PRESS RELEASE
Information Bureau
Communist Party of the Philippines

CPP expresses deep sympathies to tsunami victims
January 4, 2005

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today released the following statement expressing its deepest sympathies for the victims of the December 26, 2004 tsunami that hit coastal communities in countries surrounding the Indian Ocean.

In behalf of the Filipino people and revolutionary forces, the leadership and entire membership of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) extends its deepest sympathies to the people of Aceh, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Somalia and other countries who suffered big losses as a result of the December 26 tsunamis.

Ten days after the tsunamis, more than 150,000 are estimated to have died. Most of the victims are poor fisherfolk who live and work along coastal communities.

We enjoin the Filipino people to extend whatever form of assistance they could to the victims of the tsunamis.

The massive loss of lives could have been avoided considering that methods and technology for detecting tsunamis are inexpensive and have been widely available as early as fifty years ago. In the final analysis, it is the governments that failed to set up such devices that are responsible for the hundreds of thousands of deaths. It reflects their complete disregard for the welfare of the people in poor coastal communities.

In the face of this great tragedy, the imperialist US government exhibited its disregard for the victims of the tsunamis by initially allotting a measly $18 million, a drop in the bucket of the US budget to fund its war against Iraq. It has belatedly raised this to $350 million after the international community raised a howl of protest.

In stark contrast, communists and revolutionary forces promptly carried out efforts and extended all they could to assist the survivors of the tragedy by coordinating relief operations and rehabilitation work, and working with international civilian relief agencies.