Central Committee

December 26, 1991

Build and Broaden the Revolutionary United Front!

The party has amplified its strength and expanded its influence by building the united front. The purpose of this united front is to broaden the support for and strengthen the revolutionary armed struggle and the legal democratic movement.

The revolutionary united front cannot exist without the leadership of the working class through the Party and without the basic alliance of the working class and the peasantry as the foundation. The Party branches, the people's army, the peasants' and workers' organizations, and the organs of political power built at the village level are the organized forms of the basic alliance of the working class and the peasantry.

The National Democratic Front has been essentially the underground united front organization of the basic revolutionary forces (i.e., those of the working class, peasantry and urban petty bourgeoisie) under the leadership of the working class through the Party. It is a united front for armed struggle and it serves to pave the way for the establishment of organs of political power, especially at levels higher than that of the village.

There have been proposals and attempts to erase the working class leadership and the leading role of the Party in the united front, to subordinate the Party to a specific formation of the united front and deny the independence and initiative of the Party and its allies and to negate the socialist perspective of the ongoing national democratic revolution.

Rather than try to attract more cooperating organizations within its fold by erasing the class leadership of the working class and the historical initiative of the Party in its formation and by diluting its new democratic program and socialist perspective, the NDF should maintain its character as the most advanced and most consolidated underground united front organization of the basic revolutionary forces under working class leadership and stay committed to the two stages of the Philippine revolution.

It must build its array of underground cooperating organizations, form conferential leading committees of representatives of such organizations and then proceed to invite worthy personalities from various organizations and trends to join the leading committees and commissions at various levels. Rather than have a federation, which subordinates the Party to the united front and runs counter to the principle of independence and initiative in the united front and which puts the Party and the NDF leadership on a potential collision course, the relations of cooperating organizations within the NDF framework should be consultative and consensual as should be the case in a united front.

In the legal democratic movement, there are sectoral and multisectoral alliances which take a patriotic and progressive stand on issues. These include mostly organizations of workers, peasants and the urban petty bourgeois. They have been effective in raising the political consciousness of the broad masses of the people in the entire country.

The national bourgeoisie is one of the positive forces, which include the basic revolutionary forces. But this stratum in the Philippines has a dual character; it has a progressive aspect being progressive as well as a reactionary aspect and it is weak and vacillating, especially because it does not own basic industries in the specific case of the Philippines. It has articulate spokesmen but no strong organization of its own.

The members of this stratum are in certain businessmen's organizations together with the big compradors and the representatives of multinational firms. However, the national bourgeoisie cooperate with the revolutionary movement in areas where it is strong or when progressive political currents are strong as during the antifascist and anti-imperialist struggle against the U.S.-Marcos regime in 1983-86.

The concept and reality of the united front can extend to a formal or informal alliance of the revolutionary forces with sections of the reactionary classes. We have had extensive experience in dealing with local officials of the reactionary government and enlightened landlords and businessmen who comply with the laws of the people's government on land reform, wages, business, taxation and so on. They have also cooperated with us in mass actions, elections and other events. In the 1983-86 antifascist movement, anti-Marcos reactionaries at all levels allied themselves with us, especially before they could secure full U.S. support.

To take advantage of the splits among the reactionaries is to be able to isolate and defeat the most reactionary faction at a given time. The policy of the Party is to fight and defeat one reactionary faction after another and in the process strengthen the revolutionary movement.

When we have reactionary allies, we must describe them as such to the Party rank and file and explain to them that these are unstable and unreliable allies so that there can be no confusion. We must neither lump them together with the petty bourgeoisie and the middle bourgeoisie under the category of "bourgeois reformists" nor describe any big comprador-landlord political party or regime as "liberal democratic". Errors have occurred in this regard.

The legal democratic movement based in the urban areas is of indispensable and great importance. As a matter of fact, this movement through its pronouncements and mass actions reaches and inspires people beyond those that the Party, the NPA and the NDF can reach directly at any given time. When we describe the legal form of struggle as secondary to the armed form of struggle, we are clearly addressing the question of smashing the bureaucratic and military machinery of the reactionary state and seizing political power. In this connection, the legal and defensive character of the democratic mass movement in the urban areas must be respected and must not be prejudiced. We should not give the reactionaries the excuse to smash it.

The organizations of the toiling masses of workers and peasants and the middle social strata are of great importance. We can wage all forms of legal struggle effectively if, in the first place, there is solid mass organizing at the basic level. Through the mass organizations, it is possible to mobilize more people and launch all kinds of democratic action in their places of work, communities, in halls, in the streets and in the premises of official structures or offices of the reactionary government.

We can build Party units within all kinds of legal organizations, including the reactionary organizations and institutions. Without being publicly known as such, these Party units can utilize the legal processes to promote patriotic and progressive ideas and forces. But bourgeois elections, particularly those previously staged by the Marcos fascist regime in 1978 and 1986, have been the occasions for heated debates on whether to "participate" in them or "boycott" them. In this regard, the question properly is: Can the Party utilize the process through Party cadres who are not publicly known as such and allies who take a patriotic and progressive stand?

Regarding these elections, the Party can correctly call them farces as a whole and in essence. At the same time, the Party undertakes measures to use these to promote the national democratic line and encourage progressive parties and candidates. This is in the exercise of revolutionary dual tactics to counter the counterrevolutionary dual tactics of the enemy.

The boycott error of 1986 was a major sectarian error separating the advanced section of the masses from the middle and backward sections of the antifascist mass movement and imposing the Party's puristic will on the legal progressive mass organizations for the duration of the electoral campaign period of December 1985 to February 7, 1986. The boycott decision of 1978, which practically remained unimplemented, was another major error insofar as it led to developments divisive among cadres and damaging to the Party organization.

Principal cadres of the national capital region refused to carry out the decision and were subjected to disciplinary measures. Worse, the Manila-Rizal regional and district Party committees were not properly reorganized and practically went into shambles. The upsurge of the urban mass movement, which was possible from 1978 onward, could not be realized until the 1983-86 period.

There are honest elements who criticize the errors of the Party involving electoral exercises staged by the reactionaries. But there are other elements who have overdrawn the boycott error of 1986 in order to promote a line of urban armed insurrection that is opposed to or subordinates the entire people's war to armed urban insurrection and to cover up the far more disastrous consequences of this erroneous line, which started to become clear in 1984 and extremely devastating from 1985 onward in one major island.

With regard to the forthcoming bourgeois elections, the Party describes them as farcical on the whole and in essence because these are controlled and monopolized by the political parties and agents of the exploiting classes. At the same time, we encourage and favor the most patriotic and progressive candidates in accordance with the revolutionary united front. We require all political parties and candidates to get safe conduct passes from the revolutionary forces before they can go into any area controlled by the revolutionary forces.

Since 1986, the question of peace negotiations has assumed a significance unseen in previous years of the Party. We have to learn lessons from the preceasefire talks and ceasefire agreement in 1986 and 1987. To this date, the enemy has clearly shown by his framework and actions that he wants the revolutionary forces to capitulate to his rule, his constitution and his armed forces; to split the revolutionary movement; and to surveil and attack the movement.

The NDF have clearly stated its willingness to negotiate with the reactionary government at the national bilateral level and in a proper venue abroad; and has presented the framework and strategic line for a just and lasting peace. These conform to the people's demand for national liberation and democracy. The refusal of the enemy to negotiate with the NDF can only mean that the revolutionary forces need to fight harder and win more victories in order to change the balance of forces. The question of peace talks should not be allowed to undermine our revolutionary will to fight.

The duly-authorized representatives of the NDF have repeatedly met abroad in Europe and Hongkong with officials of the Manila government on an informal and preliminary basis regarding the question of peace talks since 1990. But Aquino has so far failed to formally reply to the September 20, 1990 letter of the NDF national chairman offering a new round of bilateral peace talks, with the U.N. secretary general as an intermediary.

Since 1991, the European Parliament in a resolution has called for peace negotiations between the NDF and the Manila government and the Swiss government has offered to both sides its good offices and Geneva as venue for the peace talks. But the reactionary government has been intransigent. It has also repeatedly frustrated the urgings of peace advocates in the Philippines and abroad for the start of a peace process.

All revolutionary forces at all levels have correctly and strongly rebuffed the calls of the Aquino regime and the reactionary armed forces for localized dialogues, localized ceasefires and localized surrenders, with revolutionary statements and actions. They have called on the local officials of the reactionary government and military and police forces to surrender to the revolutionary movement or to make a common front against the regime seated in Manila. Uphold Democratic Centralism and Revive Basic Party Life!

The Party is a nationwide organization and is deeply rooted among the toiling masses. It has a few tens of thousands of members and thousands of cadres. It is supported by a far greater number of mass activists in the organizations of workers, peasants, women, youth, professionals and so on.

The organizational principle of the Party is democratic centralism. This means centralized leadership based on democracy and democracy guided by centralized leadership. There is a body of basic revolutionary principles to which all Party members must adhere. And there are the basic conditions and processes by which decisions and discussions are made democratically within the Party structure. These are thoroughly made clear in the Party Constitution.

A correct style of work is also demanded of all Party members. This involves adhering to the principle and practice of democratic centralism, belonging to a basic Party unit and performing basic tasks and functions, being closely linked with the masses and making criticism and self-criticism in order to improve work, rectify errors and strengthen the unity of the Party.

The overwhelming majority of Party members are dedicated and hardworking. But there are certain problems which we have to face up to in order to stop any trend of decreasing or stagnating Party membership anywhere so that we can perform the gigantic tasks in the revolution.

If there is any erroneous line that has resulted in the reduction of our mass base, we must do away with that line. Without an expanding mass base, we have nothing to consolidate and we become unfit to lead the revolution. A key point in consolidation is the recruitment of the advanced elements in the mass movement to the Party within the period of candidature made clear by the Party Constitution.

We have to increase our Party membership and strengthen basic Party life ideologically, politically and organizationally. We must build the Party branches and groups at the grassroots level in both urban and rural areas.

It is wrong to concentrate the majority of our Party cadres and members in urban-based staff organs, in Party groups above the grassroots level (even if these are in mass organizations) and in topheavy military staff organs in the countryside. The so-called regularization is bureaucratization which prevents a huge number of our Party cadres and members from doing mass work and having a basic Party life at the grassroots level.

Overnight we can further strengthen the Party and the mass movement in the local communities if we redeploy the Party cadres and members in the staff organs and let them attend to basic work at the grassroots level. Every Party member must belong to a basic Party branch. No Party cadre of whatever rank is exempt from membership in a basic Party unit. This is clear in the Party Constitution.

We must also stop the practice of recruiting advanced elements in the mass movement only to employ them as staffers and not developing them to become fullfledged Party members within the period of candidature set by the Constitution.

The source and base of bureaucratism is the accumulation of Party cadres and members in higher staff organs and their alienation from mass work and basic Party life at the grassroots level. Lower organs and basic units are depleted of Party cadres. And then the wrong attitude arises that no one in these lower organs or units can represent them in higher organs. Thus, there is the phenomenon of the one-person layer of authority, the "political officer" abolished in 1986 but persisting as the appointive "secretary" who acts as a top-down representative of the higher organ to the lower organ and whose best argument is either the supposed command from above or his interpretation of the decision of the higher organ.

The most dangerous, most costly and most absurd situation has arisen, with the basing and proliferation of staff organs in urban areas, the concentration of cadres in these staff organs and the mixing and frequent contacts of cadres who are in the enemy's manhunt list with surveilled former political detainees and with legal personalities of the legal mass movement (who are themselves the subject of enemy surveillance).

The illusion that the staff organs have to be "positioned" in the urban areas in anticipation of "sudden shifts" in the situation that would bring about the opportunity for armed urban insurrection must be cast away. The staff organs must be streamlined so as to release cadres for work in the countryside and at the grassroots level. This must be done before the enemy "streamlines" them out of existence. All cadres in the enemy manhunt list must be redeployed to the countryside. Staff organs that are appropriate to the countryside must be shifted. In the countryside itself, top-heavy military staff organs must also be streamlined to release cadres for work with the masses.

It is wrong to set up the straw figure that the Party has neglected urban work and to encourage Party cadres to stick to the cities and discourage them from going to the countryside. The peasant masses and the countryside cannot by themselves produce certain types of well-educated cadres, with ideological, political, professional and technical competence, required for the revolutionary work in the countryside.

The enemy has obviously surveilled the urban-based staff organs for long periods of time and has repeatedly hit these with precision raids and arrests. It now plans to launch a crackdown on these urban-based organs before May 1992. Since 1989, as a result of the 1988 arrests, the Party has issued comprehensive and detailed security guidelines. But these have been complied with only in a token and passing manner. The most absurd was the continued basing of the NPA general command in Metro Manila despite enemy actions in 1988 and onward.

Leading territorial organs as well as staff organs characteristically generate overly long meetings, debates and papers. Oftentimes, the presiding officer is a mere moderator and not a leader. There is no lack of discussion within these organs. Meetings on administrative and procedural matters eat so much time that no time is left for study or work. The disease of bureaucratism arises from the lack or inadequacy of basic Party life and the exaggeration of the top-down administrative structure, especially through the staff organs.

Bureaucratism has begotten ultrademocracy. In the long periods of noncontact with the leading territorial organs, staff organs acquire excessive discretion and authority and improperly issue policy directives, make major decisions and implement them without passing through the leading territorial organs to which these staff organs are subordinate and which they are supposed to assist. The leading territorial organs are made to chase after unauthorized acts, errors and debates of staff organs with other staff organs and even with some leading territorial committees.

When it suits them, certain staff organs invoke compartmentalization to shut off for long periods of time not only other staff organs but even the leading territorial committee of which they are mere appointive derivatives. Thus, there are unhealthy tendencies of "several centers", independent kingdoms and ultrademocracy.

There are staff organs and individuals that issue publications questioning and attacking the line of the Party. They are engaged in ultrademocracy or liberalism. They wish to turn the Party into a liberal debating club and ape the modern revisionists and anticommunists that have destroyed the revisionist ruling parties and regimes from the inside. They act as if the Party had no basic principles to uphold and were not in a life-and-death struggle with the enemy.

Any revolutionary party or any organization for that matter is bound to degenerate or disintegrate when it allows its members to cast doubt on, denigrate, revise and attack its basic principles and line. We have seen entire revisionist-ruled states and entire revisionist parties go this way. We still have to see a declared communist remaining as a member of good standing in any bourgeois party or a declared atheist remaining a member of the Catholic Church.

There are a handful of elements who are either unreconstructed petty bourgeois or with petty bourgeois tails whose idea of democracy is to be able to do away with the leading role of the working class and the Party in the new democratic revolution and other basic principles, including democratic centralism. They promote the theory of spontaneous masses, especially in connection with insurrectionism. And they are falling into an anti-Party conjuncture with petty-bourgeois populists, liberals, "social-democrats", "democratic socialists", pacifists, advocates of pacification, Trotskyites and the like. The Party must uphold democratic centralism. Inner Party democracy must be given free rein under the guidance of the basic principles of the Party and within the structure and confines of the Party and especially through an all-rounded basic Party life. There are both discipline and freedom within the Party. The Party does not allow any individual to enter the Party to attack its basic principles and general line and even use the personnel, facilities and resources of the Party against the Party. The Party is so guided by democracy that it recruits its members on a conscious voluntary individual basis and at the same time allows anyone to quit the Party when he can no longer accept its basic principles.

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