Libe PH (2024)

01/06/2022

A ‘Prop’ to Kill
Published on May 21, 2022 in Countercurrent
by Pinky Ang and Priscilla Guzman

Because it does not, cannot, and may never speak the truth, the Duterte regime is engaged in a losing “propaganda war” against the revolutionary forces, the progressives, and other government critics. It cannot win against the revolutionaries because revolutionaries speak of a shared belief and common aspirations with the masses—the twin source of every revolutionary’s truth.

The NTF-ELCAC (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines don’t mind that their “propagandists” wrote 52TH instead of 52nd on anti-CPP tarpaulins posted in strategic locations all over Metro Manila; or “babe” instead of babae (women) in a hastily produced supposed poster of Gabriela Women’s Party they planted among the things they allegedly found in the possession of arrested “members of the New People’s Army;” or, if those photos of NPA “surrenderers” float like ghosts as these were transported from place to place through Photoshop.

That’s the least of their concern. All they want is to prepare the ground—through lies, disinformation, and red-tagging—for the “final kill” of their targeted victims.

This despicable act is a futile attempt to hit two birds with one stone: demonize the revolutionaries and progressives and get away with their crimes, topped by murder.

Neither the people’s concerns over its bungled pandemic response, nor the ballooning debt it has incurred in their name disturb the regime. It doesn’t care about China or the US trampling on our sovereignty; or the peasants’ continuing landlessness; or the workers losing their jobs or earning a non-living daily wage. The regime will never take serious attention to the people’s basic interests and rights. Its prime concern is how to prop up the crumbling semicolonial and semifeudal system and safeguard the lot and loot of the ruling elite.

Much has been said about the NTF-ELCAC and the AFP—the Duterte regime’s vaunted “prop war” instruments. About how vainly they have tried to discredit and demonize the revolutionaries and other concerned Filipinos who perseveringly have served the people and amplified their voices of protest and life-struggle. To the NTF-ELCAC top echelon and its cabal of “spokespersons” anyone who serves the people and questions those who do the people harm is deemed an “enemy of the state”—and worse, a “terrorist”.

And they call this practice as “propaganda” to justify their multi-billion peso budget for fabricating and spreading lies in an “all-out war” against the revolutionary movement and the Filipino people.

“Ignorant twaddle,” that’s how Mao Tse Tung would have dismissed such practice.

“No social investigation, no right to speak”—Mao Tse Tung

To the revolutionaries, a basic tenet of propaganda is that it should be based on facts, or what objectively exists. But it doesn’t stop there. One seeks truth from facts—where the interrelation of events is established by a thorough investigation of the actual conditions and movements in society, within the country and elsewhere.

“We should find the internal relations of the events occurring around us,” Mao Tse Tung advised. “And in order to do that we must rely not on subjective imagination, not on momentary enthusiasm, not on lifeless books, but on facts that exist objectively; we must appropriate the material in detail and, guided by the general principles of Marxism-Leninism, draw correct conclusions from it.”

For Mao, anything not based on thorough investigation is nothing but ignorant twaddle.

Admittedly, this is an extremely difficult task for the lazybones in Duterte’s NTF-ELCAC. After all, their only concern is to red-tag those whom they consider as “enemies of the state,” oftentimes using twisted logic and visualized through crass and sloppy memes and posters. It’s an easy way out of the crimes they committed; no need to study to substantiate their arguments.

Unlike the reactionary government, the revolutionaries have no huge budget for intelligence work, for personnel and production, and a rare space in the corporate mass media. But it is in every revolutionary and activist’s heart to propagate the people’s struggle and their dreams to have food on their tables, to send their children to school, to be treated by a doctor when ill, a house to live in, a farm to till, a job with a decent wage, and a government that would ensure that these interests are fostered and protected.

What comes out from the mouth of every revolutionary reflects the poor people’s actual situation—their struggles and triumphs and their aspirations for a better life. Propaganda comes from a never-ending study of the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist theories applied in the realities of the country and through integration with, and learning from, the masses. From this, the revolutionary movement continues to study Philippine society—the classes and their interests—and advance the theory and practice of the national democratic revolution towards its socialist future.

Every revolutionary speaks of the people’s interests and aspirations, their struggles and their triumphs and how they are empowered and charting their own course through their collectives, their revolutionary mass organizations, and through the organs of political power established in the villages.

However, every reactionary regime and its “propagandists” hate to admit there exist two governments in the country today—the rotten reactionary government which they try to deodorize, on the one hand, and the revolutionary government that steadily spreads in most parts of the country, on the other.

Ignorant twaddle

The ruling class(es)’[big landlords, big comprador bourgeoisie] “propaganda war” is based on lies hatched and propagated mostly by a billion-peso funded task force, namely the NTF-ELCAC, (including the PCOO and the troll farms). It scanned the revolutionary propaganda materials but, after it declared a “propaganda” war, instead of directly countering the truths of the revolutionary messaging—as one would reasonably expect—its “strategic communication thrust” has prioritized attacking the messengers of the revolutionary and progressive propaganda.

Yes, the “prop” war launched by the reactionaries lacks courage to face head-on the meatiest issues of the new national democratic revolution. For example, it has not responded to the revolutionary or even to the legal, unarmed progressive movement’s calls for land reform.

As everyone knows, the agricultural Philippines’ most pressing problem that’s also at the root of restiveness remains the extreme deprivation of its hardworking yet landless farmers. Most agree there must be a genuine land reform program. The New People’s Army has been gaining fighters and mass support because of its land reform program, among others.

In contrast, the AFP—in the service of the big landlords and bourgeois compradors expanding mining concessions, plantations, and land-use conversion projects—has been bombing and strafing the farming communities demanding land reform or defending their ancestral lands. Meanwhile, the NTF-ELCAC has been fart-bombing the same farming communities with red-tagging and brutal censorship. It has resorted to threats and intimidation and its money-making venture of staging fake surrenders of supposed revolutionaries and supporters.

The AFP and the NTF-ELCAC have plagued even unarmed community members and supporters resisting semifeudal exploitation with all sort of baseless accusations to justify its attacks against said communities.

Note that all reactionary stock “propaganda” spiels revolve around attacking the messengers (the revolutionaries and their unarmed activists and supporters) rather than the revolutionary or progressive analyses and demands they articulate. Hence, it appears the reactionary “prop” centerpiece is its noisy red-tagging and baseless “terrorist”-labeling.

However, the AFP and the NTF-ELCAC’s joint efforts to mislabel and demonize the revolutionaries, the open progressive mass movement, and critical members of society, have no factual grounding. No new offering or promised illusion of development or peace; and on top of that, it’s even costing the public a lot of money. This “propaganda” war runs counter to the Filipino people’s demand for genuine solutions to their unending crises.

The role of US imperialism

Demonizing groups without factual basis, and worse, proceeding with it even when the manufactured “bases” have repeatedly been proven and exposed as false, are the hallmarks of the US-led borderless “war on terror.” It demonizes as “rouge states” and enemies those who would resist the US global hegemony.

It is no surprise that the AFP, which was organized, ideologically trained, armed, and even funded to this day by the US, kills and maims our people in line with the US global “war on terror.” Since 1946, the US has maintained the Philippines as its neocolony, with the Philippine government functioning as the imperialist’s puppet and agent. The more the local puppet government adheres to US imperialist dictates to advance the latter’s interests here and in the region, the more it enriched its dynasty and cliques, and the more it holds on to power.

In the end

Although the reactionary “propaganda” war led by militarist clowns or spokespersons may seem loud and all over the place, ultimately it can’t help but turn off the masses rather than win their hearts and minds. Cowardly evading the issues propelling protests and civil war is one glaring weakness of the reactionary “propaganda” war. Thus, Filipinos would typically dismiss it as “puro kwento, walang kwenta, (all talk no substance),” or judge it as “malayo ang tapal sa sugat” (the solution is way off the problem).

Another characteristic of the reactionary “propaganda” war is traitorous deceit. It aggrandizes its terror-tagging drive as “propaganda;” covers up its hawkish stance with affectation for seeking peaceful means. Yet, it’s nothing but provocation and justification for armed brutality against the Left.

Every baseless terror-tagging and provocation sets up the targets for censorship, killing, illegal arrest, arbitrary freezing of bank accounts, and other state bullying and acts of violence.

This “propaganda” war directed by NTF-ELCAC and its “whole-of-nation approach” against the revolutionaries is cruder and more bankrupt than their “propaganda” in the past. Back then, they cobbled some pseudo-theories for change or development myths in a vain attempt to counter the revolutionary calls for social, political and economic changes. This time there is neither new land reform program nor push for industrialization that the ruling classes could use to counter the popular programs for social and economic reforms that the national democratic revolutionaries are implementing in the guerrilla zones.

Even so, Antonio Parlade Jr, Lorraine Badoy and their ilk of “spokespersons” and their “propaganda” war of “terrorist” mislabeling must be exposed—and frustrated—for its utter lies and dogged pursuit of a dirty war against the broad masses of the people.
After all, the reactionary “propaganda” is nothing but the ruling class(es) flinching over being described (with tons of evidences) as butchers, landgrabbers, exploiters, oppressors, puppets of foreign imperialists, corrupt, inutile (in the face of disasters, epidemics, people’s needs), human rights violators, among other heinous crimes. All these accurately describe what the ruling class(es) actually do. Not only the revolutionaries and supporters in urban areas and countryside say so, the criticisms reverberate even in other countries and international agencies. # # #

01/06/2022

Propaganda in the Time of Elections
Published on May 9, 2022 in Editorial

Elections have always been occasions for candidates to use reactionary propaganda to spread lies, fakery, and deceit.

The 2022 national elections is no different. As the campaign heated up, candidates at various levels also sped up their propaganda machinery to woo the electorate through time-tested and worn-out promises. Spoken like a mantra, each candidate repeated the buzz words they think would earn them the people’s trust: a better life. Such narrative also became the source of people’s frustrations and loss of trust not just in traditional politicians but also in the electoral process itself.

But reactionary propaganda took a new turn for the worse with the increasing dependence of people on social media. The use of trolls and social media influencers became a must to ensure the victory of Duterte in the 2016 presidential election. But for this election, it has become more pronounced and massive.

The fakery and disinformation were spread like virus in all social media platforms to prop up not only the image of the Dictator Marcos and his family but also absolve them of their crimes of murder and plunder. This historical revisionism, such as hailing the martial law years as the golden era in Philippine history, attempts to overturn all efforts throughout the decades to hold the Marcoses accountable. The “propaganda” machinery of the Marcoses has been milling disinformation for decades now. By this time, “Marites” (rumor mongering) has gone normal and facts stubbornly resisted.

Likewise fanaticism and fatalism proliferated—“bahala na, makikita natin pag nakaupo na (we will know their real intentions once they’re in power),” respect my opinion, respect my choice—which played well with Marcos lies and false claims.

In support of the Marcos narrative the regime red-tagged the growing anti-Marcos/Duterte forces and candidates to derail its campaign momentum.

But as usual, the cacophony of false claims, campaign promises, and questionable narratives drowned out the people’s issues. Even if carried by candidates for sheer hypocrisy the people’s issues were devoid of content or substance. Only a few progressive candidates have a grip of the country’s issues, among other things, the dominance of foreign interests in the economy, sell-out of sovereignty, landlessness and plunder, low wages, import liberalization, lack of national industries, corruption, political dynasties, and human rights.

What is even disconcerting is that today’s dominant narratives have served to sharpen the division among Filipinos: the masa versus the elite. Supporters of contending candidates bickered and “unfriended” each other both virtually and in real-life. While they called each other names: bobo (stupid), uneducated, and bayaran (paid hacks), the ruling classes could just “peacefully” settle their differences through the electoral process. Divide and rule has been successfully used by the ruling classes as far back as the era of the Spanish conquistadores. It still works well today.

It is unfortunate because despite the bickering and fanaticism by supporters, the people all share the same frustrations and disgust not just over the rotten electoral system but also over the country’s semicolonial and semifeudal system. They also share the same love, common hopes, and dreams for a better life and a government that genuinely serves the people.

Hence progressives and revolutionaries must muster all they’ve got to counter reactionary propaganda and spread revolutionary propaganda in all its forms, in the election period and beyond. The battle lines have been drawn on and off social media, in mainstream media, and on the ground. The entire national democratic movement is a propaganda army, with open and underground networks, that though less in means is superior in passion and dedication. When you have the people, nothing is impossible.

The national-democratic narrative—expose the ruling system, unite all the anti-Marcos/Duterte forces, the elections is basically a farce, national democracy is the road to real change—these and all, must be pursued vigorously in propaganda work until in time it becomes the dominant narrative. Every revolutionary can do no less.

Every activist must learn to become a keyboard warrior and master guerrilla tactics in propaganda work to defeat the enemy trolls and influencers. However, nothing beats having ground troops doing propaganda and organizing work among the masses. The virtues of mass work and mass line have never failed propagandists to become experts in their fields.

Arousing, organizing, and mobilizing the masses is the best way to counter all lies, disinformation, and fakery. It is the same tactic that will deliver victory to the national democratic movement and its allies, in this election and beyond. # # #

01/06/2022

KA MAGGIE: ‘COMING OUT’ IN THE NPA
Published on August 29, 2019

She practically spent her youth in the revolutionary movement, having been part of an activist organization in a Catholic high school at age 15. She is now 39 years old. She is a le***an. The “awakening” happened at the same time she became conscious of the social issues affecting the country. That was in her elementary years.

“It helped that I always hear my parents discuss current events. Kaya elementary pa lang nakikipag-debate na ako, alam ko na noon yung US Bases (I could already engage in a debate on the US Bases when I was still in elementary),” Ka Maggie recalled. “At the time, I also had a crush on my female teacher,” she hastened to add.

For Ka Maggie, it wasn’t easy growing up with conservative parents who were both raised in the province. Also, between Ka Maggie and her parents was an age gap of 42 years. Hence, the burden of being a le***an and activist was heavier— as both were widely considered by society as ‘aberration’, ‘abnormality’, even a crime.

‘Coming Out’ and ‘Going Up’

Like her ‘awakening’, ‘coming out’ and ‘going up’ (the mountain) to join the New People’s Army (NPA) happened at the same time. As she recounted her experiences it didn’t show that she went through a personal struggle as her sentences were often punctuated with laughter.

“Naging kloseta ako sa kilusan for a time kasi hindi ko alam kung ano’ng stand natin sa LGBT. Nakikiramdam muna ako (I kept mum about this in the movement because I didn’t know our stand on LGBT).” The way her high school collective handled the case of another le***an member was an acid test.

“Nanligaw siya sa masa. E, di inulat ko dahil di pa panahon—bata pa kami, tapos masa pa niligawan. Pero, sa tingin ko, ang naging pokus ng usapan yung gender niya. So, ang sense ko ito pala yung handling ng kilusan sa gender (She courted someone who was unorganized so I reported it—we were still young and a masa was involved. But I felt the discussion focused on her gender, so I had a sense that this was how the movement handle cases such as this).”

Although she did not waiver on her commitment to the revolution, she decided “to stay in the closet.” At one point she even courted a male comrade; or opened herself up to courtship by other male comrades in her collective.

In college, she decided to finally ‘come out’ to her collective. Expecting ridicule, Ka Maggie sought integration with the NPA as soon as she ‘comes out’, “Kasi mas kaya kong harapin ang maririnig sa mga kasamang hukbo mula sa peasant kaysa sa mga YS na ‘to (I could stand comments from NPA peasant comrades rather from the youth and students),” she confessed. “For all my anxiety and insecurity, my collective’s reply was just ‘that’s it? Is there a problem?’, after which they immediately prepared me for my integration,” Ka Maggie recalled, as she laughed heartily.

It was during her integration when she decided to stay and join the people’s army. That was in 1998.

Le***an Sisters

I was already in the NPA when Ka Maggie ‘came out’ to her parents. “Mas nauna akong nagsabi na maghuhukbo ako. Ang tingin ko kasi noon, too much na nga na ipatanggap na hukbo ako. E, NPA na nga, le***ana pa. Sobrang bigat na para sa kanila (I first told them I was joining the NPA; admitting being a le***an came later. I felt it would be too much for them to accept me as NPA and le***an all at once).” It was only when she was getting married that Ka Maggie told her parents she is le***an. “Babae, sabi ko. E, di lalong nagwala (I was marrying a woman I said and they really hit the roof),” she cringed.

At the start it was difficult for Ka Maggie to leave her parents specially because they were already old and ailing. “Bunso ako. Inisip ko kung di man ako magtatapos mag-aral, tiyakin ko na lang ako ang aalalay sa kanila (I was the youngest and since I don’t intend to finish school at least I would take care of them).” Back then, she still wanted to be a human rights lawyer.

Then she thought of her older sister, Ley. “Buti na lang, nung college napaugnayan ko ang kapatid ko. Na-organize din siyang hanggang ND (National Democrat) activist (It’s fortunate that I had my sister recruited and organized as ND activist while still in college).”

Though both sisters would discuss their involvement in the revolution, Ley admitted early on she wasn’t ready for Ka Maggie’s ‘level of sacrifice’. While Ley fully supported Ka Maggie’s decision, she reluctantly accepted the responsibility of taking care of their parents.

“Ang matindi kasi, hindi niya magawa ang gusto niyang buhay. Eh, le***an din siya. Ako yung unang nag-out tapos umalis pa ako (My sister could not do what she wants. She’s a le***an too. But I came out ahead of her and left for the mountains).”

“Ano ba ‘yan di ko magawa ang gusto ko dahil dyan sa decision mo (I can’t do what I want because of your decision),” Ka Maggie remembered her sister’s words. Both of them talked about their sexual orientation when they were in high school. But Ley chose to stay ‘in the closet’ and was at times forced to conform to the expectations of their parents, “but not as far as going into relationship with males,” Ka Maggie recalled.

Having a collective and a liberating consciousness facilitated Ka Maggie’s ‘coming out’. “Kung wala ang collective, wala ang kamulatan maghihintay ka na lang na mamamatay ang magulang mo bago ‘mag-out’. Dati yun ang naisip ko. Mas ang kapatid ko ang naging ganun, hintayin ko na lang. Nag-out naman siya bago namatay ang tatay namin (If it were not for my collective and awareness I would have waited for my parents to pass away before I can even ‘come out’. My sister had been forced with that choice, though she came out before my father died).”

Le***ans in the NPA

“I was the first le***an in our unit. So I knew we were all adjusting at the start,” Ka Maggie mentioned. “Dumaan kaming lahat sa pag-aaral kung paano. Lalo na nung may ikinasal na (We underwent studies to understand each other, especially when a same-sex marriage happened).” But, she didn’t experience discrimination because of her gender preference. “Mas sa pagiging babae pa. Yung nag-excel ka sa pagsusuring pang-militar na supposedly pang lalaki. Pero once lang yun. At di yun pinalalampas ng collective (I exprienced it once, but it was more of my being a woman who excelled in military science which is deemed as the expertise of men. But my collective did not let that slide).”

Also, she was considered a ‘competitor’ by male comrades when it came to relationships. “Uunawain ko na lang yun na dahil mas maraming lalaki kaysa sa babae. E, syempre yung mga kasamang lalaki ang tingin iilan na nga lang kayo tapos kayo-kayo pa (I can understand that as there are more men than women in the NPA, and choices for men become limited as women court women),” she explained.

She’s never had a problem with le***an relationships in the Party and in the people’s army. “Failed relationships”, said Ka Maggie can be attributed to “difference in perspective”—in staying or leaving the people’s army and in parenting—and never to gender preference.

A divorce ended her marriage. But what struck her, though, in that marriage was when, as a newly-wed couple, her collective asked them about their plan, “O anong plano niyo sa pag-aanak, para mapaghandaan, para mapagplanuhan (Do you have plans to bear children? We have to prepare for that. We need to have plans).” Up to now, she is still amazed at her group’s openness to include artificial insemination, and not just adoption, as option for her and her partner.

“Isang dahilan yan kung bakit proud ako sa Party, talagang mapagpalaya. Imagine, kung may means pa ang Party, lalo na kung Sosyalismo na, mas yayabong talaga ang kalayaan at karapatan ng LGBT (That is one of the reasons why I am proud of the Party; it is indeed liberating. Imagine, if it already has all the means, like when we reach socialism, the rights and freedoms of the LGBT would surely be enshrined),” she added.

Albeit recognizing the need for further intra-Party discussions and education sessions on the LGBT question, Ka Maggie is certain that the CPP has the leadership to advance the cause of the LGBT.

“Posible talaga ang panahon na ang bawat isa ay hindi na tumitingin sa kung ano ang kulay, kasarian. Kaya dapat ipagpatuloy natin ang dakilang pakikibakang ito dahil do’n din nakasalalay ang mga butil ng pakikibaka ng mga LGBT.”

A future when color and gender do not define a person is possible. Thus, we should carry forward this noble struggle because here we also have sown the seeds of the LGBT struggle. # # #

01/06/2022

THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL: 10 things the Covid-19 pandemic has shown us
Published on January 30, 2021

No. 10. People’s solidarity and collective action gather into a powerful storm for revolutionary change

The victories won by the people against Duterte’s criminal negligence at protecting them from the pandemic showed how solidarity and collective action can effect meaningful changes in society.

This show of force expressed people’s unity against the regime’s repressive measures in dealing with the pandemic—suppression of information, the spread of misinformation and disinformation, red-tagging, illegal arrests and extrajudicial killings, and the sell-out of the country’s sovereignty. It was an act of defiance to the regime’s failure to institute health measures such as mass testing and prompt vaccination program and providing ayuda, specifically the Php10,000 financial aid for all those displaced from their jobs and livelihood.

Playing the resiliency card to comfort the victims, the government of the ruling elite, again, extolled and exploited the masses’ resiliency and undying hope. Yes, the masses who have had enough are relentless in the realization of their eternal hope, their aspiration to break the yoke of oppression and exploitation that have long hounded them; and to draw a plan for their social and economic emancipation as they heighten their struggle for eventual liberation.

Faced with the bankruptcy of the semicolonial and semifeudal system and its irreversible collapse, the people’s solidarity provided immediate relief and amplified the voices of those severely affected by a militarist approach and unending lockdowns—the only “solution” known to the Duterte regime. While the regime tried to prop up the collapsing social order, the people’s solidarity offered a comforting prospect of a new future.

Cutting across sectors, classes, and political persuasions, the people fought for their rights—online and on the streets, in the urban centers and in the countryside, armed and unarmed.

Covid-19 bared the rottenness of the current system and pointed to the need to uproot the evils of bureaucrat capitalism, feudalism, and imperialism. It affirmed the necessity and validity of the need for a revolutionary change. Recognizing that reforms do not last as long as the oppressive and exploitative system remains, this serves to strengthen the people’s resolve to push forward the people’s democratic revolution.

All over the world, oppressed peoples are opposing the oppressive regimes that used the pandemic to further exploit the people, especially the working class. Like the Filipino masses, they demand for jobs, economic relief, and health measures to sufficiently address the pandemic.

Greater battles lie ahead between the people and the crumbling semicolonial, semifeudal system and the bureaucrats who wield power to sustain it. But the pandemic has shown the people the path of the revolution as the only way out of the cycle of oppression and repression. The people, in unison, are using all their potentials and creativity not just to adopt to, or mitigate, the situation, but more to create a “new normal” Philippines—sovereign, independent, progressive and truly responsive to the needs of the masses. # # #

01/06/2022

THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL: 10 things the Covid-19 pandemic has shown us
Published on January 30, 2021

No. 9. US imperialism has stunted the growth and development of the country

Every Filipino, even if one isn’t a revolutionary, would want the strategic direction of the Philippine economy geared towards strengthening public social services such as health and education, agriculture, and Filipino-owned industries; at the same time ensuring ecological sustainability and social justice. The government should have led in implementing a genuine land reform program and planned trade and production to advance national industrialization.

But dominated by US imperialism and its allies, the Philippines was forcibly integrated in global production chains of monopoly capitalists. Since then, it turned dependent on imports and as mere producers of certain cash crops, exporters of labor and raw materials (causing brain drain and damaged environment), and host country of cheap and repressed workers.

The country’s development stagnated, no thanks to US imperialism which continues to dominate the political, economic, and cultural life of the Filipinos. Through its puppets in government (the bureaucrat capitalists currently led by Rodrigo Duterte), and the big landlords and comprador bourgeoisie, US imperialism and its allies plundered the country’s resources. Today, Duterte’s double puppetry to US and China has exacerbated the chronic crisis of the semicolonial and semifeudal Philippines.

Imperialism has caused the puppet government to sabotage Philippines’ economic development. Imperialism made bowing to it both a profitable and a political survival tool for bureaucrat capitalists like Duterte. The architects and beneficiaries of this system have taken actions more for their profits, power and land monopoly.

The country’s underdevelopment has always been most exposed whenever disasters hit. It became far starker with the Covid-19 pandemic. When it hit, the disintegrating semicolonial, semifeudal system can no longer hold up.

The Filipino people, especially the poor, felt the fatal impact of imperialism’s neoliberal policies, specifically on the country’s healthcare system during the pandemic as they were largely left to fend for themselves.

Neglecting and sabotaging the country’s prospects in developing its industries such as medical and pharmaceutical which became the most immediate needs to respond to the pandemic—from test kits to personnel protective equipment, ventilators and other medical supplies, medicine, and at some point even masks—left the government with no choice but to depend on importation and to wait in line when supplies could be made available to the country.

While criminally negligent in actually helping the people to beat COVID-19, Duterte sought to consolidate its rule of terror and control of the state to ensure for himself and his clique loot from kickbacks, loans, pork barrel, and intelligence funds.

Note also how the regime has intensified its moves to railroad charter change to further open up the Philippines to imperialist plunder. The Duterte regime has also grown more blatant at sticking up for its imperialist masters—allowing and in fact actively demanding for US imperialist’s military aid and military basing, among others, as well as giving way to China’s military occupation of Philippine reefs.

Elsewhere around the world, Covid-19 has exposed and aggravated the anti-social character of the world capitalist system. It is a system intrinsically devoted to profit-seeking and self-interest even at the cost of endangering itself and causing depressions and recessions. With the pandemic, it exposed itself for further aggravating the vulnerability and suffering of people it has long exploited, oppressed and cheated of their rights to social services such as in the fields of public health, education, housing, and even water.

Even amid the pandemic, the monopoly bourgeoisie and capitalist states defended their monopolies and privileges. It starkly showed, for example, in their holding on to patents on vaccines that they produced with massive public spending. It showed also in the continuing imperialist sanctions that inhibited cooperation in facing pandemics, and in the ongoing wars of counterrevolution, imperialist aggression, and imperialist rivalries.

Under neoliberal economic policy, one of the ways imperialism sought to squeeze more profits without solving its persistent crises of overproduction, the broad masses of the people have been forced to suffer low wages, reduced benefits, reduced social services, insecure jobs and retirement.

“The neoliberal economic policy has liberalized trade and investments, provided tax cuts, incentives and bailouts to the monopoly bourgeoisie, pressed down wages and other incomes of the lower classes, privatized public assets, reduced social services, imposed austerity measures, removed social and environmental regulations and denationalized the less developed economies of the world,” said the CPP in a statement.

At “normal” times, poor people already lived with dismal health and housing services, lack of access to food, water and health services. During pandemics, all these were aggravated, and the oppressed and exploited people became even more vulnerable. They have little to no means to practice social distancing and feed themselves when lockdowns reduced their incomes. They have little to no means to seek medical attention when it’s priced above their reach, no thanks to privatization.

In the Philippines, the COVID 19 pandemic highlighted the lethality for the people of the imperialist stranglehold on this country’s lifeblood. It reared its ugly head not just in the deleterious effects of privatization and deregulation. It also reared its ugly head in how our economy has been stunted, forced to remain backward, agricultural, a mere dumping ground of imperialist countries’ surplus capital, a mere source of cheap labor and raw materials. # # #

Libe PH

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