Peace talks help the northern Cordillera region, ex-guerillas have helped police track down and eradicate those of their former comrades who have not abandoned the mass struggle armed struggle.
For the CPP-NPA, peace talks are a public relations exercise. They remain committed to a Maoist strategy of "protracted peoples war"
The RPMP has a very different motivation for seeking peace talks. The party is convinced that, in current conditions, the Philippine revolution is best served by open mass work, rather than a military struggle.
Since the split from the CPP-NPA in the early 90s, party leaders have been reevaluating fundamental strategic questions. According to Flor Siato, a journalist sympathetic to the RPMP, it is the objective balance of class forces that will define whether maximum success will be achieved by the revolutionary forces. And it is the revolutionary interest of the stage of the revolution, that will define the direction of the revolution. Do the material conditions permit war? Is it in the interests of the socialist revolution? Not in the Philippines today.
In fact, entering a peace agreement can be a valuable revolutionary tactic. If the balance of forces does not permit the forces of revolution to win the war against their enemies, it may be better to negotiate a peace. This provides respite for the revolutionary forces, in order to avoid worse losses, and consolidate their successes. A peace 8 International Viewpoint #319 February 2000 agreement could allow many RPMP cadre to come out of hiding and devote their considerable experience to open forms of mass struggle.
"Lenin once wrote 'War is a means of obtaining a somewhat better or somewhat worse peace. Justifying the unfavourable peace agreement with Germany in 1918, he said If I accept peace when the army is in flight, and must be in flight if it is not to lose thousands of men, I accept it in order to prevent things from getting worse."
"Vietnamese revolutionaries under Ho Chi Mihn reached a peace agreement with the French colonists to gain respite, and consolidate their liberation of northern Vietnam.
"The Vietnamese entered peace negotiations with the USA even while they continued their offensive to liberate South Vietnam from US imperialism. The aim was to put the imperialists on the defensive in the international community, prevent worse loses and destruction, and end the war earlier.
"Do people think that the interests of the world revolution require war? Will peace give people the impression that imperialism is being legitimised? Perhaps. But revolutions develop as class antagonisms sharpen. They cannot be "pushed" by declaring war on the capitalist state... Armed struggle is not obligatory under all conditions and at all times.
"To base tactics on the subjective desire to let the masses rise up in revolution, without their own direct experience and decision, is completely unscientific. It is an error vangardism.
"According to Lenin's fundamental impossible without a nation-wide crisis (affecting both the exploited exploiters.)... for a revolution to take place, it is essential, first, that a majority of the workers would fully realise that revolution is necessary, and that they should be prepared to die for it. Second, the ruling classes should be going through a governmental crisis which draws even the most backward masses into politics. weakens the government, and makes it possible for revolutionaries to rapidly overthrow it...?"
These conditions clearly do not exist in the Philippines at this time. The intensity of class struggle is certainly not pre-revolutionary. Bourgois rule is despite the growing disenchantment of the people with
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President Estrada. Elected on a left populist platform, Estrada's popularity has plummeted from 60% to just over 5% in less than three years.
Despite media and international concern over crony capitalism, Estrada administration is in effective control of the government. Unfavoured sections of the bourgeoisie still support key planks of Estrada's strategy of constitutional and economic reform to improve the profits of local and global
There is no strong unified bourgois opposition, except when the Catholic hierarchy joins with opposition leader Cory Aquino and some other opposition personalities to denounce dangers, such as the revival of a presidential monopoly on power and
The mass of proletarian and semiproletarian Filipinos, in urban and rural areas, are struggling under the worst unemployment and highest inflation since the overthrow of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986. Only 9% of the workforce is unionised, and this figure is declining as a result of mass layoffs, contractualisation, and union-busting.
The largest unions and federations are dominated by labour aristocrats The CPP-influenced KMU labour federation combines militant action with sterile rhetoric. CPP cadre continue to use the federation as a recruiting ground and logistic base for their guerrilla struggle, rather m than developing strong autonomous labour movements to fight for workers' direct interests.
A wide section of the unorganised working class is influenced by the reactionary hierarchy of religious institutions, through their programmes that provide some response to their suffering. There is noticeable mass participation by the spontaneous masses on protest actions initiated by religious institutions.
Liberation theology influence among priests and nuns, many of whom joined progressive even
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Amsterdam revolutionary organisations.
influence in general population much less than in Latin America. Since the of the dictatorship, the church hierarchy has become less accommodating to progressive politics, and increasingly dominated by sacramental conception of the Christian
The vulgarised Maoist line and
"protracted peoples war" strategy of the
CPP does more harm than good to the socialist interest of the working class.
The "NGO left" and Popoy Lagman's
PMP pursue their sectarian agendas.
people continue struggle for self determination. But the
MILF and MNLF have pursued different directions of struggle. The
MNLF has demobilised in exchange for
"autonomy"
partial incorporation of their leaders into the ruling elite.
The MILF may follow the same
Meanwhile, progressive leadership is struggling to hegemony
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° 1. Babuyan
- Quezon City
MANILE
San Pablo
Satangar 0
SAMAR
MINDORO
PANAY o lloilo!
Princesa - NEGROS
Cogapan de Dro-
MINDANAO-
Davag amboenga
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SToral an
CELEBES fundamentalists now control about 40% of the organisation.
The need is for the mass of workers to learn from their own experiences, in a struggle for reforms, which also leads them to believe in their own strength, and raise their awareness and morale for wider struggles against capitalist exploitation and oppression. This is to be done through open and legal mass parliamentary struggle, using this arena to educate, organise and lead the workers' struggle.
The RPMP has completely rejected the "protracted peoples war" strategy it followed as part of the CPP. Since the split, it has maintained its armed forces, but not launched a revolutionary war against the state. The main role of the RPA-ABB is to consolidate itself, and play a support role to the working class movement. Military actions should only be carried out to defend the interests of the workers' movement, and repulse specific enemy attacks against the revolutionary movement.
negotiations evaluated in terms of the transitional programme for socialist struggle. In the present situation, it seems possible to obtain, through peace talks, real concessions and reforms that will benefit the masses and the revolutionary forces. The correctness and success of the party's new tactics will be measured on this basis.
The RPMP will designate a national panel to conduct the negotiations, under the supervision of the party leadership. It is still unclear how other left forces, and "civil society" will be associated with and informed about the negotiations. * 00 International Viewpoint #319 February 2000 9