MIM Notes 187 June 1 1999

Filipinos stand fast against imperialist 
hegemony

The u$-puppet Government of the Republic of the 
Philippines (GRP) continues to sabotage 
negotiations with the revolutionary National 
Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) 
because of its blatant human rights violations, 
its disregard for Philippine sovereignty, and 
its demand that the NDFP capitulate before talks 
can continue.

The first of the two press releases from the 
NDFP negotiating panel reprinted below details 
how the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) turns 
the Philippines over to u$ troops and hence 
violates the framework for negotiations between 
the GRP and the NDFP. The second describes how 
the GRP ignores agreements it has signed 
regarding human rights and international 
humanitarian law.

The New People's Army, let by the Communist 
Party of the Philippines, has been waging a 
successful protracted people's war in the 
Philippines for 30 years. People's war is 
necessary because the local reactionaries and 
their imperialist backers resort to fascist 
suppression and violence to maintain a corrupt 
and exploitative status quo. Together with the 
NDFP, of which it is a part, the New People's 
Army is building an independent, democratic 
government in the countryside - a government 
which truly serves the Filipino people, for 
example by implementing genuine agrarian reform.

In the recent negotiations, the NDFP has 
preserved its independence and initiative and 
refused to accept capitulation as a precondition 
to talks.

For more information about the revolutionary 
movement in the Philippines, check out the 
pamphlet "Support the National Democratic Front 
of the Philippines!" ($1 from the address on 
page 2.)