Marcos Jr. and his minions really have a very low opinion of the Filipino people. Do they really think that the peasant masses and the people will abandon their revolution that has championed their interests for decades just for mere promises of amnesty? Do they believe that they will succeed in uprooting the revolution just by offering some ‘benefits and assistance’ for those who will ‘return to the government fold’? Well, they are absolutely mistaken.

The reactionary government’s word and promises have long lost its value among the peasantry. After being endlessly enslaved by oppression and exploitation in the current system, they no longer recognize the authority of the reactionary government. In their eyes, the only government and party that is capable of advocating their interests and lead them toward genuine development is the Communist Party of the Philippines. Because of the revolutionary movement, numerous communities in the countryside have benefitted from the agrarian revolution, have improved their capacity to organize and defend themselves and advance programs for the people’s welfare. And what did the peasant masses get from the reactionary government? Starvation, poverty and fascism. And now, they have the gall to extend amnesty after they have killed the masses by starvation and by bullets? This will never be acceptable for Bikolano farmers and the entire peasantry.

In fact, under ECLIP, thousands of Bikolano farmers have already been forced to surrender and were plied with promises of benefits. But none of these actually came true. Instead, the military and police’s fascist terrorism against ordinary citizens worsens. Meanwhile, military and police officials and their bureaucrat accomplices fill themselves up with the funds allocated for the surrender campaign. Billions that should have been allocated for programs that truly address public demands and needs. This is highlighted by the current escalation of the national food crisis. Local agriculture is unreliable because it has long been weakened by pro-foreign and anti-people neoliberal policies.

The masses have no need for mere amnesty. What they clamor for is genuine land reform. The liberation from feudal and semi-feudal exploitation. The freedom from state fascism and class oppression. To be free from slave-like conditions and to be able to live decently and dignifiedly. The masses can never achieve these from the puppet, obdurate and fascist US-Marcos Jr. regime’s amnesty offers. These can only be attained through their steadfast armed struggle and waging the people’s democratic revolution.