MIM Notes 229                   March 1, 2001

RAIL and MIM show new film about Filipinos' struggle for land

On January 25, RAIL and MIM showed ITAL Land for the Masses END to 
over 50 people at a university in Boston. One of the filmmakers 
introduced the film and led a discussion afterwards. The film 
documents the conflict between capitalist land-grabbers and the 
people of Hacienda Looc, a village south of Manila. The villagers 
of Hacienda Looc are fighting against developers and the 
Philippine government for control of their land. Foreign 
developers and local reactionaries want to steal the peasants' 
land to build a large golf course and resort, which will serve as 
a playground for wealthy Filipinos and foreign tourists. As a 
result, villagers will loose the land that they live on and farm 
for subsistence. Most peasants will be forced into low paying 
service jobs and many worry that young village women will be 
forced into prostitution as a means of survival.

The documentary shows interviews with local activists who work 
with organizations in the National Democratic Front, such as the 
Peasant Movement of the Philippines (a legal organization fighting 
for genuine land reform). The film expands on an earlier 
documentary called ITAL The Golf War END, which also covered the 
struggle of peasants in Hacienda Looc, but is now more than two 
years old. This film is still a work in progress, and RAIL and MIM 
hope to show it again when it is complete.

The filmmaker introduced the film by explaining the three main 
problems in the Philippines: imperialism, bureaucrat capitalism, 
and feudalism. The activist also explained that the broad national 
democratic movement -- which includes legal mass organizations in 
the cities as well as the armed revolutionary movement in the 
countryside -- agrees that these three main problems must be 
eradicated to achieve any kind of real peace and justice for the 
Filipino people.

In the discussion following the film, some attendees wanted to 
hear more details from the film maker about the current political 
situation and the revolutionary movement in the Philippines. Some 
wondered if the ouster of Joseph Estrada would affect the 
peasants. The speaker explained that the (now finalized) ouster of 
Joseph Estrada will not amount to real change for the peasants. 
Only a revolution can accomplish real land reform. The new 
president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroya, will be another puppet for 
u.$. interests.(1)

Founding chairpersyn of the Communist Party of the Philippines, 
Jose Maria Sison, says about the situation, "The crisis is not 
simply due to the corruption and repressiveness of the Estrada 
ruling clique. These are in fact the consequences of the 
imperialist domination. The crisis is due to the fundamentally 
oppressive and exploitative workings of the ruling system of big 
compradors and landlords who are servile to foreign monopoly 
capitalists."

"The evils of this system will continue to inflict suffering on 
the people and incite them to wage all forms of revolutionary 
struggle. The revolutionary forces and people will continue the 
struggle for national liberation and democracy against foreign 
monopoly capitalism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism."(2)

The discussion naturally turned to the armed revolutionary 
movement led by the Communist Party of the Philippines. The 
filmmaker was of the opinion -- and MIM agrees -- that the 
revolutionary movement is the best hope for ending the oppressions 
of feudalism, imperialism, and corrupt capitalism. As one New 
People's Army guerrilla interviewed in ITAL The Golf War END said, 
"Ultimately it would have to come down to armed struggle, because 
that is the only way we can change the whole system, the whole 
structure. We have to seize political power from the ruling 
classes and not lead simply a legal or parliamentary struggle, 
because it would never be resolved by those means - as history has 
proven time and time again."(3)

Several people in the audience asked about organizations fighting 
for the peasants rights who are not communist. There are indeed 
many non-communist organizations in the Philippines and 
internationally who support the struggle for genuine land reform 
(see e.g. 
http://www.geocities.com/kmp_ph/strug/landreform/iffm.html). MIM 
considers such organizations friends and allies of the 
international proletariat. We seek to work with them on common 
causes, and encourage people who are interested in this issue but 
disagree with MIM and RAIL to check them out.

Still, MIM pointed out that the history of the struggle in the 
Philippines demonstrates the necessity of communist leadership to 
end the semi-feudal system. We can look at the failure of the 
ousting of President Marcos to achieve any improvements in 
conditions for the people as a clear example. Changes in 
figureheads will not help the masses; the masses must take 
political power for themselves in order to achieve real change.

Many Filipino students in the audience expressed their support for 
the work that MIM is doing to expose imperialism in the 
Philippines and to support the just struggle of the people in that 
country. During the event MIM distributed a petition 
(http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/cal/LoocPetition.pdf) in 
support of the peasant's struggle in Hacienda Looc and encouraged 
people to work with us to gather signatures and educate more 
people about this battle.

At a showing of the film in Los Angeles, Puerto Rican independence 
activists exclaimed that the film reminded them of struggles in 
their own country. Likewise, when a RAIL activist was putting up 
posters for the Boston event, a Haitian woman asked what it was 
about and when told replied that it sounded like struggles in her 
home country, and asked if she could have a flier. Indeed, the 
land problem is not specific to the Philippines. The largest 
social class in the world is still the peasantry, concentrated in 
Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Notes:

1. "Mass protests force corrupt Philippine president to step 
down," MIM Notes 228, 15 Feb 2001.

2. Jose Maria Sison, "Congratulations to the Filipino peoople, 
carry the struggle through to the end," 20 Jan 2001.

3. www.golfwar.org.