Correspondence Reports:
Statement of the CPP-Northeastern Luzon on the Party's 35th anniversary
Mass movement surges forward

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

The masses and comrades in Northeastern Luzon hailed the huge gains of the revolutionary movement in the region on the Party's 35th anniversary. In a statement issued on December 26, the CPP Regional Committee presented the important advances made by the Party, New People's Army and revolutionary movement in the region.

Peasants surged to the town centers in 2003 to launch large-scale campaigns to eradicate or reduce usury. Prevailing interest rates were reduced by up to 50% in 300 barrios in 10 towns. Five thousand peasants in 130 barrios mobilized for the campaign that benefited about 300,000 individuals or 55,000 families.

Not just members of peasant organizations benefited from the reduction of interest rates but all peasants who borrow from merchant-usurers. They were likewise able to assert something that was previously thought impossible�the right to sell their produce not only to their creditors who buy the products at lower prices but to other merchants as well. Another burden lifted from the masses' shoulders was the eradication of fraud perpetrated by merchants who buy their produce and the reduction of transport costs for their farm products.

The major gains began with mobilizations at the sitio and barrio level to reduce land rent, raise farm workers' daily wages by P10-30, resist the ejectment of tenants, reduce irrigation fees, reduce the prices of goods sold in village stores and resolve the masses' many other problems. With the accumulation of small victories and with the masses' enthusiasm and readiness to take action even in the midst of enemy operations, confidence in their capacity for even bigger struggles grew even stronger.

The victories included, among others, the advance of struggles against attempts by imperialists and Gov. Faustino Dy to eject peasants and grab the lands they had long been cultivating so Dy and the imperialists could mine the inexpensive coal found in the area.

Revolutionary propaganda now enjoys a broader audience, reaching the peasant masses and middle forces through various means. The masses are elated whenever they hear their fellow peasants and mass leaders boldly and sharply discuss their problems, demands and their side of the issues in the media. Even they are emboldened to speak out, respond and write letters to radio stations, convinced that there is no other way but to fight for their rights.

The mass base has doubled in size. The overall organized masses, especially the organized women and youth, have tripled in number.

In military work, tactical offensives burst forth and reverberated in all guerrilla fronts. At least 50 enemy forces were killed in 2003. Meanwhile, five Red fighters in the region sacrificed their lives.

The NPA in Northeastern Luzon has further grown since 1999 and continues to undergo consolidation by the Party. It was in 2003 that the largest number of Red fighters finished taking the Intermediate Party Course.

The CPP in Northeastern Luzon declared that their advances were dedicated to the masses of the region, to the people's martyrs and the ordinary fighters and cadres of the people's army. It is determined to further expand the people's army, add more formations, expand and add more guerrilla fronts and increase the number of activists, Party members and Party branches in the localities.

"Our movement continues to grow and gain strength under the guidance of the higher organs and the unmitigated revolutionary vigor of the masses in the guerrilla fronts. The upsurge of the mass movement and the initial salvos fired by guerrilla units signal even bigger upsurges in the years ahead."

07 January 2004
English Edition

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