The Filipino people are angry and rightly so. The Commission on Elections, representative of the current political system, has failed them once again by facilitating a possible return of the Marcos family into the highest position in the land. Though not totally surprising, it is a betrayal so great and blatant that the people are prepared to take more radical actions to ensure that this will not proceed.

The Cordillera People’s Democratic Front (CPDF) thus pledges to unite with the rest of the Filipino nation in preventing another regime of Marcos brand of greed, tyranny and fascism. The right to elect leaders is of utmost importance for the people in a democratic society, even in a country where the democratic forces of peasants and workers are constantly undermined. The CPDF supports the people’s call for electoral integrity, albeit in a process already historically steeped in inequality, fraud and violence. The Comelec must be held accountable and the electoral results should reflect the genuine will of the people.

A Marcos win will not stop at six years and the Filipino people must do everything to completely disable them from seeking power once again. Cordillera is both witness and victim to the greed and brutality of the Marcos family. It was during the senior Marcos’ dictatorial rule when the Chico River was targeted to become a megadam to serve the rapacity of Ferdie, Meldy, their progenies and their cronies. Also, during his term, Cellophil Resources Corporation almost denuded 200,000 hectares of mostly Tingguian territory. In the process of defending ancestral lands, Macliing Dulag and many other defenders of indigenous and peasant rights were killed by state forces. The Kaigorotan remembers.

Electoral fraud and the Comelec’s refusal to concretely address the issues sharpens the difference between reform and revolution. Any change controlled by the ruling class, such as electoral ones, will certainly fall short of the people’s expectations and needs. If anything, the elite and powerful uses this season for their own power-shuffling and position-shifting. Meanwhile, it becomes ever clearer that armed revolution is the only way towards genuine societal changes. The Filipino people should take courage in the fact that despite disenfranchisement, violence and deception miring the elections, there is always an armed revolution in the countryside. Here, democracy is exercised not every three years, but in every day of waging a war for the sake of the oppressed and exploited masses. ###

Fight for genuine democracy! Reject a Marcos-Duterte administration!
Kaigorotan, makikaykaysa iti intero nga umili a Pilipino! Labanan ti panagsubli dagiti Marcos!
Advance the people’s war! Join the New People’s Army!