Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

philippines

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More than 100 people died as in the Maco mine disaster.  | Fight Back! News/staff

More than 100 people, mostly mining workers, were killed last February 6 in a landslide disaster in a mining community in Maco, Davao de Oro (formerly Compostela Valley). This incident is the latest in a number of similar tragedies in the province which is one of the country’s biggest mining centers. The landslide occurred in Barangay Masara which is part of the area of mining operations of the Apex Mining Company, a company owned by Marcos crony Enrique Razon, one of the biggest bourgeois compradors and among the top billionaires, according to a statement by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

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Domingo Compoc \[Ka Silong\], is shown under the custody of a soldier of the 47th IB, shortly after he was arrested in Bilar, Bohol on February 23. He was later subjected to torture and executed by soldiers. | Fight Back! News/staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following February 25 statement Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) condemns the US-Marcos fascist regime, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) for the massacre of five captured revolutionaries in Bilar, Bohol yesterday, and joins the demand for justice for Domingo Compoc, Hannah Cesista, Parlito Historia, Marlon Omosura and Alberto Sancho.

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By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following February 1 statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Together with the Filipino people, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) condemns the US military and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for planning to hold another round of large-scale war exercises in the Philippines that trample on the country’s national sovereignty and further drag the country into military and economic conflicts of the big powers.

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Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Juliet de Lima, the Interim Chairperson, Negotiating Panel, National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

Gibo Teodoro’s head-scratching insinuation that the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) was willing to surrender is simply untrue. To say that this is the basis for the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) agreeing to explore the resumption of peace negotiations is also incorrect. It was the GRP who first approached the NDFP and not the other way around.

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By Mick Kelly, FRSO Political Secretary

FRSO Political Secretary Mick Kelly speaking at the International Theoretical Conference on Imperialism and War organized by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, NDFP. | Freedom Road Socialist Organization

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following paper by Mick Kelly, political secretary of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, that was presented in Amsterdam October 14 at International Theoretical Conference on Imperialism and War organized by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

Comrades and friends,

On behalf of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, I would like to extend our thanks to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and its member organizations for organizing this timely and important theoretical conference on imperialism and war. And we salute all of you in attendance today. We have much to gain by exchanging our respective views, seeking points of agreement to build unity, and putting proletarian internationalism into practice.

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By Josh Rudd

The Philippines flag waves united with Palestine flags in Dallas, Texas. | Fight Back! News/staff

Dallas, TX – Since the most recent bombardment of Gaza by the U.S.-backed Israeli military began over a week ago, Filipino communities across Texas have stood up alongside Palestinians. Leaders want to underscore the connections between the two liberation movements. Filipino community members joined massive rallies over the weekend of October 14-15 in Dallas, Austin and Houston, carrying flags of the Philippines and signs expressing their solidarity with the people of Gaza. During the marches, people began chanting “From Palestine to the Philippines, stop the U.S. war machine!”

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By staff

Milwaukee, WI – Trade union leaders welcomed the chairman of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Elmer “Ka Bong” Labog, to Milwaukee, October 4 and 5. The KMU is the largest and most militant labor coalition in the Philippines. Its name translates to May First Movement, a reference to the revolutionary workers’ holiday of May Day.

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Fight Back News Service is circulating the following resolution, adopted by the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO Executive Board on October 2, 2023.

Resolution in Solidarity with Organized Labor in the Philippines

WHEREAS, legislative and violent attacks on organized labor in the Philippines have resulted in the country being ranked among the world’s deadliest countries for trade unionists, where over 70 workers have been murdered since 2016, and;

WHEREAS, unions and labor activists are frequently targeted with forced union disaffiliation, intimidation, harassment, aggressive surveillance, torture, imprisonment, and killings, and;

WHEREAS, thousands of workers have been arrested on false charges in an attempt to silence their voices, including Anne Krueger, who was working to organize call center workers and hosted two delegations of Communications Workers of America (CWA) members to the Philippines, (1) and; 

WHEREAS, in April 2023, Alex Dolorosa, a union organizer whose work was funded by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), was violently murdered, and no effort has been made by the authorities to investigate his murder, (2) and;

WHEREAS, in the face of legislative attacks, violent repression, and human rights violations committed by the repressive Ferdinand Marcos Jr. regime, unionists in the Philippines continue to organize a vibrant and growing labor movement that merits great respect and solidarity, and;

WHEREAS, the government of the Philippines is by far the largest recipient of US military aid in the Indo-Pacific, having received $1.14 billion in US military aid since 2015, (3) and;

WHEREAS, on May 1st, 2019 the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO unanimously adopted a resolution calling on Congress to end military aid to the government of the Philippines, and; 

WHEREAS, in June, 2020 the AFL-CIO issued a statement calling on Congress to pass the Philippines Human Rights Act (1), which would suspend US military aid to the Philippines, (4) and;

WHEREAS, The Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO, The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), and the AFL-CIO Executive Council have issued resolutions and statements calling for Congressional action to address ongoing human and labor rights violations by the government of the Philippines, and;

WHEREAS, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO, representing nearly 20,000 union members, believes fundamentally in the power of worker solidarity, and actively supports trade unionists and all people of conscience working to stop attacks on labor and democratic rights.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO reaffirms our solidarity with our sisters and brothers in the labor movement of the Philippines, and;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO demands accountability from the Philippine government and supports international calls for a comprehensive investigation of the killings in the Philippines, and;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO calls for the urgent passage and signing of the Philippines Human Rights Act.

  1. https://aflcio.org/about/leadership/statements/congress-should-introduce-and-pass-philippines-human-rights-act

  2. https://aflcio.org/about/leadership/statements/2023-george-meany-lane-kirkland-human-rights-philippines-labor-movement

  3. https://ph.usembassy.gov/fact-sheet-u-s-philippines-defense-and-security-partnership/http

  4. humanrightsph.org/

#MilwaukeeWI #MALC #AFLCIO #Unions #LaborCouncil #Philippines #Labor #InternationalSolidarity

By staff

Red fighters of the New People's Army.

Fight Back New Service is circulating the following statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines.

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By staff

Benito Tiamzon (Ka Laan) with Wilma Austria (Ka Bagong-tao).

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following August 21 statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines.

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