On the widespread clamor for the ouster of the Arroyo regime

Communist Party of the Philippines
May 03, 2005

From the standpoint of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the revolutionary masses, the most effective alternative to the reactionary state currently headed by Gloria Arroyo is the people's democratic government being vigorously built in the countryside with the people's democratic mass organizations as its foundation.

This is comprised of representative committees elected by the people and tasked to carry out programs that address the people's economic, health, education, cultural and security needs. It gives free rein to people's democracy by directly mobilizing the masses in land reform campaigns, literacy programs and medical services, among others.

Compared to the reactionary state that is isolated and extremely hated by the people, the revolutionary people's democratic government is well-loved and wholeheartedly supported by the people whose interests it represents and upholds.

Today, the democratic people's government exists in its basic form. Upon the victory of people's war, the democratic people's government will be established nationwide through a National People's Congress that will enact laws upholding Philippine national sovereignty, carry out genuine land reform and national industrial development, firmly establish people's democracy and vigorously advance socialism.

Before the victory of people's war, the rotten ruling system will be wracked by an ever-worsening crisis and by one political upheaval after another demanding the ouster of the reactionary regime in power. The current widespread clamor to oust the Arroyo regime that emanates from various civilian and military, mass-based and elite forces reflect the intensity of the political crisis besetting the ruling system.

The demand to overthrow the Arroyo regime is just and urgent. It is a reflection of the Filipino people's widespread disgust over the rapid deterioration of their quality of life in the past several years under the corrupt, puppet and militarist Arroyo regime.

Ousting Arroyo from Malacanang is the only just course considering the long list of crimes she has committed against the Filipino people in the name of neoliberalism and the Bush-inspired "anti-terrorism" dogma.

The Arroyo regime's ouster can be achieved through the formation of a broad united front that would include anti-Arroyo reactionary forces. These forces can agree to coordinate mass mobilizations, encourage military and civilian officers to abandon the Arroyo camp and keep military and police officers from usurping political power. One form or another of governmental authority can be established upon the concurrence of the various positive forces comprising this united front.

Should this new governmental authority be established, the people must vigorously call upon it to carry out measures that will address their most urgent demands, which the Arroyo regime refused to heed. They can demand a stop to oil price increases, the servicing of onerous and anomalous foreign debts, US military intervention and the murders of democratic leaders and activists. They can demand the immediate implementation of the long-overdue increase in the minimum wage nationwide.

But though the Filipino people may expect this governmental authority to address a number of their most urgent democratic demands, the oppressed and exploited masses should work harder and look further beyond the ouster of the Arroyo regime or any other reactionary regime for that matter.

They should be aware of the fact that as long as the fascist armed forces of the ruling exploitative and oppressive classes remain as the dominant armed force, any form of government that will be established will continue to be subservient to US imperialist interests and serve as an instrument of the joint class dictatorship of the big bourgeois compradors and big landlords.

Only through protracted people's war can the people smash the armed instruments of reactionary rule in the Philippines and fully achieve their democratic aspirations.

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