The revolutionary organization of overseas Filipinos in the region, COMPATRIOTS Asia-Pacific, is celebrating, together with the rest of the Filipino people, the 55-year anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines. We hail the continued struggle of the Filipino proletariat and people for national and social liberation and aspire for its socialist future.

We extol the CPP for its unwavering leadership in the national democratic revolution with socialist perspective that gives overseas Filipinos hope for a homeland where we shall not be exported as commodities. The CPP is the guiding star that lights the path for the revolution to finally take us home.

We salute and pay the highest tribute to the martyrs of the CPP and the revolution. We are continually inspired by their sacrifice to work painstakingly to gather the participation of the biggest number of overseas Filipinos and our families back home to the revolution.

The interests of Filipino workers and other democratic classes abroad are the same as the aspirations of workers, peasants, and other toiling masses back home. We toil outside the country to provide food and necessities for our families, as jobs back home do not exist, and wages are so measly that they cannot sustain our families. Workers’ wages across the country ranging from ₱341 to ₱610 are scandalously insufficient for the daily needs of a family. Yet capitalists and employers continue to rake in tremendous amounts of profits, ensured by the corrupt Marcos Jr. regime.

Many of us are of peasant background, and we are too well aware of the pains of losing our lands to the big landlords in the countryside. Estimates peg around 620 thousand hectares of irrigated agricultural land being converted over the past decade, leaving hundreds of thousands of peasants and their families without land to till, leading to greater hunger, impoverishment, and displacement.

But in the places where we work, the same exploitative work conditions beset us; with our labor power exploited, our work areas have slave-like conditions, and not a few return home in coffins. Many destination countries for compatriots are now facing severe economic crises with no way out. The US economy contracted to just 2.1% growth, with more than $33 trillion in debt. The EU, particularly Germany is in recession, with UK and France tittering on the edge of a recession. Japan continues to be in prolonged stagnation, with just 1.03% growth in 2022. Global debt now stands at $397 trillion in the 1st quarter of 2023, and the bleak economic outlook and the rising threat of the flames of war engulfing many parts of the world will mean our jobs and lives will be at further risk.

The US continues its aggressive moves in the Asia Pacific to counter the control and influence of its rival, China. It pushes for expansion of bases and greater military cooperation with allies such as Australia – through QUAD and AUKUS – as its rivalry with China intensifies.

Meanwhile, the global crisis further puts pressure to the domestic economy of countries like the Philippines. Economic hardships are compounded by intense fascist attacks against the people who dare call and act for change. The puppet US-Marcos Jr. regime uses all weapons in its disposal – including a huge disinformation machinery – to intensify corruption, power and resource grab by the ruling elite, militarism of cities and countrysides, and all-out violations of the people’s rights.

Labor export is in an upswing as more and more are forced to desperation. Though working abroad allows us to earn more compared to those back home, it is all but temporary as prices back home continue to rise, as the chronic crisis of an agrarian, pre-industrial, and semi-feudal economy erodes whatever savings we have.

The only sustainable path for us, our families, and the rest of the Filipino people is national and social liberation against Imperialism, Feudalism, and Bureaucrat Capitalism. We must break free from the clutches of US imperialism in order to establish national industries that serve and cater to the needs and aspirations of workers and the rest of Filipino people. The implementation of revolutionary land reform that breaks the power of the big landlords in the countryside will provide land to the tillers, release the full potential and energy of peasants and raise their economic status. Democracy for the majority versus the few exploiters must be made a reality in order for the voices and needs of the Filipino people be dominant in society.

Only through the people’s democratic revolution led by the Communist Party of the Philippines can we fundamentally resolve the roots of forced migration of the Filipino compatriots. We, revolutionary overseas Filipinos in COMPATRIOTS Asia Pacific shall continue to march forward with the rest of the Filipino people, under the leadership of the CPP, towards our dream of a truly free, just, progressive, and peaceful motherland.

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