PHILIPPINES The trajectory of the left forces that supported Cory Aquino's campaign AN ARTICLE entitled The decisive tests facing the Aquino government" in the April 21, 1986, issue of International Viewpoint, described the political debates occurring in the revolutionary movement in the Philippines just prior to the February 1986 presidential election. In the June 30 issue of IV, the forces that called for a boycott, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the "national democrats," were considered. (1) The present article takes up the post-election evolution of the various components of the Philippine left that participated critically in the electoral campaign, calling for a vote for Cory Aquino, particularly the independent Marxists and
Coexisting inside the governmental structure are dignitaries of the former regime, particularly Enrile as minister of defence; businessmen who hold the important economic posts (4); more or less traditional politicians -those from UNIDO (5) being more traditional and those from PDPLaban (6) being less so; some Jesuit ideologues around the presidency; and a certain number of individuals recognized by the Philippine left and mass organizations for their nationalist and democratic commitment.
Included in this last group are lawyers Jose Diokno, on the presidential human rights commission; Joker Arroyo, presidential executive secretary; Augusto "Bobbit" Sanchez, minister of labor and employment, who is especially valued by the radical trade-union federation KMU; and Mamita Pardo de Tavera, former president of the coalition of feminist organizations, Gabriela, and present minister of social services and development.
The government is therefore the stage for major controntauons, and it stage for major confrontations, and it is interesting to note that no far-lett political force is disinterested in this particular aspect of the present political situation. None is demanding the immediate resignation of progressive elements in the government in order that they will not be compromised. It is true that the stakes in these confrontations are limited, since they do not affect the country's social structure, but they are important nonetheless. They concern the scope of the dismantling of the dictatorship's physical, juridical and political apparatus, the actual freeing of all political prisoners, and democratic rights.
1. It is common in the Philippines to call "national democrats" those movements and militants that identify with the program of the "national democratic revolution" put forward by the CPP and the National Democratic Front.
The term "social democrats" is sometimes put in quotation marks, to avoid too direct an analogy with European social democracy. The Philippine social-democratic movement in fact comes out of religious milieus (notably Jesuits) and lay Catholics. The history of this movement is therefore profoundly different from that of European socialism, and if some components of Philippine social democracy turn towards the Socialist International today, others are more reminiscent of Christian Democracy.
3. See "After the fall of Marcos," 'International Viewpoint,' No. 95, March 24, 1986.
4. See "The decisive tests facing the Aquino government," IV, No. 97, April 21, 1986.
UNIDO is a coalition of a dozen bourgeois groups, generally conservative, represented by Salvador "Doy" Laurel, vice-president and minister of foreign affairs.
6. PDP-Laban (Philippine Democratic Party-Combat) is now represented by Aquilino Pimentel, minister for local administration. On the Philippine political the box published in IV parties, see No. 97, April 21, 1986. International Viewpoint 14 July 1986 the "social democrats." (2) PAUL PETITJEAN
At the center of the differences that emerged between December 1985 and February 1986 were differing assessments of the electoral campaign's dynamic - of the real political stakes. The unfolding of events proved right those who thought that the elections represented a day of major political reckoning, not a routine exercise.
But, once again, life proved more complex than theory or prognostications. No revolutionary group had, in fact, foreseen the rapidity with which the crisis opened up by the elections was going to be resolved in favor of the opposition, nor the particular coalition of forces that was going to be brought to power. Each current, therefore, has had to analyze the nature of the "February revolution," the Aquino government, the political situation and the immediate tasks before the country.
The "February revolution" was not included in any pre-election scenario of the big bourgeois political forces - certainly not in that of Marcos, who hoped to catch the opposition on the wrong foot by abruptly moving forward the date of the presidential election. Nor was it foreseen by the White House, which was anticipating a temporary stabilization of the regime and a breathing space in which it could push through reform with continuity" in the dictatorship. It was not even predicted by the bourgeois opposition, which was betting on either an earlier reversal of American policy or on the effects in the medium term of controlled economic 16 and political pressure.
As for the last-minute enlistees, Juan Ponce Enrile and General Ramos, they were pushed abruptly into this "rebellion" by the fear of being purged by a government with its back against the wall.
It was the dynamism and breadth of the mass mobilizations both before, and especially after, the elections, that turned the political picture upside down and invalidated all of the pre-established scenarios. (3)
The new Aquino government is unquestionably bourgeois. Pro-imperialist forces are predominant in it. But it also enjoys a legitimacy accruing to it from having been brought to power by an antidictatorial, albeit nonviolent, uprising. It is important to stress that this is a popular legitimacy more profound than one conferred by a normal electoral victory - a legitimacy given an additional sanctification by the powerful Roman Catholic Church. The Aquino government, therefore, is able to employ a populist style, symbolized by its references to "people's power," and by the moral authority embodied in the personality of the president.
The Aquino government is also transitional - not so much because it sees itself that way in the light of the present constitutional vacuum, but because it reflects an unstable and temporary coalition of forces, created by the convergence last February of a popular uprising with a military rebellion.
The entire left has already noted the contradictory aspects of the Aquino government. The declaration published on February 28 by the University of the Philippines Academic Community (UPAC) is representative. Recalling their appearance on the barricades February 22-26, the UPAC members assure Corazon Aquino of their support. But they immediately add: "To our people we pledge our continuing solidarity and our vigilance." In fact, if the hour has come "to rejoice with our people over the recovery of our self-esteem as a nation," it must also be noted that the February events "signal only the beginning of a revolutionary process," which "can be intercepted at any point and can even lead to the restoration of the old order rather than the emergence of a different social order."
The UPAC members express their "great apprehension" in view of the "reappearance of the pre-Martial Law "reappearance of the pre-Martial Law politicians and oligarchs" and the presence of "propagandists, technocrats, military hatchetmen of the Marcos regime. ... We are convinced that the situation warrants renewed and sustained vigilance so that the clear gains of people's power are not lost." (7) "People's power"
The experience of "people's power" during the electoral campaign -that is, an unprecedented mass mobilization - the fragility of that power in view of the absence of adequate grassroots committees and the regroupments that have taken place, have given rise to the new political movements within the Philippine left.
Following in the wake of the events at the end of February came the birth of a new coalition: the Lakas ng Sambayan (People's Power), known also as Lakas and called initially Cory Aquino's People's Power (CAPP).
Lakas brings together different "alliances," like Bandila (8), the Independent Caucus (9), Families for Justice and Peace, Philippine Women's Solidarity and the Coalition for the Advancement of Popular Movements (CAMP). Lakas also includes some activist organizations engaged in sectoral mass work. Its spokespeople are Emmanuel Soriano (Bandila), Randolf "Randy" David (Independent Caucus) and Edmundo "Ed" Garcia (Kaakbay). (10)
In a declaration dated March 2, 1986, Lakas asserts that the Philippine experience is unprecedented, unedited, yet unfinished.... For certain sectors the long popular struggle ... began even before martial
International Viewpoint 14 July 1986
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law was imposed." In February 1986, "the decisive factors... were the power of the people, the power of faith and the unwavering leadership of Corazon Aquino," to which should be added the position of the episcopal conference after the elections (11) and the rebellion of the army's reform movement.
"The popular revolution involved the seizure of state power by the people; it was essentially a political act. However, it remains unfinished. To become a social revolution, social relations and social structures need to be transformed.... To accomplish these tasks, the people's power must now be systematically articulated and translated into a cohesive, organized and sustained force, which will promote people's democracy, national sovereignty, justice and equity. The logic of the majority must prevail and the interests of the working classes must be advanced."
Lakas has set as its objective "to harness the power of the people." In order to accomplish this, the coali-
7. UPAC, "From People's Power to a People's Government, a Statement of Concern and a Declaration of Renewed Support and Solidarity," February 28, 1986, reprinted in Samahan Newsletter, No. 16, The Hague, January-March, 1986.
Bandila (Banner) is a coalition of groups launched by the social democrats in 1985, after the crisis in Bayan in May-June of that year. The full name is: Bansang Nagkakaisa sa Diwa at Layunin (Will and Objectives of a United People). The organizations most active in Bandila are the Philippine Social-Democratic Movement and the wing of the 21st August Movement (ATOM) led by "Butz" Aquino.
9. On the Independent Caucus, see later in the article.
10. Kaakbay is led by the lawyer Jose Diokno, with the participation of independent Marxists. The full name is: Kilusan para sa Kapangyarihan at Kasar inlan Sanbayanan (Movement for National Sovereignty and Democracy).
11. On the position of the episcopal tion is aiming to rally the organizations that fought against the dictatorship and supported Cory Aquino's campaign, to consolidate the autonomous popular groups in various social sectors and regions, and to build a broad alliance of activist groups. . "Lakas believes in a popular democracy which is pluralist and listens to the authentic voice of the autonomous people's organizations." (12)
In an interview in the magazine Midweek, Lakas' general secretary, "Ed" Garcia, clarified the politics of the coalition, its origin and composition. Queried about the relations between Lakas and the government, he noted that the coalition had supported the appointment of several ministers, such as Bobbit Sanchez and Mita Pardo de Tavera, and of assistant ministers such as Karina Constantino-David, a member of the Kaakbay movement. (13)
But Garcia made it clear that Lakas' goals require preserving its conference see the article in 'IV, No. 93, February 24, 1986.
12. Lakas ng Sambayan: declaration reprinted "Kasarinlan, Philippine Quarterly of Third World Studies,' Third World Studies Centre, University of the Philippines, Volume 1, No. 4, 2nd Quarter, 1986, p.50-1.
Karina Constantino-David, present ly deputy minister for social affairs and development, was teaching at the Institute of Social Work and Community Development at the University of the Philippines (UP). She was the president of the UP section of Kaakbay. One of her recent articles, "Community Organization and People's Participation, the Philippine Experience" can be found in "Kasarinlan, Volume 1, No. 2, 4th Quarter, 1985. In the same issue and on the same theme is a study by Jurgette A. Honculada on the history of the organization of struggles in the huge shanty town of Tondo, in Manila: "Case Study: ZOTO and the TwiceTold Told Story of Philippine Community Organizing.
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independence from the government:
"To be able to fulfill our role of articulating the popular interests, we must have an independent position.
We must not be beholden to the government. We must retain that distance." (14)
Lakas was formed, Ed Garcia explains, by bringing together about ten organizations. It represented a continuation of the dynamic toward unity that got underway after the August 1983 assassination of
Benigno Aquino. During the election campaign, various left political movements formed the nationalist bloc (Sigaw ng Sambayanan), which included in particular Kaakbay, the Independent Caucus and the activist social-democratic organizations.
A number of local organizations, such as Cory Aquino for President, Cory's Crusaders and Victory and Moves, joined this bloc. It is possible that Lakas will open up to some groups that advocated the boycott, like Kadena (15), a member of Bayan, which has critically re-examined its electoral position. o The national council of Kadena, which claims 20,000 members, has acknowledged that the decision to boycott the February 7 elections was a "tragic error," caused by a series of analytical errors concerning the dynamic of the electoral struggle:
"Our analysis of the national situation was way off the mark, thus our policy on the issue was expectedly incorrect." Therefore "we reneged on our commitment to the principles of mass line." Kadena's national council decided to make its self-criticism public, "so that the people may know that Kadena recognizes its mistakes and that it is willing to rectify." (16)
The important thing, notes Ed Garcia, is to develop a network of autonomous people's groups, to promote self-organization of the masses, to bring together those who engaged in political activity for the first time during the election campaign - and they are very numerous - and to maintain a unified viewpoint. "Lakas is not the only group. I think that we should be very, very modest. There are other movements and other forces which may be even more effective. If any group launches initiatives which should be supported and it can present its ideas in a credible manner, we can even follow its lead. It can be the Lions, it can be Cursillo, it can be the NDF, it can be the NPA. " (17)
In the opinion of Francisco Nemenzo, president of Lakas' commission on foreign affairs, it is necessary to offer an answer to the country's basic problems: "We take a clear-cut stand on the US bases, for example, 18 and on the handling of the international debt problem. We are for selective repudiation of our country's debt. We should not pay Westinghouse" for the nuclear power station in Bataan, which has been abandoned. More basically, "Agrarian reform is the most essential domestic task facing the government. Mrs. Aquino does not really have a clear agrarian-reform program. president she cannot avoid tackling the land problem." "The people's victory remains incomplete"
For deepening the popular struggle, the role of the underground revolutionary organizations like the NDF, the NPA and the CPP are crucial for Nemenzo. Facing the armies, both governmental and the still uncontrolled reactionary private ones, the underground organizations should not come out into the open or lay down their arms. (18)
The Independent Caucus (IC), a component of the Nationalist Bloc during the election campaign and of Lakas, arose at the end of 1985 after Bayan's May-June crisis. (19) In a declaration dated March 23, 1986, and entitled us "From Rebellion to Revolution," the IC wrote that "no one could have foreseen that our political liberation. would come swiftly or that it would take the form it did: a spontaneous outpouring of support to the military mutiny staged by the reformist elements in the military, by largely uncoordinated masses of unorganized individuals and organized groups."
After an analysis of the events that led to the dictatorship's fall -the experience of the "parliament of the streets" since August 1983, the defeat of the boycott campaign, the role of the Catholic Church, the mass intervention that
14. "More Power to the People, interview with Ed Garcia, Midweek, April 23, 1986, p.9. Ed Garcia, former Jesuit priest, began his political activity in 1970 when he founded Lakasdiwa (Spiritual Force). He radicalized partly through spending seven years in Latin America. He returned a non-Jesuit. After his return to the Philippines in 1981, he worked at the University Philippines. He became a member of Kaak bay having become again general secretary of Lakas.
15. Kadena: Kabataan Para Democrasya at Nasyonalismo (Youth for Democracy and Nationalism. Founded in 1984. Its president is Joey Flora, who authenticated the article cited below.
Katipuran oldeneu 16. Article by
Volume XII, No. 5, April, 1986, P.10.
17. Ed Garcia, 'Midweek,' op. cit., p.8. NDF: National Democratic Front. NPA: New People's Army (led by the CPP). The Lions are a civic group. Cursillo is a religious movement.
"transformed the military mutiny into an open rebellion against the Marcos regime" - the IC notes that "the people's victory remains incomplete." Not all of the people's enemies have been vanquished; there is a danger of elite rule being reimposed; a mode of dependent capitalist development continues to lead the country into economic crisis. "The initiative is still with the people." The Aquino government is sensitive to democratic pressure.
"The liberal atmosphere provides ample room of the assertion of the socialist agenda." It is therefore necessary to fight for a series of basic demands, such as people's committees, a nationalist economic policy, the social ownership and workers' control of the key industries, a genuine agrarian reform, protection of the environment, a fight against illiteracy and for the development of national culture. (20)
The formation of the Independent Caucus illustrates the evolution of the Marxist or socialist "little left" (independent of the CPP as well as of the old pro-Moscow PKP- the earlier Communist Party) in the Philippines, from fragmentation and paralysis toward regaining the initiative. In fact, the IC includes a wide range of little groups of different origins, which have now formed a new political movement, Bisig [BukJuran sa Ikauunlad ng Sosyalistang Isip at Gawa - Regroupment for the Development of Socialist Ideas and Action]. The IC includes some academics - particluarly from the University of the Philippines and the Third World Studies Centre -won over to socialism through theory; community activists, won over by their practical involvement with the urban and rural poor; trade unionists; former CPP activists, some of whom were first brought together in the People's Liberation Movement (PLM) (21); and still others coming out of the social-democratic current or out of
18. Dr. Francisco Nemenzo, Philippines, " Direct Action,' No. 564, "Building People's Power in the April 23, 198% After the election:
reassessment in a the revolutionary left," 'IV. No. 100, June 2, 1986.
20. Independent Caucus: *From Rebellion to Revolution," March 23, 1986, mimeographed document, two pages.
21. The PLM was set up in 1980, most notably with former militants of the CPP, often former prisoners, and some militants of Protestant _origin. In the statutes adopted by its preparatory commission, the PLM declared itself in favour of armed struggle against the dictatorship and for a "pragmatic socialism, where both 'co-operativism' and individual initiative and creativity were respected and encouraged." Constitution of the PLM, preparatory commission, March 1, 1980, 22 mimeographed pages. This organization has been linked with Dr. Nemesio Prudente, one of the prisoners released after the victory of Corazon Aquino. International Viewpoint 14 July 1986
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### JainE sift the PKP, such as Francisco Nemenzo. 10 The "little left" has made a remarkable comeback. Since the end of the 1960s, in fact, the Marxist political scene has been dominated by the rapid decline of the PKP and the rapid ascent of the "new" CPP. (22) The PKP never recovered from the 1967 expulsion-split of Joma Sison and its best youth in the famous Kabataan Makabayan [KM — Nationalist Youth]. After the imposition of martial law in 1972, the PKP engaged in a process of open political capitulation, which ended in 1974 with a "political agreement" with Marcos and a "reconciliation" meeting in the presidential palace. Jose Lava, the best-known of its leaders, has a post in Prague. Some other PKP cadres were integrated into the very same administration that had decreed martial law. Not until 1980, at its eighth congress, did the PKP, probably extremely weakened, timidly take its distance from the regime. In the February 1986 elections, the PKP called for casting a "blank" vote by writing slogans on the ballots. (23) The fifth PKP congress, held in 1973, 27 years after the fourth congress in 1946, confirmed the line of capitulation. One opposition faction - the Marxist-Leninist Group, particularly powerful in the youth organization and in Manila - opposed this course. In May 1973 most of this faction's cadres were physically liquidated on the order of the party's leadership. Francisco Nemenzo, a member of the political bureau and head of the opposition, escaped. The Marxist-Leninist Group (MLG) was set up as an independent organization. But it was very late in the day. Repression under martial law was severe, and the CPP had been capturing the revolu-
International Viewpoint 14 July 1986 tionary energy of the radical youth for some time. The MLG forces remained slender.
The other Marxist groups of the period were incapable of holding up against the martial-law system. This was true, notably, of a very small Trotskyist organization, Samahan ng Kabadaang Sosialiyista (SKS - Young Socialists' Association) (24), which was linked to the Fourth International. In 1971, it published a bulletin called Philippine Socialist Review, which was printed in Los Banos, Laguna, some 40 miles from Manila. The group apparently disintegrated completely in a very short time.
At the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, with the broadening of the struggle, various Marxist and socialist groups resurfaced or sprang up. It was these that took the initiative in launching the Independent Caucus, after the failure of unity moves toward the CPP. • The groups involved were in agreement about a democratic conception of socialism, the use of Marxist and non-Maoist analytical categories (for example, they did not use the category "semi-feudal to describe the mode of production dominant in the Philippines), about defending a non-manipulative use of the united front; and they shared a willingness to present socialism openly as the historic solution to the country's crisis. The latter was something that the CPP refused to do, insisting upon an initial national-democratic stage.
It seems that these forces were joined by the "democratic socialists" or "dem-socs" - some of the more radical elements of the "social democrats," or "soc dems" — who defined themselves both by socialist and Christian principles.
The origins of the social democratic" current date back to the start of the 1950s, when Jesuit priests (especially American but also some Filipinos) helped to launch the Free Federation of Workers (FFW) and the Free Farmers' Federation (FFF). The project was clearly anticommunist and the views of those involved were reflected in the magazine, Philippines Studies.
On the political level, Raul Manglapus started his Social-Christian Movement in 1968. It never succeeded in becoming a "third force, " either between the two large parties -liberal and nationalist — or between the traditional bourgeois parties and the Marxist left.
Among the youth this "social-democratic" project had the support of very large Catholic educational institutions, whose student councils held a majority in the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), founded in 1957. The youth organizations Xi Rho and Kasapi belonged to this tendeney. (25)
Very quickly, however, the social-democratic current was to undergo
22. See on this subject "Rectification Process in the Philippine Communist Move. ment," Francisco Nemenzo, Institute of South-East Asian Studies, Singapore, Nouember 17-19 1982. See also the very interesting study by Armando Malay Jr: "Maoisme, loi martiale et insurrection aux Philippines (1966-1980)" ("Maoism, martial law and insurrection in the Philippines""), thesis presented for the 'diplome de doctorat' for the third semester at the University of Paris VII, December,
23. See "Primer on the Snap Elec tion, communique of the PKP, January 1986, printed leaflet, 4 pages.
24. The SKS polemicised mainly against those that it thought had a rightist line on the "popular front" of the CPP.
25. Kasapi: Kapulungang ng Sandigang Pilipino (Forum of Filipino bases). This organization, having become clandestine in 1972, entered into negotiations with the PDSP (see later in this article in 1976, but finally decided to remain organizationally independent.
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Students demonstrate for a boycott of the February elections and against the US bases (DR
differentiation. A large wing of the youth (as well as of the clergy) radicalized, shocked by the evolution of the FFF. Under the leadership of
Jeremias Montemayor, a law professor in the Jesuit faculty, the conservative character of the FFF assumed particularly serious forms. On June 29,
1973, Montemayor turned over to the amy seven FFF cadres, including
Father Zacarias Agatep, accusing them of plotting against the life of President Marcos. Young cadres radicalized
Montemayor was to become a member of the National Assembly under martial law, while Father Zacarias underwent a long process of radicalization that led him to join the NPA in 1980. He was killed by the army in 1982.
Among the many young cadres who radicalized was Edgar Jopson. A vociferous anti-Marxist polemicist and president of the NUSP in 19691970, he came into contact after martial law with the underground milieu. He was soon heading up the propaganda commission of the National Democratic Front. Captured in 1978, he immediately escaped and joined the guerrillas. He was killed by the army in 1982 at Davao (on Mindanao Island). Others, like Ed Garcia, who is today a member of Lakas and who was a founder in 1970 of Lakasdiwa (Spiritual Force), also broke away from the idea of a "peaceful revolution." After a long stay in Latin America as a press correspondent, he became an important personnage in the independent left.
Under martial law the social-democratic current became fragmented and divided along lines of cleavage that are not always easy to trace. Although the movement's ideology at the beginning was that of the "peaceful revolution," as opposed to "Marxist violence," the social-democratic movement spawned some armed groups such as the April 6 Liberation Movement (A6LM) and Sandigan. (26) But none of these groups were able to stabilize themselves to the slightest extent.
The best known of the social-democratic political organizations is the Philippine Democratic Socialist Party (PDSP), organized in 1973 and inspired ideologically by two Jesuit priests, Jose Blanco and Romeo Intengan. Anti-Marcos and endowed with a fairly radical socio-economic program, the PDSP was at that time more anticommunist than anything else. In a 1978 internal bulletin, 20 the party's leadership affirmed that "under no circumstances will we maintain any ideological, strategical and tactical relations with elements of the extreme left. Moreover, we shall exert our utmost effort at isolating them through concerted and continuous criticism/of their materialist dogmas and their manipulative praxis." (27)
This position was still held by the PDSP leadership in 1984, to judge from a document published by the Centre for Philippine Concern, established in Spain (where the Rev. Intengan is a refugee). Analyzing the "dilemmas" of the "democratic left," the document notes that "some elements in the dictatorship are preparing to protect their interests by force, and likewise, Communist guerrillas are extending their control over considerable areas of the countryside. The democratic opposition forces would then have to choose between simply capitulating or engage these two enemy forces under highly unfavourable conditions." (28)
Religion has been used as a weapon against Marxism. Monsignor Francisco Claver, who is connected to the "social-democratic" current and who fought against the dictatorship, refers today to the "miracle of EDSA" (from the name of the Avenue E. de los Santos in the capital, where in February, the people built barricades to protect the rebel officers): *The revolution took place in a short 77 hours between February 22 and 25. The miracle of EDSA. Unarmed men and women ... their only weapons were rosaries, crucifixes, religious images of the Virgin and the Holy Child, and an invulnerability born of faith." (29)
But generally, as PN Abinales writes, "the soc-dem's ideology is eclectic. One political scientist (Francisco Nemenzo) refers to it as a hodgepodge of Marxism and Christianity.' It appropriated many of the 'nat-dems' (30) political categories, while appearing to have an original contribution in the concept of 'domestic capitalism' and its own version of 'socialism.' Much of this is due to the late development of the social-democratic tradition and the struggle it had to undergo to shed off its reformist past. The electicism in ideology reflected an erratic political program, especially during the martial-law years, where the movement was split over revolutionary strategy. " (31)
It is true that the PDSP has never succeeded in becoming a real party or in establishing control over grassroots groups. Social democrat Agapito "Butz" Aquino, the president's brother-in-law, notes that, in fact, once gone underground the
PDSP "didn't consolidate anymore. So, different groups operated in different parts of the country. Now, I think they're trying to consolidate again to form a national organization." (32)
A wide range of political splinter groups and groupings involved in more or less autonomous sectoral work are to be found operating under the name "soc-dems," and making common references to democratic socialism and Christianity. Besides the PDSP, there are the Philippine Social-Democratic Movement and Youth for the Advancement of Faith and Justice (YAFJ, which belong to the "dem-soc" "left." The origins of some present social-democratic factions can be traced to pre-martiallaw organizations: Lakasdiwa and Kasapi. Under the repression a number of social-democratic groups opposed the anticommunist firstprinciple of their ideological leadership and defended the principle of an active alliance with the NDF forces.
The heads of the movement -and especially the anticommunist ideologues - were firmly ensconced in the social elite and in bourgeois politics. But the activists rooted in mass work, on the contrary, are identified with the people's cause. The same was true of some well-known individuals in the nationalist left. It is probable that in the near
26. The April 6 Liberation Movement (A6LM) made itself known in 1980. It seems to have been chiefly led by militants living in the United States. Sandigan: Philippines Liberation Army, set up in 1981 by the PDSP, chiefly in the Davao region. Sandigan has always aroused lot of suspicion among extreme-left militants.
"Political Directive No. 1, Series of 1978 re: Internal Consolidation No. 5," Circular published just after the elections in 1978, where the problem of unity between the CPP forces and the moderate opposition currents has been at the centre of intense debates. Cited by Mario Bolasco, "Marxism and Christianity in the Philippines: 1930-1983," published by the Third World Studies Centre (University of the Philippines) in 'Marxism in the Philippines, Quezon City, 1984, p.122.
28. Lingap Bayan Centre for Philippine Concern, "Spectrum of Political Forces and Current Issues in the Philippines, " November, 1984, p.6.
29. The Miracle of EDSA: Reflecting on the People's Shallow Faith, " Francisco F. Claver, Institute on Church and Social
March 13, 1986, typewritten document, 1 page.
30. The term "nat-dem" is' currently used in the Philippines for the "nationaldemocrats, " who identify themselves with the program of the NDF. (Similarly, "soc-dem" stands for "social-democratic.")
31. P.N. Abinales, *The Post-Marcos Regime, the Non-Bourgeois Opposition and the Prospects of a Philippine 'October'." 'Kasarinlan, ' Volume 1, No. 4, 2nd Quarter, 1986, p.40. This issue of 'Kasarinlan' is entirely devoted to analysing the events of February and the post-Marcos era in the Philippines.
32. The Social-Democrats Will Have a Party Soon," interview with Agapito "Butz" Aquino, Philippine News and Features, ' Volume II, No. 31, p.2. International Viewpoint 14 July 1986
future, a lot of ambiguities will have to be cleared up between those who will continue to look for bourgeois solutions to the socio-economic crisis and those who will seek working-class and popular solutions.
The situation opened up by the "February revolution" is objectively favorable to the popular forces. Economic crisis continues to impel social mobilization. The democratization of the regime is enlarging the arena for the mass organizations. New experiences of unity are therefore possible. And debate is flourishing in a welcome ideological springtime. The Philippine left - all tendencies of it — can remodel their political thinking based on current experience. CPP caught off guard by events
But the subjective situation remains difficult. The CPP was caught off guard by events; the ideological and political initiative passed to the bourgeois reformist forces. As to the "little left" and the social-democrats, they must prove themselves capable of solving a lot of problems that are new for them, such as building organizations sufficiently unified and solid to conduct a coherent policy on a national scale. In the case of the social-democrats, they have to
International Viewpoint 14 July 1986 make a clear class choice. These tasks are all the more pressing since no one knows how long the present situation will last. Repression could, tomorrow, decend again on the country.
Indeed, repression has not disappeared. Despite the wave of releases of political prisoners that followed Corazon Aquino's victory, perhaps nearly 500 political prisoners still remain in the provincial jails. This was at least the case at the beginning of May, according to the report of Franciscan nun Mariani Dimaranan published for the Task Force Detainees defence organization. (33) In order to avoid complying with the presidential order freeing all political prisoners, the military simply juggle the formal status of the prisoners, describing them as common-law prisoners, held, for example, for unlawful "possession of weapons. The testimony of several journalists - such as that of Deb Shnookal and Russell Johnson in Negros (34) - has just confirmed this fact. It is therefore urgent to continue the fight, in the Philippines as well as internationally, for the release of all political prisoners, even ordinary workers or farmers unknown to the general public.
The armed forces, too, have continued their numerous antiguerrilla operations. They are activating the agents they have infiltrated into the
NPA — the "zombies" - to discredit the revolutionary movement. (35) And finally, on the ideological plane, the fuss made over an article by journalist Ross H. Munro in the December 1985 Commentary entitled "The New Khmer Rouge" - that is, the CPP, the NPA and all the forces linked to them - is symptomatic. A broad anti-Marxist offensive has been mounted. It would be dangerous to underestimate it.
In the face of these attacks, international solidarity must not flag. All left forces, progressive, popular and revolutionary, ought to unite on this issue, despite whatever political differences they may have. They should do this first of all out of an elementary commitment to solidarity, and second because the CPP and the NPA, although the first to be threatened, are not, in fact, the only ones targeted. In the end, the anti-Marxist offensive underway concerns the independent mass movement and all socialist forces.
33. See the articles in the Philippine daily 'We Forum," March 25-31, 1985, and the article in the International Herald Tribune: on May 5, 1986.
34. Deb Shnookal and Russell Johnson, "Repression continues in "Sugarland'," 'Intercontinental Press,' May 19, 1986, p.310-312.
35. See "The 'Zombies' in Mindanao," in the bulletin Chronology of Events, Manila, April, 1986, No. 20, p.14.
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