Philippines
Liberating the left
Mark Johnson Many party militants concentrate on organising the poorest sectors of
Since 1992, large sections of the society—poor peasant, rural workers Philippine left have thrown off the and urban "squatter" communities. Maoist straitjacket, and embraced a This is long term work, requiring a more dynamic-and democratic- high level of commitment and revolutionary strategy, based on the "If the aim was recruitself-organisation of the oppressed ment, we'd do things differently," Guerrilla war has given way to mass says Quezon. "but we realise that it is political activity. Women's liberation not us the party which will make the is no longer a secondary question. revolution, but the working people. And the diversity of left thinking is So they must have strong, indepenrecognised as an asset, rather than a dent organisations."
This new model of mass work also
In May 1998, most of the anti- ensures that the party is constantly Maoist revolutionaries came together testing elements of its programme in to establish the Revolutionary Workers Party (RPM-P) The party itself is still clandestine.
The new party has Permanent But militants participate in a wide Observer status in the Fourth Interna- range of "above-ground" activities. tional [which sponsors this maga- The RPM-P is a disciplined party, zine.] According to party spokesman but far from monolithic.And the Harry Quezon, "the International social structure-and class struggle helped us replace Maoism with a varies from one island to another. more critical, dynamic Marxism. We This dossier presents the chalalso absorbed many ideas about lenges facing progressive groups in party democracy, pluralism, and the mass organising work. Where need for the party to build genuine, possible, we indicate the link betautonomous social movements, ween mass organising and broader rather than simply focus on its own strategic questions. recruitment." Such a dossier is inevitably partial.
The successive splits in the Commu- In future issues we will report on nist Party of the Philippines have urban labour organising and the obviously weakened the left in the indigenous peoples' struggle. short term. But Quezon is convinced We will also present some of the that the move way from "protracted radical left currents which have people's war" strategy has made it focused on electoral and legal work. much easier to organise the rural and This may be the first time that an urban poor around their immediate ex-Maoist current has embraced so concerns. much of the thinking which this
The armed struggle is not being magazine tries to articulate. abandoned, but guerrilla units now This is a two-way process. In concentrate on defending the gains adapting those ideas to their work in of the mass movement, and protec- the mass movements, they have ting activists, rather than winning created a synthesis which deserves territory. closer study. * 20 International Viewpoint #313 July 1999