, based in Holland, issued a statement rejecting the authority of Forte and Romero to
represent the MRRC and claiming that they had lost the support of the membership.
However, the large mobilisations on July 26 by all the Manila-based national democratic organisations would seem to indicate that the Manila CPP leadership maintains extensive influence amongst the politicised masses in the city.
The MRRC claims to have 5000 cadre in Manila out of a national total of 7500. The central leadership forces' estimate is that there are 15,000 cadres nationally. In either case, the Manila forces represent a very significant section of the CPP membership as well as being placed at the economic and political centre of the country. Manila is also the heartland of the Filipino working class.
It was also reported in the Manila Chronicle that, apart from the forces led by the MRRC and those supporting the central party leadership, there is also another grouping called the "verdaderos" ("seekers for truth"). This group includes CPP members elected to leadership positions by the last NDF congress, whose results were somehow later annulled or ignored.
This group has been very critical of a lack of internal democracy and what it sees as authoritarian, Stalinist practices. Some figures in this group are also reported to be attempting to play a bridging role between the two blocs.