Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa–Mindanao
Written by: Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa–Mindanao;
Published: 2010;
Source: Text retrieved from the website of the RPM-M;
Markup: Simoun Magsalin;
Copyright: No specific copyrights.
The Philippines has an uneven capitalist development under big foreign monopoly capital control.
Developments of the world capitalist system have brought about an uneven capitalist development in the country. The most advanced capitalist forms coexist with pre-capitalist and other earlier forms, with the latter subordinated to the former.
Developed but different from the particular conditions of a backward colonial and/or semi-colonial country, Philippine society is basically a capitalist country. Capitalism already dominates and permeates the whole social life of Philippine society. Remnants of old relations of production, that include even some earlier Asiatic forms among the Moro and Lumad peoples, are secondary and only serve to facilitate the basic interest of capital to extract profit.
This process of mal-development is being worsened by the neo-imperialist onslaught of globalization promoted by the country’s bourgeois government policies. Under the dictates of the World Bank and IMF loan conditionalities and structural adjustment program and its commitments in the GATT-WTO-APEC agreements, the government ensures the implementation of globalization through the Medium Term Philippines Development Plan of the government.
Globalization is weak and nothing but the specific feature of imperialism as it grapples with the present crisis of the world capitalist system. The crisis inevitably develop from the contradiction between the socialized production and capitalist ownership of the means of production of capitalism. The continued accumulation and higher concentration of social wealth in the hands of a smaller number of big monopoly capitalists has the corresponding degree of deterioration of the standard of living of millions of working masses brought about by the intensified exploitation of monopoly capital on the other hand.
It seeks to solve this crisis of the system by breaking through the protective barriers of nation states of less developed countries from the harsh competition and exploitation of big foreign monopoly capital. This takes the form of trade liberalization, privatization of lucrative fields of investments in social services and financial deregulation.
Finance capital remains the biggest controlling interest of foreign monopoly capital and maintains powerful control over the country’s economy. This control of big foreign finance capital interest is tightened further by the liberalized banking and capital flow that paved the way for the rapid increase of portfolio investments in the country. Foreign-debt that is a major source of public spending also tie down the country to the dictates of the IMF-WB.
Intensified foreign competition due to trade and investment liberalization pushed by the local bourgeois government is resulting into continuing bankruptcies of small local capital that aggravates the problem of absence of heavy industries and limited manufacturing sectors.
The latest technological advancements are more commercial and tourist oriented and there is the corresponding rise of the new bourgeois elite who act as adjuncts of big foreign monopoly capital in siphoning surplus through the marketing of foreign consumer goods/services and financing.
Big foreign monopoly capitalist interest dominate the orientation of agricultural production through its control on the market of the country’s main agricultural products, marketing of agricultural inputs for local farming heavily dependent on these products and in the large-scale cash crops and agriculture-based raw material production with high productivity.
These interests also control most of the existing enterprises in the extractive industries through direct ownership or loans provided to the government. These are continuously contributing to capitalistic technological advancements in the rural areas and corresponding changes in land ownership patterns and the rapid disintegration of self-sufficient peasant economy of nationality minority peoples.
Capitalistic social transformation in agriculture has been mainly junker-led. Large tracts of agricultural land continue to be controlled and owned by big landed families who gained from the penetration of monopoly capitalist interests in agriculture by going into the profitable endeavors of cash crops production and/or trading and other agri-business. This can be seen in the large-scale although technologically backward agricultural production of export crops of sugar and coconut, in other commercial vegetable production and in the monopolistic trading and marketing of rice grains and selling of agricultural inputs.
A small number of small capitalist entrepreneur farmers have thrived in the production and trading of rice, fruit and vegetable crops for the local market and in contract-growing for big foreign corporations in corn, banana and pineapple. A few land reform beneficiaries were able to accumulate capital to sustain and expand their entrepreneurial interests by hiring labor, earning profit from local trading of agricultural produce and engaging in usury to poor farmers.
The erosion of the feudal self-sufficient economy has developed to the extent of the disappearance of small-scale self-sufficient peasant production as a viable means of subsistence. There are widespread and continuous bankruptcies of small-scale peasant production. Small tiller-producers could not cope with the cost of production necessary to ensure productivity, oftentimes becoming bankrupt victims of usurers/creditors. Even most land reform beneficiaries ultimately relinquish their rights over their land due to their incapacity to sustain production in the setting of a highly commercialized crops production. This is further aggravated by government deregulation that drastically reduced government-support on irrigation facilities and cheap inputs and opened the local market to cheaper imported agricultural produce.
Although communal production for food self-sufficiency still exist among tribal and Moro peoples, this has been subordinated to the capitalist orientation of production for the market which takes the form of the shifting of a bigger portion of their farming for cash or for the market.
Uneven capitalist mal-development has made the problem of poverty, unemployment and inflation chronic in the country. Globalization is further intensifying exploitation, worsening unemployment and pushing the pauperization of millions of laboring masses. The worst situation is in the underdeveloped countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, such as the Philippines and extends to the second world of Europe without sparing the masses of workers in the countries of the first world.
Millions of masses of wage and low-salary earners are at the mercy of capital with their labor-power being pegged to the lowest as the supply of labor continues to balloon from the continuing displacement in agriculture and from business bankruptcies while opportunities for employment go the opposite way of contraction. The standard of living continues to worsen with the working masses wallowing in misery and poverty in contrast to the social wealth and technological progress developed by the advancements of capitalist society.
The thrust of the government to develop the country’s international competitiveness through labor-only-contracting has meant loss of jobs, lower wages, absence of security of tenure, absence of social benefits and as capitalists take advantage of this state policy.
Thousands of workers have been laid-off, many without separation pay. Most of them were employed by the numerous manufacturing and commercial establishments that went bankrupt and/or were forced to reduce production from the impact of globalization.
The majority of the employed are in the service sector with low salary and wages. Many of them do not have security of tenure and social benefits. They are in the transportation, food and hotel establishments, communication, health and education sectors.
The rapid disintegration of the peasantry has reached the level of the proletarianization of the majority of this class. The new class of landless rural poor who either cannot get land to cultivate (by ownership, tenancy or occupation) or whose small piece of land cannot produce enough for their needs, and cannot get any regular work as a farm hand comprise the great majority of the rural population. Their means of surviving takes the form of combining off-farm and on-farm work whenever and wherever they can sell their labor at a much lesser amount for more work. Although there has been a continuous decrease in employment in agriculture, there has been no corresponding increase of employment in the other sectors, such as manufacturing and services. Instead, there is a noted increase in the number of families whose income comes from others outside of agriculture, fishing, service, manufacturing, or industry. Migration from the rural areas to the urban centers has been increasing for decades in the search of the pauperized land tillers for odd jobs in the urban centers to survive. They continue to swell the number of the semi-proletariat urban poor.
The phenomenon on the rise in the number and contribution as the number one dollar-earner of the country’s income of overseas workers has emerged due to the extreme problem of unemployment in the country. Most of these migrant workers are laid-off workers, bankrupt farmers from the rural areas and even low-salaried professionals who manage to borrow or raise the amount necessary to pay for any available overseas employment. They are hired by capitalists of other countries chiefly because their labor is much cheaper and, most of the time, without the conditions for social benefits.
Only the conscious and organized action of the working class can change the exploitative and oppressive rule of foreign monopoly capital and adjunct local capitalists, including the junker capitalists and bring about their liberation from the rule of capital.
This social revolution by the masses of the proletariat and semi-proletariat will seek to change capitalist ownership of the means and the orientation of production towards establishing a socialist society that will bring about genuine social progress and justice and give dignity to mankind.
The revolutionary struggle in the country will seek to establish socialized utilization of all wealth created in society. Together with this, production will be geared towards the rational use of all natural and existing resources for the total welfare of the laboring masses and the well-being of the future generations of mankind. Given the condition that international monopoly capital has powerful control and dictates over the local state and economy, the unified action of the working class worldwide both in the advanced and dominated countries such as the Philippines is absolutely necessary to ensure the victory of socialism.
The socialist revolution in the country will have to be a part of the world proletarian revolution towards socialism. The particular conditions and aims of struggle of other countries will be respected as the basis for the effective advance of the working class movement in each country. On this basis, the solidarity of all the masses of the working class in the whole world will be strengthened.
Socialist Revolution is only possible if it values the struggle of women, LGBT at the same time giving much importance to the ecology. Openly the LGBT, women and the workers inside are victims of oppression in their sector, in the community and in the whole capitalist system. The exploitation and destruction of the environment is the same as destroying the flow of the struggle. It became the interest of the monopoly capital and rich countries the rich natural resources of the poor countries, which through deceptive mechanisms they can take control over in exchange of foreign aids, loans and other means to control. Together with all the revolutionary movements in the world, the gender and environment question should not be set aside, it should be integral to the over-all framework.
At the same time, this should avoid the experience of the anti-worker nature of bureaucratic states of the failed models of socialist countries. Workers democracy will be promoted as the real basis for a socialist society to develop fully.
The struggle against capitalism and the building of socialism can only succeed by overthrowing capitalist rule and dismantling the bourgeois state power as the principal instrument of the bourgeoisie in maintaining the capitalist order.
This political struggle of the proletariat must be led and organized by its vanguard detachment and political party. Armed with the revolutionary theory on advancing the class struggle of the working class, the vanguard detachment will define the direction and line of march of the working class movement against the bourgeois rule and all efforts to disarm, corrupt and waylay the working class movement.
The chief hindrance/problem for the advance of the working class movement lies in the contradiction between the maturity of the material conditions for a socialist revolution and the immaturity or unpreparedness of the proletarian class to undertake direct revolutionary action of seizing state power from the bourgeoisie.
Although capitalism breeds the seeds of the class struggle of the proletariat and revolutionary change for socialism in the country, the bourgeoisie still maintain their strong rule in the country through the bourgeois republic based on a constitutional democracy. This bourgeois democratic government effectively institutes, promotes and defends the interests of the big foreign monopoly capitalists and the loca bourgeoisie including the junker landowners while paying lip-service to the real democratic interests of the broad laboring masses.
The bourgeois government officials together with the bourgeoisie in the church hierarchy and the labor aristocrats (who compromise the interests of the organized workers in unions and cooperatives in exchange of favors from the capitalists) strongly influence the masses of the working class. They deceptively present themselves as their champions through the use of their resources and the semblance of democracy in the bourgeois electoral process. They offer false hopes of reforms and economic benefits that would improve the living conditions for the working masses.
At the same time, working class movement and level of organization face problems and limitations that make the proletariat unprepared for direct, open, mass and revolutionary action for the immediate seizure of state power from the bourgeoisie and establishing socialism:
The struggles of the broad masses of workers remain at the level of day-to-day economic survival while the big bulk remain unorganized as only 8 to 12 per cent who are better paid and relatively more secured of their jobs are organized in unions.
Particular limited technological advancements of Philippine capitalism have produced a mass of destitute of unemployed and underemployed semi-proletarians in the urban and rural areas. At the same time, the number of the relatively advanced industrial proletariat which have generally a high sense of organization and discipline is small. A big bulk of the working class therefore have a weak sense of organization and are strongly driven by the individual desire to survive and entangled in the “war of survival of the fittest” in the decaying capitalist system
The leadership of the vanguard detachment of the working class has been beset by problems of disunity over ideological and practical questions of leading the working class movement. These have resulted in the disorganization of the working class struggle and the absence of a strong unified Party leadership over the revolutionary struggle of the proletariat in the country.
The direction of leading the struggle towards a national-democratic revolution of the PPW-type is dissipating the revolutionary energy of proletarian militants and revolutionaries.
Thus, the historical circumstance by which the present revolutionary forces were developed, pose limitations that require the redirection of efforts in order to have an effective reach and lead the broad masses of the working class in the struggle against capitalist exploitation and oppression:
First, the bulk of the memberships of the revolutionary mass organizations composed of a few thousands are rural semi-proletarians;
And second, the armed revolutionary contingents are inorganic of the mass movement and way ahead of the general level of working class struggle. Their effectivity lies more in supportive and selective punitive actions against specific enemies of the working class movement.
Confusion and demoralization within the socialist forces resulting from the failures arising from the experience of Eastern bureaucratic states and the unrelenting attacks by anti-socialist bourgeois forces have reinforced the position of anti-Leninist petty-bourgeois deviation that sow confusion and disunity within the Marxist-Leninist forces
The peasant class has rapidly disintegrated and does not present a solid class due to the high level of penetration of capital and commodity production in agriculture. The material and class basis for a bourgeois-democratic revolution of a peasant-type therefore does not exist.
The land reform promoted by the bourgeois government under the capitalist system reinforces bourgeois-property -relations that is small-scale and inutile in the face of dominance of foreign monopoly capitalist interests in agricultural production.
The interest for land by the masses of the landless rural poor who comprise the rural proletariat and semi-proletariat cannot but be bound up with the need to change capitalist appropriation of the other means of production and wealth that ensure land productivity.
However, the restiveness of the masses is building up in the face of the worsening poverty and deteriorating living conditions that the intensified capitalist exploitation and oppression have brought about under the effects of globalization.
Spontaneous participation of the unorganized section of the masses on broad economic and political issues directed against the government is increasing.
The experience of the broad masses in fighting and toppling-down the Marcos fascist dictatorship have developed a level of vigilance that prod spontaneous popular sentiment and action against threats of fascist revival.
The neo-imperialist onslaught through globalization on the local economy has more than ever, intensified capitalist exploitation and oppression on the masses of proletarians and semi-proletarians in the whole world as well as in country. This is worsening the physical and moral degradation of the masses of workers as gains of worldwide working class struggle on wages and benefits and right to unionize are more boldly violated. It brings to a higher degree the contradiction between the bourgeoisie and the working class in the whole world that would ultimately lead to the final confrontation and resolution of the contradiction of the last class society.
At present, when the conditions of a revolutionary situation do not yet exist, specifically when the proletariat has low level of political consciousness and organization, the anti-imperialist and democratic struggle must be advanced as the transitional program that characterize the specific approach towards the proletarian revolution. By this, the masses of the proletariat will gain political experience and be led towards the revolutionary position for the final seizure state power from the bourgeoisie and establishing socialism.
This transitional program will serve to advance the following three categories of direction of action:
First, the democratic demand that would serve as means to effect a change in the power relations to the advantage of the working class towards the direction of setting-up socialist democracy and serve the establishment of workers’ power.
Second, the partial and immediate demands that will address the well-being and better conditions of the masses of the proletariat to safeguard their physical and moral conditions while at the same time, raise their level of class consciousness and organization.
And the third category of action will be directed against the foundations of capitalist property, power and privilege.
Around the task of advancing the transitional program, the Party must strive to achieve success in the following:
To organize the broader masses of proletarians and semi-proletarians in the rural and urban areas of the country and among migrant workers and develop more class-conscious proletarian elements as socialist professionals and militants capable of leading the broadest masses. This must be directed in leading the struggles of the class to improve their well being against capitalist exploitation and oppression and in conducting socialist education among the laboring masses.
To use the bourgeois constitutional and electoral processes and legislative bodies to educate and organize the laboring masses on the need to stand and assert for their real economic and political interests as against those promoted by the bourgeois government and labor aristocrats and weaken bourgeois rule. At the same time, this should serve to train and educate the working class on governance.
To consolidate the armed revolutionary contingents developed from the past anti-dictatorship revolutionary endeavors by maximizing its strength in supporting the general effort to advance the working class movement and defending it from specific and direct attacks against the interests of workers and revolutionary forces.
To advance and lead the youth and student revolutionary movement as a motive force necessary for the rapid dissemination of the socialist and revolutionary propaganda and strong mass support of the working class struggles.
To strive to lead and advance the social movements for women’s liberation, protection of ecology and environment and protection of children’s rights as complementary struggles integral in advancing the working class movement.
To strengthen proletarian leadership and consolidate the revolutionary gains in the struggle of the Moro and other minority nationalities for national self-determination.
To disseminate the lessons from the failures of Stalinism and the bureaucratic states and the dogmatization and vulgarization of the Maoist experience of people’s war.
Expose anomalies, corruption and irregularities in the bourgeoisie bureaucracy that paved the way in the environmental destruction and at the same to have proactive actions against.
To strengthen the RPM-M along Marxist-Leninist traditions and new learnings of worldwide advance of the working class movement and against the anarchistic petty-bourgeois influence and internal deviations of discarding Leninist principles of building the Party as the advanced detachment of the working class.
To develop solidarity with the working class movement in other countries towards the direction of advancing the revolutionary struggle of the working class in the whole world for socialism.
The secessionist armed struggle of the Moro people from the present bourgeois government should be supported critically as a progressive movement towards the social transformation of society for more socialistic relations in the economic, political and social system of the Moro peoples.
The small percent of rural petty bourgeoisie who emerged from the ranks of the disintegrated peasantry can be won over in the struggle against big foreign monopoly capital, the junker capitalists and the bourgeois state on the basis of the threat of their proletarianization and their common interests with that of the working class on the effects of intensified exploitation and oppression by global capital.
Struggles must be launched against the pernicious influence sectarianism, vanguardism, liquidism and reformism promoted by the bourgeois constitutional democracy together with the bourgeoisie sector of labor.
The anti-imperialist and democratic struggle will be advanced by forwarding the three categories of direction of the democratic, partial/immediate and direct demands against the foundations of capitalist property, power and privilege of the transitional program.
Towards this end, the following specific struggles and demands will be put forward for action of the working class movement:
Struggle for the right to decent living and to have job security and just compensation in the face of intensified attack by global capital on the working class
Demand to safeguard workers against abuse of individual businesses/capitalists of using the Labor-Only-Contracting law to lay-off and violate rights to form unions, security of tenure and social benefits.
Bankruptcy declarations must be duly scrutinized by a tripartite body of representatives of the workers, government and the business entity.
Demand for employment and social security scheme for the unemployed in the rural and urban areas and the workers recently laid-off due to bankruptcies from impact of deregulation and trade liberalization, in the industrial, manufacturing, commercial, services and agricultural sectors.
Government funds allotted for discretionary spending that promotes corruption and extravagant spending of public officials should be scrapped and channeled to fund social security and basic services on health, free education and housing.
Demand for the institution of strict rules and punishment system against corrupt public servants in government labor agencies that violate the laws and compromise workers/employees interests in favor of businessman/employer violators.
Demand for minimum wage that is based on the daily cost of living as the only way of ensuring decent living conditions of workers in the face of continuous inflation and currency fluctuations.
Rampant violations on the mandated minimum wage must be eliminated by the institution of laws, strict monitoring scheme and punishment system.
Demand for progressive tax exemptions of wage and low-salary earners wherein the withholding and income tax will only be applicable on earnings higher than the daily cost of living.
Demand for protection from health hazards at work especially in industries that pose health hazards to workers/employees must be ensured through the institution of strict rules on implementation and compliance with corresponding punishments for violators of safety standards.
Demand and work for the economic and political rights of migrant workers especially in their countries of work to ensure the protection of their rights and welfare.
Struggle for the institution, broadening and defense of democratic and human rights of the workers, landless rural poor, urban poor, youth and students, women and other oppressed sections.
Demand and work for the right of urban and rural wage and low-salary earners and the unemployed to form unions and associations together with their right to expression and assembly must be duly instituted, respected and defended.
This political right must be fully developed as the means to wield the strength of the workers and other laboring masses in fighting against the violations and abuse of capitalists who take advantage of their poverty and powerlessness to extract the maximum profit at the expense of their well-being.
Efforts of employer junker and other capitalists to harass, buy-off and subvert these rights of the working masses must be fought against and duly punished. Persons-of-authority and public officials who use their positions and allow themselves to become instruments of these violations must be exposed, made accountable and recalled.
Demand and work for the equal pay and maternity rights of women workers and protection against sexual discrimination, harassment and other violence against women.
Specific laws, monitoring system and provisions for punishments of violations should be defined and implemented.
Demand and work for the protection of children against child labor and the violence and exploitation of children.
Struggle and work for the more academic freedom and education that is readily available and affordable for the urban and landless rural poor and of social relevance system.
Intensify and give deep study on LGBT Rights and issues in the Mindanao, Philippines and international contexts.
Struggle for a more progressive and democratic structure in agriculture
Struggle and work for the expropriation of backward sugar plantations, remaining large tracts of rice land and other backward large-scale crops plantation such as coconut in favor of agricultural unions, associations and cooperatives. This should serve to provide employment and improve the living conditions of thousands of displaced agricultural workers, landless rural poor and the rest of the unemployed in these production areas.
Taxes, levies and social amelioration funds taken from the income in these crop lines should be turned over to these unions, associations and cooperatives for the transformation of these lands into more productive undertakings.
Struggle and work for the rationalization of agriculture, including the fishing industry, to mean the promotion of less expensive, environment-friendly, and sustainable production primarily geared for food security and for ensuring cheap grains and other food supplies for the broad masses of the working class.
Land conversions that only serve to intensify unemployment and worsen poverty and lack of food should be resisted.
Demand for employment security, disturbance pay and decent housing for the displaced of agricultural workers and landless rural poor where agricultural land has been converted for industrial/commercial use.
Monopolistic and dictatorial structures of merchant traders/cartels that worsen inflation by dictating prices and manipulation of food supplies must be dismantled.
Cooperatives and/or alternative trading and marketing structures should be set-up by the workers and landless rural poor in the rural areas as support structure in the struggle against usurers, exorbitant prices and the lack of food supply.
The seas, fresh waters, shores and wide open seas are also hit of the monopolistic system in the world. Small fishers are victims of unfair agreements between countries. As an important sector in the economic production, demands and issues must also be given importance. As part of the oppressed, it must benefit and be part of instituting mechanisms and program for the liberation of the sector and the oppressed as a whole.
Support and work for the Moro and other minority nationality rights to self-determination against big bourgeois national and class oppression.
Work for equal and just relations with other countries and international solidarity with their workers and oppressed masses.
Write-off foreign debts incurred during the Marcos dictatorship and those which have not been of public use.
End of all unequal agreements between the country and other governments/international bodies.
Condemn and work against superpower aggression and violation against rights of nations to self-determination.
Unite with workers movement in other countries and work for joint endeavors in waging struggles against neo-imperialism.
Support other struggles of oppressed peoples and nations against the scourge of the world capitalist system that would serve to hasten the downfall of bourgeois rule and the advance of socialism.
RPM-M Tasks and Programs. Finalized and Adopted during the RPM-M Second Congress this August 2010 in Camp Usman, Mindanao, Philippines.