We inform the entire progressive community of a milestone in the unification of the revolutionary forces in the country. The Partido ng Manggagawang Pilipino (PMP) and the Sosyalistang Partido ng Paggawa (SPP) announce their merger through a unification process that will lead towards the formation of a single party in a few months.
While both the PMP and the SPP organisations have been at loggerheads since 1998, we are now showing in practice that we can override minor differences and are able to unite in the spirit of building a genuinely anti-sectarian, Marxist-Leninist party.
Our decision to unite is based on the following grounds:
- There are no major ideological or political differences that divide us. We both subscribe to the basic positions of Marxism-Leninism and their application to Philippines society.
- We both agree on the central task of the day - the need to build a centralised, non-sectarian, Marxist-Leninist party, which will provide the revolutionary socialist leadership in the resurging mass movement today.
- That the disunity of the revolutionary socialist forces - and further initiatives that lead to the formation of small, dispersed party or pre-party formations - is utter regression, if not downright "reactionary" in today's context.
By this merger, we are raising the morale and spirit of the vanguard forces. Through the merger we are taking the lead amongst the revolutionary forces, playing a vanguard role in showing the way out of the impasse that has bogged down and weakened the revolutionary movement in this country.
We also intend to wage sharp ideological and political debates and battles with forces of the right, as well as the forces of the left which are now collapsing to the right and supporting the established order.
We also announce our preparation for a unity congress that will finally cement the unity of the two organisations in terms of unified program, constitution and by-laws, and political platforms.
In this regard, we have already formed the pre-congress committee (PCC) composed of leading comrades from both organisations to prepare for the congress, initiate the pre-congress discussions and meetings, and act as a consultative body in the intervening period before the congress.
We therefore unite in calling our forces to integrate their ranks in the various party units and mass organisations that both parties have been leading.
With this statement we announce to the progressive movement in the Philippines and internationally the merger of our two organisations.
[This statement was issued by the pre-congress committee of the PMP and the SPP on August 14, 2001.]