Pahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas ANG Pinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoismo English Edition Vol XLII No. 16 August 21, 2011 www.philippinerevolution.net Editoryal Resist the US imperialist charter change scheme n collusion with the puppet officials of the away with national minimum wage standards. The Aquino government, US imperialism is now Herrerra Law also amended the Labor Code, Ivigorously pushing for the amendment of the paving the way for labor contractualization and 1987 Philippine constitution. In another case of additional restrictions on the right to strike. Cap- brazen US intervention in the country's internal italists made use of these laws to further depress affairs, the US is campaigning for the removal of wages and block workers from forming unions. For provisions in the constitution that prohibit for- the past 20 years, workers' wages have been vir- eign corporations from having majority control tually at a standstill, falling way behind the rap- over companies operating in the Philippines. id rise in the cost of living and condemning Fil- The Filipino people must strongly oppose ipino workers to ever worsening social condi- these US imperialist maneuvers as they further tions. Since then, the number of unions and trample on the Philippines' economic sovereignty unionized workers in the Philippines has dropped which has already taken a severe beating in the by almost 70%. last 25 years due to the policies of liberalization, Successive IMF-approved Medium Term Philip- deregulation, privatization and denationaliza- pine Development Plans (MTPDPs) were imple- tion. The amendments being pushed by the US mented by the Aquino, will complete the economic recolonization of the Ramos, Estrada and Arroyo Philippines and lead to ever deeper crisis. regimes. All these were In reality, though, the provisions of the marked by efforts to 1987 constitution which are supposed to bring in foreign protect economic sovereignty have never really stopped the imperialists from plun- dering the Philippines' national patrimo- ny. Since the late 1980s, successive pup- pet regimes have strictly adhered to poli- cies imposed by the International Mon- etary Fund in exchange for new credit. All of these policies sought to further open up the economy to the operations of foreign monopoly capitalists and dis- mantle tariffs on foreign trade. In line with these policies, numerous laws have been passed which directly contravened the reactionary constitution of 1987. To “attract” foreign investments, the rights of Filipino workers were suppressed and wage hikes curtailed. The Wage Rationaliza- tion Act which was passed in 1989 did This issue’s 4Ps, burdening 4 BJMP officials Worsening US debt and deceiving declared as POW crisis highlights... the poor PAGE 3 PAGE 7 PAGE 13 investors to do business in the past puppet regimes. However, slashes. Philippines and take advantage for 65 years under the neocolo- In pushing for amendments of cheap Philippine labor. For- nial republic, the Philippine to the 1987 constitution, the US eign capital was invested in pri- economy has been in a constant imperialists and their local po- vatized and deregulated indus- state of crisis, unable to achieve litical henchmen aim to do away tries such as power generation, self-reliance and always de- with all pretensions to econom- water and electricity distribu- pendent on foreign loans and ic sovereignty. They seek to tion utilities, road infrastruc- capital infusion. The wealth cre- break down all barriers and al- ture, transportation and in busi- ated by the Filipino peasantry low foreign big capital to plun- ness process outsourcing to take and working class is constantly der the local economy with im- advantage of the deregulated being siphoned out by big for- punity. regime and generate assured eign capitalists and consumed The US imperialist push to profits for big foreign monopoly by the parasitic local ruling amend the Philippine constitu- capitalists. classes. tion is closely linked to efforts However, none of these pro- Unemployment, landless- of the US government to resolve grams was able to address the ness, poverty, hunger, homeless- the US economic recession. By need to develop the local econ- ness, disease and other social seeking to shatter the economic omy in the last 25 years. There maladies have worsened from boundaries of the Philippines has been a continuous decline one decade to another. As the and other semicolonies, it aims in manufacturing, which is gen- ruling puppet states constantly to open up the remaining eco- erally considered the engine of serve the interests of big foreign nomic frontiers for American an economy that creates value. capital, they have been increas- capitalists to expand sources of The number of manufacturing ingly unable to address the peo- raw materials and cheap labor. firms has fallen from 7,500 in ple's economic needs and have It seeks to subject the Filipino 1999 to just 4,600 in 2008 with constantly shifted the burden of working class to ever disastrous a concomitant drop in employ- crisis on the working people. working terms and conditions. ment from 1.1 million to Foreign capitalists have been It aims to further drown the Fil- 860,000 or a decline of 4% per- provided with tax incentives ipino peasantry in debt and cent in its share in total em- and tax havens, but the broad bankruptcy as a result of the un- ployment. Manufacturing con- masses have been burdened mitigated dumping of foreign tributes only around 23% of the with more and more taxes. For- agricultural products. total Gross Domestic Prod- eign capitalists have been given US imperialism and its pup- uct—the same level it was in full rein to raise prices, but pets are acutely aware of the more than 50 years ago. workers' wages have been con- political dangers of coming all- For several decades now, "at- stantly held back. More and out for charter change. Under tracting foreign investments" more funds have been allocated the past three regimes, at- has been the key element in the to partner with foreign big busi- tempts to push for charter economic programs designed by ness but social services have change were widely opposed by IMF-trained technocrats of all suffered ever bigger budget the people as these have been invariably linked to the political ambitions of the ruling clique. ANG Contents In pushing for charter change, the tacticians of the US Embassy Vol XLII No. 16 August 21, 2011 Editorial: Resist US imperialist in Manila are trying to generate charter change scheme 1 a pro-"chacha" groundswell by Ang Bayan is published in Pilipino, Legalized plunder 3 Bisaya, Iloko, Hiligaynon, Waray and gathering the support of key of- 4Ps, a burden to the people 3 English editions. ficials of the judiciary and legis- Victorious tactical offensives It is available for downloading at lature. A number of them have the Philippine Revolution Web Central Offensives in Masbate 4 located at: Offensives in Samar 4 issued statements in favor of www.philippinerevolution.org. NPA raids safehouse in Batangas 6 amending the 1987 constitu- Ang Bayan welcomes contributions BJMP officials, declared as POWs 7 tion, carefully avoiding the is- in the form of articles and news. Peasant offensive in ST 8 sue of extending the terms of Readers are likewise enjoined to send Mining in Jiabong 9 in their comments and suggestions for Fascist state on a rampage 10 office of government officials. the betterment of our publication. You However, if the US and its can reach us by email at: Worsening US debt crisis 12 [email protected] News 13 puppets decisively push "chacha", they will ultimately Ang Bayan is published fortnightly by the Central Committee have to contend with the Fil- of the Communist Party of the Philippines ipino people's determined re- 2 ANG BAYAN August 21, 2011 sistance to further imperialist domination, op- ditions resulting from the IMF-imposed policies of pression and exploitation. To resist the US-insti- liberalization, deregulation, privatization and de- gated "chacha" is to resist the neoliberal frame- nationalization, the Filipino people clamor for na- work of imperialist globalization. The people op- tional sovereignty and the need for nationalism pose the complete breakdown of barriers that in the field of economics. They demand an end to shield the people from oppression and exploita- foreign economic domination and want an eco- tion by foreign capitalists. nomic policy that puts the interests of the Fil- After almost three decades of worsening con- ipino people above all else. ~ Legalized plunder 4Ps: Burdening n the past 25 years, several and deceiving the poor Ilaws were enacted to pave the way for the foreign plunder of the country. In 1987, the he Aquino regime has been drumbeating the Programang Omnibus Investments Code Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino (4Ps) as the engine that will was passed which allowed Traise the poorest of the poor from their impoverished state. 100% foreign ownership of lo- In reality, it is a grandiose program to deceive the people into cal enterprises in so-called pi- believing that the regime has a genuine program to wipe out oneer projects and priority ar- poverty when it in fact serves the interests of big foreign capi- eas of investment. Investment talists. laws for foreign capitalists After years of implementation since Arroyo's time, the pro- were further liberalized by the gram has failed to cause any significant change in the living Foreign Investments Act of conditions of the millions of poor. The people do not want dole- 1991, which also provided for outs. They demand jobs, higher wages, housing, education and more incentives to foreign in- health. Aquino's 4Ps has been nothing but a burden to the peo- vestors. ple. In subsequent years, more Deceiving the people.