Powerful campaign for the support of the revolution in the Philippines

April 18, 2018 C. Kistler

For the first time in the history of the FRG a systematic campaign about the Philippine Revolution, which has been progressing for more than 50 years, was set up by the revolutionary youth.

Actions and propaganda were put into practice in Berlin (especially Neukoelln, Wedding and Pankow), Magdeburg, Bochum, Flensburg, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Cologne, Münster, Saarland, Stuttgart and the Weserbergland (especially Bueckeburg). Besides the informative events in the evening and travel reports from comrades who visited the Philippines, there were thousands of posters, wall papers and flyers, many discussions and interviews for befriended organisations, a music compilation and videos, templates, big and small graffiti, tags in many cities, a spontaneous demonstration and a rally.

The campaign succeeded without a doubt to bring the fight and the sacrifice of the Philippine Communists into the FRG – especially into the local political resistance movement and the red youth – but also into the streets from working-class neighbourhoods to make it more present there, too. The inherent honor this people´s war has – as one of the most progressive revolutionary fights of the proletariat under the red flag with hammer and sickle – is definitely justified.

So in our understading it has been an important contribution to the proletarian internationalism.

Particularly the events in the evening and through the online-propaganda many German teenagers who seek for real political perspectives for the progression of the revolution in our country could learn a lot from the example of the communists in the Philippines.

The sequence

During the Solidarity Month we conducted evening events about the People´s War in the Philippines in Bueckeburg, Berlin, Stuttgart and Cologne with pictures and videos.

Despite the relatively short duration of the events the history of this country, a deep insight into the revolutionary movement and the People´s War and their ideology could be given, as well as a lively view of many sectors of the work of New People’s Army NPA and the life of the guerillas, the organisation of the New Power of consolidated guerilla zones and the legal and illegal work of the communists in the cities.

In all cities the events were connected with other activities. In Stuttgart with an antifascist mobilization against a reactionary marching-up, in Cologne with proletarian martial arts and solidarity with the political prisoner of the FRG-imperialism Musa Asoglu. In Berlin it was connected with a rally for the Philippines and in Bueckeburg with a cooperative celebration.

All events were well attended as expected. We reached about 120 mostly young people. So the Philippine revolution could be brought closer to them and a basic knowledge about the People´s War led by communists against exploitation and oppression which are caused by imperialism, too. There were many discussions and positive feedbacks. Subsequently many comrades and persons from other cities of the FRG showed interest and gave invitations and requests to talk at their locations about the People´s war. The next events will be in summer.

We could enlight and inspire many sympathisers and activists through the speeches and experience reports. But also we could intensify the understanding of proletarian internationalism and the understanding of the implementation of our ideology to our more experienced comrades. It was important to us to reach the masses in the streets of our neighbourhoods and not only the ones who came to our events of their own accord in order to show them how brave combatants raise to fight with the gun in their hands to enforce the interests of their class and to send imperialism, half-feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism to the rubbish heap of history.

And this is how we carried the campaign into the streets of our hoods. All in all many thousand posters were spread and put up in the whole FRG. From Southern Berlin-Neukoelln to Pankow and Wedding in the North of Berlin, from Flensburg to Hamburg, over the Weserbergland, Magdeburg, Muenster, Bochum and Cologne, Gelsenkirchen, Saarland to Stuttgart the propaganda for the revolution in the Philippines was spread and brought to the people. Especially in Magdeburg, Flensburg and Cologne and some other regions of Germany the comrades went purposefully into the working-class and poor neighbourhods.

Sprayed stencils, tags and slogans on walls, wallpapers and big posters at central locations: All of this should carry the heroic struggle of the Philippine communists against exploitation and oppression into the streets of our hoods and into the mind of our class.

Thousands of flyers were spread, there were many interesting talks with people among the masses. We wanted to give our Philippine comrades – whether in the mountains or the cities – a voice in the capital of German imperialism and give their struggle audition. We did this with a declared rally in the working-class and migrant hood Berlin-Neukoelln where we had speeches, revolutionary music of the Philippine movement and loud chants.

We embedded the International Day of Women’s Struggle March 8th into our solidarity month and announced a text about the role of the women in the Philippine revolution to bring the struggle of women into the streets.

During the month a music compilation was made including revolutionary music of the Philippine movement. Everything from Rap to Pop is on this CD. It can be bought in the events to support the work. It is available on the internet, too.

Some comrades made a big graffiti with the writing „VIVA CPP – NPA – NDF“ and the logos of the organisations to show the three tools of the revolution: The party at first as the centre, the army as the central mass movement and military body and the front as the association of all classes and layers of society that are in contradiction to imperialism to be allied on the side of revolution.

One evening during the soildarity month a little unlicensed demostration went through Berlin-Neukoelln from the railway station S-Bahnhof Neukoelln over the Karl-Marx-Street which included pyrotechnics, signs with slogans and a banner with the words “Victory to People´s War – Viva CPP – NPA – NDF“. This demonstration took the streets that appertain to our class by itself. In the beginning a USA-flag was burned und during the action chants came out like “Down with the US-Duterte regime – victory to the People´s War in the Philippines“ and “Up the international solidarity“.

Following our call many bigger and smaller propaganda actions were realized by the red youth in Germany.

Conclusion

Besides our following text and the conclusion we want to note the consistent work of the different red circles and youth groups of the regions in Germany. Especially the JugendarbeiterInnen Bund Muenster (Youth Workers‘ Union Muenster), the Revolutionäres Kollektiv Flensburg (Revolutionary Collective Flensburg), Rot-Revolutionäre Jugend from the Weserbergland (Red-Revolutionary Youth), the Revolutionäre Aktion Bochum (Revolutionary Action Bochum) and the Rote Arbeiterjugend Magdeburg (Red Working-Class Youth Magdeburg) and the organized and non-organized sympathisers from other cities did good work and demonstrated what it means to be not 5 isolated fingers, but an aimed red fist. This is the way the red youth has to go in Germany to give the same contribution as the Philippine comrades are doing.

A big support – especially when it came to localities – for the campaign came from Turkish comrades from Halk Cephesi (Popular Front) and Dev Genc as well as from the comrades from Stuttgart from the Lilo Hermann Haus.

The fact that we will have more events about the Philippine revolution following in summer in other cities underlines one important thing: The international solidarity with People´s War of Philippine communists isn´t a short impulse that is done with one campaign. It has to bring continuous moral – and if it is possible for the comrades also practical – support for this long and heroic fight of our class brothers and sisters to take it in any revolutionary work that has to be done in this country. We have the same ideology and have the same struggle at other front sectors of the proletarian world revolution. It is necessary to learn from the Marxist-Leinist-Maoist communists of the Philippines and from the great movement they have built. We have to learn what is transferable to our conditions and to hold up their march marked by many victims to strategic balance in the People´s War and we have to defend it.

We know that the old NPA-fighter, the party official and the young Lumad-girls in the consolidated gurilla zones in Mindanao will look together at the photos of our campaign from Germany and they will gain power and confidence. That is the endearment of the peoples of the proletarian internationalism . That fulfills us with pride just like the fact that they are fighting for our and the liberation of the whole mankind every day. We send our flaming red salutations to the Philippines and give the comrades our promise to hold up their fight at any time.

In the spirit of proletarian internationalism to never let our bonding cool down and led by Marxism-Leninism-Maoism to progress the revolution in our country.

Let us support the Revolution in the Philippines!

Victory to People´s War!

Berlin