The Communist Party of the Philippines on Friday has called on its cadres to work towards the downfall of President Rodrigo Duterte to protect the people from his “dictatorial” ambitions.
In a Jan. 7 editorial of the CPP’s official publication, Ang Bayan, communist rebels predicted that Duterte would become “increasingly isolated” from the people because of his alleged fascist policies and has called on revolutionary forces to work towards his downfall.
“Ang pagpapabagsak kay Duterte ang pinakaimportanteng tungkulin sa ngayon ng mga rebolusyonaryong pwersa. Krusyal ang pagtupad nito sa mabilis na paglakas at paglawak ng rebolusyonaryong kilusan para ipagtanggol ang mamamayan sa walang habas na mga atake ng rehimen,” the editorial read.
[‘‘The downfall of (President Rodrigo) Duterte is the most important task of the revolutionary forces,” crucial both to the rapid strengthening and expansion of the movement and to defend the people from the unrelenting attacks of the regime.’’]
Cadres should likewise work towards building an alliance with anti-Duterte groups, “even those with the biggest contradiction with the revolutionary forces” just to bring down the President and launch campaigns, “both armed and unarmed, to deal serious blows to the regime and weaken it until it falls.”
The CPP scored the many contradictions in the Duterte regime, among which, the continued killings in both his war on drugs and the counterinsurgency campaign, the predicted increase in the prices of basic necessities brought about by the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion, or TRAIN, law, and the push for Charter change and federalism—including the possible scrapping of the 2019 elections.
The CPP said that government proposals towards a no-election scenario in 2019 is a way to establish another dictatorship.
“Para kontrahin ang papalawak na paglaban ng mamamayan, tiyak na patitindihin pa ni Duterte ang mga gerang mapanupil laban sa mga sektor at organisasyong tumututol sa kanyang mga pasistang ambisyon [To counter the widening resistance of the people, Duterte is certain to intensify the wars of suppression against sectors and organizations opposed to his fascist ambitions],” the editorial read.
The CPP likewise reiterated that the government’s move to declare them as “terrorist organizations” targets the “open democratic movement and the legal opposition” as much as the armed rebels.
The move followed Duterte’s termination of negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, which represents the communist rebels in peace talks.
Only foreign multinationals and their local “bureaucrat-capitalist” cohorts dictated by “neoliberal policies” would benefit from present efforts to supposedly improve the economy, and could only worsen poverty and backwardness present today.
The CPP added that the Duterte regime had failed to end labor contractualization, agrarian reform and free irrigation which “have totally disappeared from Duterte’s vocabulary.”