A fruitful year of revolutionary struggle in Central Luzon
The year 2004 was a fruitful year for revolutionary struggle in Central Luzon. Consequently, the revolutionary forces in the region have entered the 37th year of revolutionary struggle with much enthusiasm.
Armed struggle. Victories in the field of armed struggle show a determination to advance revolution even in an area composed of vast plains, with no thickets to use for cover, and that lies at the threshold of the center of reaction in Manila. Most striking was the series of victorious NPA tactical offensives from November 30 to December 15, when the Arroyo regime's armed troops were battered in various guerrilla fronts of the region. Overall, 52 soldiers and policemen were killed in tactical offensives launched in Central Luzon in 2004.
The NPA's tactical offensives succeeded because of the active participation and support of the masses who served as the people's army's eyes and ears, the Red fighters' tremendous fighting spirit, and the improvement of fighting tactics and techniques due to continuing politico-military training.
Not a single civilian was harmed in the offensives launched by the NPA. Soldiers who had already surrendered and were hors de combat were likewise not harmed in compliance with international laws of war and out of respect for human rights and international humanitarian law. "This is the complete opposite of the counterrevolutionary and antipeople violence of the AFP that led to the massacre of unarmed mill and farm workers in Hacienda Luisita who were merely asserting their legitimate demands and rights," said the Regional Committee of the CPP in Central Luzon.
Even in defensive battles, Red fighters displayed skill and firm resolve, said the CPP-CL, citing firefights in Pe�aranda, Nueva Ecija on October 3 and Pura, Tarlac on October 11. In Pe�aranda, the NPA killed and wounded an estimated 10 soldiers when they encountered the 56th and the 71st IBs. The military reported the opposite and boasted of having killed eight Red fighters. In truth, not a single Red fighter was harmed.
Meanwhile, in Pura, over a battalion of soldiers and policemen tried to annihilate an NPA platoon in Sitio Umangan, Barangay Balite. Instead, nine reactionary troops were killed after three hours of fighting in a sugar cane field. Units from Tarlac, Pampanga and Nueva Ecija reinforced their embattled comrades in this firefight. Timely information regarding the enemy provided by the masses greatly helped the comrades in their retreat.
Agrarian revolution and other mobilizations. In a guerrilla front in Nueva Ecija, over 4,000 farm workers benefited when wages were raised for rice planting. Another thousand farm workers who were paid a smaller percentage of the harvest for reaping benefited when the system of sharing was shifted in favor of the sharecroppers. Thousands also benefited when farmgate prices were raised for unhusked rice (palay) and onions in many towns and usurious leding rates were reduced.
Even legal agrarian struggles are advancing. The most prominent among them is the militant struggle of the toiling masses in Hacienda Luisita. The strike that began on November 6 reverberated with cries for job security, higher wages and benefits, the scrapping of the Stock Distribution Option (SDO) and calls for genuine land reform. The strike is supported by thousands of relatives and sympathizers. At the core of this struggle lies the tillers' longstanding assertion of their right to the land that the Cojuangcos continue to claim, said the CPP-CL.
 "The Cojuangcos and the fascist Arroyo regime responded to the legitimate demands and struggle of the toiling masses in the hacienda with a massacre," said the CPP-CL. Killing 14 strikers and demonstrators, the massacre has further inflamed the anger of the worker, peasant and farmworker masses in Hacienda Luisita. It has reaped widespread condemnation from both the toiling masses and some sections of the ruling class who hold the Cojuangcos and the Arroyo regime accountable for their dastardly crime.
Urban mass movement. People's struggles in the region are advancing vigorously. Local struggles that have occasionally been linked by provincial and regional mobilizations have advanced. They have kept pace with the national mass movement and in certain instances have shown great initiative in addressing burning issues early on. The transport strikes launched against continuing oil price hikes are one example.
On November 29 and 30, a "Lakbay Riles" (railroad march) was launched from Meycauayan to Malolos in Bulacan, from Sto. Tomas to Clark in Pampanga and from Tarlac City to Bamban in Tarlac to oppose the North Rail Transit Project. The $503 million project that began on November 3 will evict hundreds of thousands of urban poor families from Caloocan City to Tarlac.
Workers continue to struggle for higher wages and against contractualization and the suppression of their right to form unions and to strike. Militant youth oppose tuition fee increases and the imposition of unjustified fees, as well as the corporatization of colleges and universities consequent to drastic cuts in funds for education.
The teachers' mass movement is on the verge of resurgence due to the delay in the teachers� already low salaries.
Meanwhile, the urban poor are opposing the demolition of their homes.
The strengthening of the Party. The Party's membership in the region continues to grow, and now comes to several thousand. Its growth rate is expected to accelerate because of the mass movement's vigor in both city and countryside. Comrades in the white areas contributed the most to the growth of the Party's membership from the end of 2003 to 2004.
The Party paid tribute to revolutionary martyrs like Ka Jojo Talens (Boyet or Von), a member of the Regional Committee who was among the seven killed in a firefight in San Felipe, Zambales on March 9. The CPP-CL likewise honored the 14 martyrs of Hacienda Luisita and Marcelino (Ka Marcing) Beltran, a peasant leader killed by the military in San Isidro, Tarlac City on December 8.
Drawn from the CPP-CL anniversary message
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