Overthrow the US-Estrada regime, expand and intensify the revolution!
Statement of the Executive Committee
of the Central Committee
of the Communist Party of the Philippines
The rift between the leading puppet Joseph Estrada and his former partner in crime Luis "Chavit" Singson has erupted into a full-blown political crisis. The disclosure of the jueteng protection racket being run by Estrada from Malaca�ang has fully exposed and thoroughly isolated the shaky reactionary US-Estrada regime, pushing it to the brink of complete collapse.
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The unabashed cronyism, criminality and plunder prevalent at the very helm of the neocolonial state has come into full view. Prior to this, the puppet regime has been under fire due to the continued decline of the economy, a series of scandals, the brazen abuse of power by the families and friends of Estrada, its connivance with the Marcoses and Marcos cronies, the intensification of its counterrevolutionary war and its riding roughshod over the NDFPGRP peace negotiations and subsequently the MILF-GRP talks, its incompetent handling of the Abu Sayyaf hostage crisis, the rampant violations of human rights and so on. It is now the target of the people's rage and the struggle of a very broad range of forces from the left to the right. Its removal from power is the main political issue of the day.
The Estrada clique's bullheadedness in clinging to power despite its total exposure and isolation is heightening the rift between pro- and anti-Estrada reactionaries. Reactionary factions are undergoing massive realignments, there is intense rivalry to wrest away each other's supporters, there are ruthless maneuvers and countermaneuvers. For Estrada and his leading minions, it is not only their political fate that is at stake but their personal safety as well.
| If the situation continues to go beyond Estrada's control, we can expect greater US intervention |
Especially because the ruling Estrada clique is employing all means, both clean and dirty to save itself and exact revenge, the conflict among the reactionaries cannot be confined within the reactionary parliament. PNP and AFP officials are at the core of scandals, criminal activities and factional maneuvers. Even before Singson's expos�, intelligence agencies were already being brazenly used against Estrada's political rivals and even in squabbles within Malaca�ang.
The 2001 elections, even if it pushes through, and the struggle to oust Estrada will unavoidably run into entanglements and further intensify and complicate each other. Likewise, the grave economic problems and political unrest that continue to worsen at an ever faster pace cannot be held back for the 2004 presidential elections.
The local comprador big bourgeoisie and landlord class, as well as foreign capitalists are restless. This is being proven by the rapid and continuous plunge of the stock market and the value of the peso. All major religious sects except for the El Shaddai are now calling for Estrada's resignation.
US imperialism is restive. It is quickly taking steps to stabilize its teetering neocolony and prepare for the further worsening of the crisis. Not long after US diplomats rushed to have a consultation with Gloria Arroyo, she resigned from her cabinet post. If the situation continues to go beyond Estrada's control, we can expect greater US intervention to resolve the political crisis, most likely by forcing Estrada to resign or calling for a snap election.
The people are indignant over the unending blows inflicted by the economic crisis. Poverty, the lack of basic necessities, unemployment, rising prices of commodities and the erosion of incomes and livelihood are rapidly getting worse. Moreover, there are widespread abuses against the poor, violations of democratic rights, massive evictions in countryside and city, barefaced self-indulgence among those in power and dominance of foreign monopolies. Poverty and severe oppression are driving ordinary folk to take to the streets, struggle and support the revolutionary movement.
The Party and the revolutionary forces are at the forefront of the struggle to overthrow the ruling reactionary Estrada regime. As a result of the Second Great Rectification Movement, the revolutionary movement has a more solid foundation and core. In the past few years, guerrilla warfare and mass struggles have been continuously expanded and intensified according to capability. The revolutionary movement persevered even in the most difficult circumstances and resolutely kept aflame the fire of the people's fighting spirit.
From the beginning, the revolutionary forces have actively exposed and opposed the rabidly reactionary rule of the USEstrada regime. National democratic forces directly called for the ouster of the regime as its exposure and isolation worsened due to its connivance with the Marcoses, a series of scandals and its militarist assault on the peace negotiations to intensify its counterrevolutionary war. The Party and revolutionary movement are now in an excellent position to accelerate their expansion and advance and draw the people in their millions to the revolution. The revolution's advance to a higher level depends on this.
| ...it would be a big error to content ourselves with our old narrow areas and old habits and to be indecisive. |
In the current situation, it is the overall task of the Party and all revolutionary forces to assiduously intensify the struggle to overthrow the reactionary US-Estrada regime and boldly advance the revolution in different arenas and on varying scales.
The tasks of concentrating attacks on the ruling puppet regime and advancing the revolution are in accord with each other. We concentrate our blows on the narrowest rabidly reactionary target and strive to cooperate at different levels and through various means with the broadest possible range of anti-Estrada forces. At the same time, we firmly uphold the line of the people's democratic revolution and do all we can to strengthen the progressive forces.
In the all-out intensification of the struggle against the reactionary US-Estrada regime, we aim to further sharpen and take advantage of the contradictions among the reactionaries and gradually weaken reactionary rule on the whole. At the same time, we strengthen the revolutionary forces through united front tactics and the combination of different forms and fields of struggle�from armed and illegal to parliamentary and legal.
In this situation of grave crisis, it is most imperative for the revolutionary forces to link with the broadest masses in the quickest way possible and lead their struggle to further expand and lend it revolutionary direction.
Expand while intensifying, intensify to expand and grow in strength. Take advantage of the people's burning rage and the rift among reactionaries, intensify armed struggle and mass struggles. This way, we can lead the masses, encourage them to daringly wage resistance and draw them in their vast numbers to the revolution.
Given this situation, it would be a big error to content ourselves with our old narrow areas and old habits and to be indecisive.
Following are the Party's main tasks under the current situation:
1 Launch tactical offensives and intensify armed struggle.
Hold the reactionary US-Estrada regime accountable for causing the country and the people to suffer severely due to its intensely antinational, antipeople, anti-democratic and corrupt practices. Their desperate maneuvers to stay in power will lead to deeper crisis and the infliction of even graver hardships on the people. Tactical offensives constitute the most intense blows that the people could unleash. These are necessary to cause the regime's hold on power to crumble and encourage the all-out resistance of all progressive and anti-Estrada forces.
Widespread tactical offensives are necessary to deliver stinging blows against the reactionary US-Estrada regime and accumulate more weapons and other military equipment. These are necessary to open even more guerrilla fronts and strengthen existing ones.
Likewise, extra effort is needed to launch military actions that have strong political impact, raise the morale of the masses and inflict more damage on and sow greater disorder among, the people's enemies. We must include in our targets the biggest and most despicable enemies of the people and symbols of reactionary power.
2 Intensify protests and mass struggles.
Launch gigantic protest actions in the streets and propagate them nationwide. Use tactical alliance tactics to gather numbers that shall surpass crowds hauled in and paid by the ruling regime. This is decisive in smashing remaining support for the ruling regime and drawing in those who vacillate.
Aside from mass protests to oust Estrada, broaden and intensify other political and economic struggles of the people. Address the foremost economic and political grievances of the masses of workers, peasants and other impoverished sectors to arouse and mobilize them in their numbers.
Pay particular attention to exposing and condemning widespread transgressions of democratic and human rights. While the fighting escalates and the reactionary ruling regime grows more desperate, the more it will resort to fascism and intensified suppression of a people in resistance.
Daringly expand the open and underground national-democratic mass organizations. Alongside, create and develop other types of organizations that can reach out to ordinary folk faster and link them to the relatively advanced elements of national-democratic organizations. Do not be content with small organizations and snail-paced organizing.
3 Broaden and invigorate antifeudal campaigns and other mass campaigns in the countryside while intensifying guerrilla warfare.
Painstakingly broaden campaigns and mass struggles, mainly antifeudal campaigns, to consolidate and deepen the mass base. Propagate campaigns to implement the minimum program of revolutionary land reform, aside from education, organizational, cultural, health and other campaigns.
Resolve the problems of slowpaced organizing and sporadic mass mobilizations. Propagate and implement the guidelines issued by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee on how to accelerate organizing in the countryside. Develop appropriate legal forms of organization and struggle to step up the pace of expanding and consolidating the mass base.
In the most advanced sections, establish full-fledged mass organizations, organs of political power, people's militia units and self-defense teams and Party branches and groups.
4 Daringly broaden links and develop expertise in united front tactics.
It is necessary to reach out to, arouse and mobilize the people in their millions and this could never be accomplished without utilizing and developing expertise in united front tactics. We must link up with the broadest possible ranks of actual and potential, strategic and tactical, reliable and unreliable allies. Use united front tactics to isolate the few, draw in the many and arouse the broad masses. Take advantage of rifts among reactionaries to completely isolate the ruling Estrada clique and continually weaken it further until it is eventually overthrown.
The current ranks of anti-Estrada forces are far more diffused and hold far more diverse standpoints compared to the broad anti-dictatorship front against the US-Marcos fascist dictatorship. Develop expertise in forming bilateral and multilateral, direct and indirect, formal and informal, relatively stable and extremely unstable, broad and issue-based, open and underground links outside and within the reactionary parliament�for mutual benefit and according to the status and capability of each party. What is important is for us to develop expertise in cooperating with the broadest possible range of forces in order to overcome our limitations and advance more rapidly. Alongside, we must resolutely hold on to our own revolutionary principles and line and painstakingly strengthen the progressive forces to enable us to carry on independently even if tactical and unreliable allies defect or if our struggles with them intensify.
We must also continue to expose to the people the handful of counterrevolutionary renegade groups that present themselves as more leftist than the real left in order to impose themselves, confuse the masses and cover up their revisionism, reformism and parliamentarism. For as long as they are more involved in spewing venom and more interested in causing trouble and inflicting damage on the Party and the movement, this handful of grouplets must not be allowed to benefit from our toils just so they could sow deception and foment trouble within our ranks.
One important part of broad alliance work is the development of work within reactionary institutions like the bureaucracy, church, mass media, parliament and elections. We must expand this to various levels and use it to expand our area of maneuver and links with the masses even as we educate them on the inherent limitations of such institutions.
5 Expand propaganda work and political education.
Expand propaganda work and political education to raise the people's political consciousness and maximize immediate and long-term gains for the revolution in struggles that are being waged. Pay particular attention to propaganda and political education methods that can reach bigger numbers of the masses faster, such as mass meetings, radio broadcasts, video presentations and others. Assign spokespersons and liaisons to maximize the space, however narrow, provided by the legal mass media even as we develop our own machinery and capabilities. Recruit and train more propagandists and instructors in the underground and open movements.
6 Daringly expand the Party without letting a single undesirable in.
Systematically recruit into the Party the most advanced elements emerging from the ranks of the masses. There must be recruitment plans for specified periods and varying scopes in order to assiduously expand the Party organization. We must recruit thousands and hundreds of thousands of members and train thousands of cadres to strengthen the Party and prepare it for weightier responsibilities in the revolution.
The fighting continues to intensify and there is need to be ever vigilant in the face of more vicious attacks by the reactionary enemy. We must ceaselessly expand and deepen the underground movement in the countryside and cities. We must also continue to strengthen our finance machinery and capability and strictly advocate the style of simple living and hard struggle in order to give our all for the advance of the armed revolution.
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