Revolutionary and progressive scientists, engineers, technologists, professionals, and youth students in the science and technology sector celebrated the 50th anniversary of Liga ng Agham para sa Bayan (LAB, or League of Science for the People). LAB was founded on December 26, 1975 to unite the science and technology sector to act and support the people’s democratic revolution.

Brief history of LAB

LAB was founded by members of Progresibong Samahan sa Inhinyerya at Agham (Progressive Association in Engineering and Science) and Samahan ng Makabayang Syentipiko (Association of Patriotic Scientists). It joined the struggle against the US-Marcos dictatorship. LAB expanded among professionals in science and technology and responded to the needs of the revolution. These included rapid reproduction of publications, encryption protocols for secure communication, and even military equipment such as explosives.

It weakened in the late 1980s after being affected by revisionism and sectarianism that prevailed throughout the revolutionary movement at that time. Its major errors included sectoralism and legalism. It also neglected expansion and consolidation.

With the entire revolutionary movement, LAB reaffirmed the basic principles of the people’s democratic revolution in the early 1990s. In 1996, it launched its First Congress to rebuild and expand the organization.

In a renewed wave of strengthening, LAB launched the Second Congress on December 12, 2020 defying the restrictions that accompanied the Covid-19 pandemic. It also republished the Agham Bayan newspaper starting in December 2021 and continues to do so at present.

According to LAB, in its five decades of existence it has achieved various successes in organization, participation in the armed struggle, and clarification of issues in science, technology, and their practical use in the revolution. It stated that it currently continues to review its history of struggle to further improve its strengths and rectify shortcomings from past years.

The group reported that it invigorated support for the NPA—from gathering financial and material support for several units. LAB responded to technical requests from various guerrilla fronts and expanded its membership who immerse in the people’s war in the countryside, take tours of duty, and join the people’s army.

“In spite of these successes, conservatism remains within LAB,” LAB spokesperson Ka Trinidad Ramirez said in the organization’s anniversary statement. She said that the past years have shown that timely and deep social investigation and class analysis of the issues faced by the masses of scientists, engineers, and professionals are key to solving this problem.

Immediate tasks

LAB laid out eight immediate tasks for its continued strengthening. “In the spirit of the current rectification movement, we must review our revolutionary organization’s central tasks,” Ka Trinidad said.

The following are its outlined tasks:

1. Arouse, organize, and mobilize the science and technology sector for the national-democratic revolution.
2. Conduct revolutionary propaganda: link the problems of the masses and the sector to the national-democratic revolution.
3. Expand the membership of LAB chapters.
4. Promote, participate in, and provide technical service support for advancing agrarian revolution, armed struggle, and mass base building.
5. Help in developing and propagating a scientific and mass-oriented culture. Struggle for the advancement of democratic and pro-people science and technology.
6. Advance the rights and welfare of the science and technology sector while linking sectoral issues and concerns to the problems and issues of the broader masses.
7. Coordinate with revolutionary and progressive forces in other countries and unite with their democratic and anti-imperialist struggles. Gain the widest possible support for the Philippine revolution.
8. Ensure continuous reorientation of LAB members toward deep grasp of revolutionary principles and actual participation in the practice of the people’s democratic revolution. Ensure that scientists and technologists always maintain close ties with the working class.

“Let us draw lessons from the five decades of existence of LAB and the struggle of revolutionary scientists and technologists in it,” Ka Trinidad urged. She also encouraged group members to be daring in recruiting members, mobilizing in both legal and underground work, and maximizing members’ strengths and skills.

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the Communist Party of the Philippines extended their greetings and salute to LAB on its golden anniversary.

In joining LAB’s anniversary, the Party reaffirmed its highest recognition and appreciation of science and scientific thinking as key to all its endeavors. “The Party upholds the ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, a complete system of thought, to study history and society with scientific precision,” Party information officer Marco L. Valbuena said.

“Like you science adherents, the Party uses science in analysis, always starting with data collection, to describe the concrete situation of class society, uncover the laws of contradiction, and act on what must be done to achieve revolutionary change,” Valbuena added.

The full statements of Ka Trinidad, NDFP Secretary General Elias Dipasupil, and Marco Valbuena for the 50th anniversary of LAB are available for reading in the special issue of Agham Bayan this December. Marking its anniversary, the organization published the document The State of Science and Technology in the Philippines, which analyzes the state of science and technology within the context of the semi-colonial and semi-feudal Philippine society.