Protests grow against
Dear comrades of the KMU and of the Partido ng Bayan,
It was with consternation and deep sorrow that we learned of the brutal murder of Rolando Olalia, chair of the KMU and of the Partido ng Bayan. We would like to reassure murder of Rolando Olalia you in this sad hour of our full and complete solidarity. We ask you to communicate to the family, friends and comrades of "Lando" Olalia our most sincere condolences. We call on all working-class, progressive and democratic activists to join in the
THE TORTURED BODY of Rolando Olalia was found on Thursday, November 13, in a suburb of Manila. This murder has aroused consternation in the Philippines. Rolando Olalia, commonly called "Lando," was in fact a central figure in the Philippine workers' movement. His father Felixberto, who died in 1983 being released from detention, was one of the main figures in class-struggle trade-unionism in the country. He founded the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU - the May 1 Movement), the independent trade-union confederation.
Rolando Olalia, in turn, became chair of the KMU. (1) In August, he was elected chair of the Partido ng Bayan (the People's Party), a new far-left political formation. (2)
The National Democratic Front announced, following this assassination that it was suspending the ceasefire negotiations with the government. An initial protest demonstration took place on Friday, November 14. Thousands of people demanded the resignation of the minister of defence, Juan Ponce Enrile, a hard-liner in the Marcos regime, who has been held responsible for the murder. Other actions will be held in the coming weeks.
International Viewpoint joins in the protests against this assassination and assures the Philippine workers' movement and people of its full solidarity. We publish below the text of a letter sent by the United Secretariat of the Fourth International to the KMU and to the shortly after protest actions undertaken in response to the murder in many countries of the world.
Rolando Olalia was tortured and struck down because he had become a symbol of the Philippine workers' movement, of class-struggle unionism, as well as of the Philippine militant left. Many cadres of the workers' and people's movement disappeared and are still disappearing after he has fallen. Crime of capitalist reaction
But this new crime of capitalist reaction is especially grave because it is the first time that a national leader of the legal left has been kidnapped and killed in this way in Manila itself. This action comes in the wake of many provocative actions staged by the military, in particular the arrest of Rodolfo Salas in October. (3)
The objective of this is clear: to block any extension of democratic rights, to put in question what the workers' and people's movement has gained by its struggle since February
Partido ng Bayan.
Defence minister Juan Enrile (centre) - thousands have demanded his resignation
(DR)
1986, to recreate a climate of terror and prepare the way for a return to a dictatorial order.
The murder of Rolando Olalia must not, and will not, go unpunished. His fight for the working class and the other poor masses of the Philippines is continuing without letup. Today, more than ever before, it is essential to build active solidarity with the Philippine workers' and people's movement. November 14, 1986. United Secretariat of the Fourth International.
International Viewpoint published interview with Rolando Olalia, then chair of the KMU, in its issue No. 68, January 28. 1985.
International Viewpoint will pub lish an interview in its next issue with Jose Maria Sison, which represents the positions of the Partido Ng Bayan.
3. Rodolfo Salas was arrested by the military as he was leaving a hospital in Manila. Salas is accused of having been the chair of the Communist Party of the Philippines from 1977 to mid-1986. This arrest took place at te very moment the cease fire negotiations between the government and the NDF seemed to have entered a new phase. The same is true today with the murder of Rolando Olalia.
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