TRIBUTE of the Christians for National Liberation (CNL)
BISHOP ANTONIO Y. FORTICH: A DEAR FRIEND AND COMRADE OF THE REVOLUTIONARY MASSES

Christians for National Liberation
July 13, 2003

The Christians for National Liberation (CNL) conveys warmest revolutionary tribute to Bishop Antonio Y. Fortich, a dear friend and comrade of the revolutionary masses. At best, Bishop Fortich exemplified that the legacy of Christ -- the Church preferential option for the poor, is the way of making the gospel alive especially in the context of Negros where he denounced the extreme wealth of the few and extreme poverty of the majority. As a resolute advocate of human rights, defender of the poor and promoter of social justice, he became an enemy of the oppressive landlords and fascists. In January 1985, the Bishop's house was even burned by those who were threatened by his principles. But no amount of threats and killings weakened the Bishop's resolve to fulfill his mission.

The life of Bishop Fortich as an activist began since the turbulent years of the 1960s, when the extreme poverty and injustice in the Philippines' sugar island of Negros deeply affected and compelled the Bishop to make his moral and political stance public. The good Bishop asserted that, "...the position and appeals which I have here stated may sound revolutionary to some, it is not so; I merely reiterate the clear teaching of the Church and reflect the expectation and the right of every working man and woman in this diocese to a better life. Let no one be afraid of change or reform, they are needed so that justice and love may permeate our society and the blessings of prosperity, happiness and peace may be bestowed abundantly upon the people of God."

CNL has been at the forefront of the struggle to promote the interests of the poor, defend human rights and to oppose large-scale militarization in the countryside and all forms of state fascism. Thus, CNL regards the exemplary life of Bishop Fortich as a timeless inspiration and challenge for all Christians to take up the cause of the exploited and oppressed classes as he did so.

CNL has defended the justness of the armed struggle as the principal and decisive form of struggle to liberate the Filipino people from the chronic ills of feudalism, imperialism and bureaucrat capitalism. CNL hopes, as Bishop Fortich hoped, that the toiling peasants and workers of Negros and the whole country will enjoy genuine land reform, humane working conditions and peace based on justice.

Bishop Fortich will be missed by his many friends and comrades in the revolutionary movement. In the face of brutal state fascism, feudal oppression and imperialist domination in Negros and the whole country, his life as a revolutionary Christian who faithfully prayed, spoke and acted for the fundamental rights and interests of the poor is a precious contribution for the advancement of the people's revolutionary struggle.

CNL therefore calls on every Christian today to carry on the prophetic mission lived out by Bishop Fortich in service of the people's democratic revolution.

The Christians for National Liberation (CNL) is the underground political organization of Christians committed to the new democratic revolution to build a just, sovereign, democratic and progressive Philippine society. CNL is an allied organization of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). ###

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