5-09-06, 9:10 am
The whole world is today celebrating International Workers' Day – a day of homage to the workers' role as creators of all of humanity's basic necessities and wealth, of culture and civilization.
In our country, we pay homage to the historic role of the great worker, Andres Bonifacio, who inspired and led the 1896 Revolution for national liberation from Spanish colonialism. It was the workers and the peasants who served as the main force of that revolution, as well as of the subsequent struggles for national liberation against US colonialism, against Japanese occupation, and then again against US neo-colonialism.
Through their militant unions and labor federations, the Filipino workers have struggled over the past century for such rights as collective bargaining, the 8-hour working day, the minimum wage, social security and socio-economic benefits.
But despite their all-important role in our society's development, the Filipino workers are today in a dreadful economic situation – with low wages and lack or absence of job security, constantly threatened by the spiraling unemployment and under-employment, and powerless to arrest the continued inflation of the prices of all basic commodities. There is widespread collusion among the capitalists, government officials and the yellow labor (mis)leaders against the working class. And the Arroyo regime continues to support policies which are meant to curb the exercise of the workers' legitimate rights to unionize and to strike.
More hardships are being made to bear upon the Filipino working masses by the Arroyo regime's imposition of an additional 'Value-Added Tax' on almost all commodities and services, thus making petroleum products, electric and water services, food, medicines, transportation fares, housing rent, education, hospitalization and other basic needs much costlier.
In addition, Filipino workers and other toiling masses are gravely suffering from the political crisis gripping the Arroyo regime, which crisis has led to an economic drift and to a crime wave. The gigantic scandals created by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, her personal family and her official family – such as the massive cheating in the 2004 presidential election, as exposed in the so-called 'Hello Garci' tapes; the rotten deal with a US lobby firm (Venable LLP) for the launching of a campaign to change the Philippine Constitution; the fertilizer fund scam involving billions of pesos to bribe local officials during the 2004 elections; the protection being given to smuggling rings which subvert local industries; and the graft-ridden contracts for railway, airport and other major projects – are all etched in the minds of the masses, such that all surveys show that 7 out of every 10 Filipinos want Gloria Arroyo to immediately vacate the presidency.
Gloria Arroyo is sinking deeper with every measure that she takes to evade investigations on her having cheated her way to the presidency. Her Executive Order No. 464, preventing officials from the executive branch from testifying before congressional investigations on the 2004 election frauds, and on any corruption scandal involving herself and her personal and official families, has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court (despite the fact that most of the Supreme Court justices were appointed by Arroyo herself). Her order for police and military units to quell public assemblies (the so-called 'Calibrated Pre-emptive Response' to immediately disperse rallies) was likewise declared unlawful. And yet, Arroyo continues to apply these illegal measures just to stem the rising tide of mass anger. Discontent is seeping into the ranks of the military, especially among junior officers, and the Arroyo regime is jittery with every rumor of a coup plot. The concentration of police and military surveillance on Arroyo's political foes and protesters has left the streets more open to criminal gangs and elements.
Arroyo's latest gambit is Charter Change (or 'Cha-Cha'), in order to divert the nation's attention to the changing of the Philippine Constitution, and away from the issues of her illegitimacy and scandalous scams in office. Through 'Cha-Cha', Arroyo (the main caretaker of imperialist interests in our country) is trying to woo the continued support of the USA and other imperialist countries, promising a new constitution which would remove the state sector of the economy, and which would remove as well any restriction on foreign capital. A 'sweetener' to this bitter pill is reserved for the county's political elite, promising them that the shift to a parliamentary system would lessen the cost of acquiring national positions, inasmuch as such positions would no longer be based on nationwide elections but only on partisan appointments.
For incumbent local officials, the 'sweetener' is the promise that the local election scheduled for 2007 would be deferred to 2010 (thus giving the incumbents an additional 3-year term), as a transition measure towards a new parliamentary system. This is the reason why most incumbent local officials are now feverishly working to fool their constituents in order to collect signatures for a so-called 'people's initiative for Charter Change'. This 'initiative' does not spring from the people, but is in fact a wily imposition from the Arroyo regime.
Under the present situation, the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP-1930, the Philippine Communist Party) is renewing its call upon all the working masses of our country to step up the campaign for the immediate ouster of Arroyo and all her fellow liars, fraudsters and plunderers in government. The patriotic and class struggles of the Filipino working people in the present context boil down to this primary campaign, and it is a campaign that we shall win.
Recent developments in other Asian countries have shown that corrupt and dictatorial regimes cannot last. Two months of popular demonstrations in Thailand forced its Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, to resign a few weeks ago. Thaksin, Thailand's richest businessman, was ousted on the issue of corruption and of violation of tax laws, which only proves the main point that behind every great personal wealth are grave crimes. In Nepal, unrelenting protests forced King Gyanendra a couple of days ago to return power to the parliament that he arbitrarily dissolved in 2002. The recall of the Nepalese parliament is expected to immediately end any role for the Nepalese monarchy in dictating upon, or even in interfering in, government affairs.
To their credit, the Thai and Nepalese peoples have shown that resolute struggle can force tyrants to step down from power. The Filipino masses should prove equal to the task of immediately ousting the illegitimate Arroyo regime. This is the key step towards the attainment of national freedom, economic progress and social justice for our country.
Glory to the Filipino working class! Glory to the united patriotic struggle of all the working masses of our people! Long live proletarian internationalism!
PARTIDO KOMUNISTA NG PILIPINAS (PKP-1930) (Philippine Communist Party)
