Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey! (Isaiah 10:1-2)

The Christians for National Liberation (CNL) recalls the evil of Martial Law as about a fascist and dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr—as then chief representative of the local ruling class and US puppet—who wrought havoc on the lives of the Filipino people and wantonly exacted unjust laws at the expense of the poor and the needy, but was dethroned by the masses of people through the popular EDSA People Uprising 37 years ago. It was for millions of Filipino people, particularly for those thousands of activists, human rights defenders and revolutionaries who suffered from the hands of those who swore to protect the people, when the darkest years of evil reigned supreme.

CNL was born during the most turbulent, brutal, and repressive Marcos Sr dictatorial regime. It had to go underground in 1972 with priests, religious nuns and brothers, and lay leaders who joined the armed resistance in the countryside.

As CNL commemorates the 51 years of the proclamation of Martial Law, it denounces the evil of the current fascist president Ferdinand Marcos Jr who is no different from his father and all his predecessors. All of them are harbingers of the “bourgeoisie reign or class dictatorship”.

At present, tyranny remains unabated. Human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law in the name of the “war on drugs” and “counter terrorism” continue. Corruption in the bureaucracy and malgovernance persist. Bureaucrat capitalism prevails.

The Marcos Jr regime has even become more subservient to its US imperialist master while worshipping China at the same time. Marcos Jr adheres to neoliberal policies to keep the economy stunted and backward. As a result, the people face never ending crisis, massive poverty and absence of access to basic social services left at the hand of the private sectors.

While CNL understands that the fascist Marcos Jr regime and all other states for that matter is “an organ of class rule, an organ for the oppression of one class by another,” it shall continue to proclaim and support the supreme rule of the proletariat, the revolutionary class for itself and for other exploited people, and as socialism being the transition period before communism.

The contradiction between the social character of production and the private mode of appropriation under monopoly capitalism translates into brazen violations of people’s rights under semi-feudal, semi-colonial conditions.

A life of dignity can only be possible when the proletariat as the most advanced productive force seizes leadership, and the exploitation of productive forces—the people, the workers—ceases. The private ownership of the means of production is replaced by socialized appropriation. When labor is no longer a commodity, the people enjoy a life that develops both their mental and physical skills.

The 50th Anniversary statement of the Christians for National Liberation has this part to remind us:

For us revolutionary Christians, socialism is abundant life for everybody while communism is “new heaven and earth.” Lo and behold, we await with expectancy while at work for the dawn of a new age where socialism is set forth, where imperialism, bureaucratic capitalism and feudalism are smashed and life abundant amongst peoples and nations triumphs.

Such is CNL’s vision and commitment that must be translated into concrete actions of arousing, organizing and mobilizing Christians and church people to actively carry forward the national democratic revolution with socialist perspective to victory.

Long live the Christians for National Liberation!

Long live the Communist Party of the Philippines!

Long live the National Democratic Front of the Philippines!

Long live the New People’s Army!