Patnubay de Guia
Spokesperson
National Democratic Front-Southern Tagalog

The reactionary Philippine government is propagating the fake Red October Plot, the latest in its efforts to terrorize the people and vilify the revolutionary movement. The ‘plot’ exposes the prevalence of militarist and fascist forces in the US-Duterte regime, and underlines the regime’s refusal to heed the people’s calls to pursue genuine peace based on social justice.

The Red October Plot, a fantastical tale of how the CPP-CPA -NDF with the reactionary political opposition will oust Rodrigo Duterte in a matter of days, reeks of Ferdinand Marcos’ pre-Martial Law scare tactics. The propagation of this tall tale unmasks the US-Duterte regime as the real obstacle to resolving the roots of armed conflict via the peace negotiations. While the CPP-NPA-NDF pushes for the resumption of talks, the US-Duterte regime blatantly attacks through malicious propaganda and brute military force.

Peddling the Red October Plot as excuse, the regime has red-tagged select schools as hotbeds of rebellion while the mercenary AFP and PNP play up the aggression of the CPP-CPA-NDF in occupying provinces bordering Metro Manila. Members and leaders of local mass organizations of peasants, workers and urban-poor are also targets of the fascist AFP-PNP’s atrocities and human rights violations under Oplan Kapayapaan.

The regime’s false information portrays the CPP-CPA-NDF and the revolutionary movement as instigators of disruptive events aiming to unseat Duterte. This script works on the assumption that the GPH is stable and favored by the people—a big lie, and one that is easily disproved by the declining quality of life in the country and the increasing protests against Duterte and his anti-people policies.

Philippine society has long been mired in instability and unrest, and this is the condition causing the destabilization of the state. The bourgeois state headed by Duterte, controlled by US imperialism and supported by the local ruling class perpetuates the root causes of the country’s social, economic and political crises. The CPP and the NPA, on the other hand, unify with the people, especially with the toiling masses of peasants and workers to fight this oppressive system.

Accusing the CPP-CPA-NDF of authoring the Red October Plot is ultimately an effort to undermine the legitimacy of the revolutionary movement and its victories for the people. The US-Duterte regime’s attacks against all forms of resistance, legal and underground, are thus widespread and becoming more frequent. Here in ST, leaders of peasant groups in Batangas and Mindoro report being followed and intimidated by elements of the military. Wielding the imaginary threat of the Red October Plot, the military gains more power to infiltrate communities and crush resistance.

Fabricated by Duterte’s war-mongering generals and corrupt propagandists, this fictional plot serves to sow fear and create discord among organizations uniting to resist the regime. It is a tool of both diversion and division—a cover-up for Duterte’s failures as head of state, and a cloaked attack against the broad alliance of forces fighting for the people’s rights and democratic interests.

The US-Duterte regime is unraveling as anti-people and a puppet of US imperialism at an accelerated pace. The desperation of the state is undeniable in the proliferation of falsehoods regarding the people’s revolution. As such, activists, vanguards of democracy and revolutionary forces must unite to counter the reactionary government’s propaganda and in particular, unveil the deception behind the Red October Plot. Further, let us persevere in realizing concrete steps to attain genuine peace, and the bring truth of the revolution to the oppressed masses. ###