The Katipunan ng Gurong Makabayan (KAGUMA) extends warmest comradely and revolutionary greetings to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) on the occasion of its 49th anniversary. We join the Filipino people in celebrating the momentous achievements of the NDFP in uniting the broad masses around anti- imperialist, anti-feudal, and anti-fascist struggles to forward the national democratic revolution with a socialist perspective.

Established in 1973 as a revolutionary alliance of underground mass organizations, the NDFP was at the heart of the Filipino people’s heroic struggle against the tyrannical and fascistic US-Marcos dictatorship. Since its founding, the NDFP has served as an invaluable wellspring of revolutionary activists, cadre, and red fighters and provided much-needed moral and material support for the armed struggle being waged in the countryside.

We will always remember all the martyrs and heroes of the revolution who dedicated their lives to forward the people’s democratic revolution. We pay special homage to Ka Fidel Agcaoili, Chairperson of the NDFP Negotiating Panel, and to NDFP peace consultant Ka Julius Giron, who were instrumental in building the revolutionary united front and advancing the work of the NDFP.

KAGUMA was founded in 1971 in the midst of the upsurge of mass struggles joined by tens of thousands of youth and workers against the looming imposition by Ferdinand Marcos Sr. of dictatorial rule. Like other allied organizations under the NDEP born in this period, KAGUMA was underground by the 1972 declaration of martial law as it sought in the face of repression to persist in its revolutionary vision and mission.

KAGUMA in the past five decades continued arousing, organizing, and mobilizing teachers and education workers for their sectoral interests and linking them to the overall revolutionary struggle of the Filipino people, steeling the organization in the struggle against tyranny and state terrorism.

Today, the US-Duterte regime embodies the epitome of the vilest features of corrupt, mendicant, incompetent, and fascist rule that persisted beyond the overthrow of the dictator in 1986. We face the grave threat of the unwanted return of the Marcoses to the Presidential Palace and the extension of Duterte rule on the back of a dastardly campaign of disinformation, red-tagging, fascist intimidation, and massive electoral manipulation.

Yet amid great hardships and repression, a mass movement against the Marcos- Duterte clique has arisen and united with the electoral campaign of the leading opposition candidate. A growing array of political forces now unified in a platform against tyranny is gaining ground and momentum as hundreds of thousands flock to massive campaign rallies and house to house sorties in various parts of the country.

In desperation, the Marcos-Duterte clique has made full use of the state’s repressive machinery to red-tag and intensify fascist attacks not only against progressive parties, organizations, and individuals but even members of the traditional political opposition. They are setting the stage for rigging the election results on a grand scale and conditioning the mind of the public of the inevitability of a Marcos-Duterte win through their fake news mill propagated via the mass media, social media, and commissioned surveys.

But these brazen machinations to perpetuate themselves in power has only sparked the ire of the majority of Filipinos who have pinned their hopes on the electoral exercise as an opportunity to end Duterte’s tyrannical rule and block the full-blown restoration of the Marcoses. The volatile mix of greater repression and the growing political awakening of the broad masses is a fertile ground for drawing more and more people to the fold of the new democratic revolution.

In the face of the worsening crisis of international imperialism and the domestic semi-colonial and semi-feudal system, the big comprador-landlord ruling classes have increasingly resorted to state terrorism to railroad anti-people policies and programs that exploit and oppress the majority of the populace. The steady slide towards fascism will only hasten the realization of the Filipino people of the necessity of carrying forward the national democratic revolution to victory.

We will not be cowed by the increasing tyranny and repression. The broad teachers” mass movement, with KAGUMA at the forefront, will continue the work of strengthening the revolutionary united front and providing crucial support for the armed revolution. In this critical moment, we call for the building of the widest and firmest unity with the broad masses to resist tyranny and state terrorism.

Long live the National Democratic Front of the Philippines!

Long live the Filipino people!

Carry forward the people’s democratic revolution towards complete victory!