The Communist Party of the Philippines and other progressive groups and individuals paid tribute to Dr. Ed­ber­to Vil­le­gas, one of the country’s most fervent patriot, champion of anti-imperialism and revolutionary intellectual. He passed away at the age of 80 after suffering a stroke last September 7. He was among the founding members of the patriotic youth organization Kabataang Makabayan in 1964.

He was a professor of the Univer­sity of the Phi­lip­pi­nes-Manila and De La Sal­le Univer­sity. As a revolutionary intellectual, he fervently criticized the neoliberal policies and programs of World Bank-trained technocrats which perpetuated the country’s backward economic state. He authored several books which exposed the different facets of imperialist oppression and exploitation.