Pahayagan ng Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas ANG Pinapatnubayan ng Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoismo Vol XLVI No. 12 October 7, 2015 www.philippinerevolution.net Editorial Intensify peasant resistance against neoliberal policies he peasant masses must take advantage of the upcoming ing grievance of the peasant November leaders meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooper- masses for democracy and social Tation (APEC) in the Philippines to express their disgust and justice. They have turned a deaf protest over their worsening oppression and sufferings under neoliber- ear to the clamor to end monopoly al policies promoted by the APEC and other imperialist agencies and ownership and control of land by instruments. the few and big foreign business which serve as base of the differ- The Filipino people must use the hectares of hacienda and capitalist ent forms of feudal and semifeudal opportunity to denounce worsening plantations are further expanded to exploitation. imperialist plunder and oppression increase agricultural production for Over the past 27 years, five in the country. export. successive reactionary pro-landlord Starting this October, Peasant The peasant masses are further governments implemented the Month, they must thoroughly expose mired in poverty and oppression Comprehensive Agrarian Reform their worsening conditions after after three decades of neoliberal Program (CARP) in order to dupe three decades of neoliberal imposi- policies. There is worsening land- the peasant masses. Through the tions on the Philippines and the res- lessness, landgrabbing and concen- CARP and the CARP Extension with ultant deepening and worsening of tration of land in the hands or con- Reforms, the reactionary state the semicolonial and semifeudal sys- trol of big foreign companies and makes it appear that it is address- tem in the country. their local big landlord and big busi- ing the demand for land reform. Under the weight of neoliberal ness partners. Contrary to the clamor for so- policies, the Philippines is further The successive reactionary gov- cial justice and democracy, CARP confined to a backward, non-indus- ernments that upheld the neoliberal was carried out in accordance with trial and agrarian state. Since there doctrine are all opposed to national the neoliberal concept that land can is no genuine land reform and land- industrialization and genuine land only be owned based on market grabbing is prevalent, more and reform. They stifled the long-stand- value. The value of more peasants have no land to till. Most poor peasants and farm workers suffer worst conditions due to low wages, depressed farmgate prices, usury and high prices of commodities. Because of the absence of na- tional industrialization, more peasants are being engulfed in the rising ocean of the unem- ployed. In the countryside, pro- duction remains small-scale, backward and family-based. In tandem with neoliberal imposi- tions, hundreds of thousands of land is determined by its productiv- the land they till. On the contrary, it ity and profitability. The equivalent has imposed policies which further value was given to the big landlords burdened the peasants. As a result, as compensation or payment; and almost 90% of the CARP "benefi- imposed on the peasant as amortiz- ciaries" can no longer amortize or ation. have had their land taken back. Various schemes were likewise Over the past three decades, employed to circumvent the actual CARP has served to push neoliberal distribution of land to the peasant policies in agriculture. The CARP such as the earlier stock distribu- has paved the way for various tion option and corporatization. To schemes to allow foreign big capit- enable the landlords to regain the alists in connivance with big land- "distributed" land, there is wide- lords to control vast tracts of land. spread implementation of the So-called "agrarian reform seek to acquire such raw materials. aryendo or prenda system communities" (ARCs) are being Foreign control of vast tracts (anomalous leasehold agreements). used as mechanism to subsume of land in the Philippines is being A stark case is the use of this sys- dispersed small-scale production reinforced in order to push pro- tem in Hacienda Luisita by the into production for export, espe- duction for export, build debt-fun- Aquino-Cojuangcos and in other cially in palm oil, as well as in rub- ded infrastructure (such as dams haciendas that remain undivided ber, bananas, pineapple, corn, ca- or dikes) and pave the way for for- and under the control of big land- cao and others. Through eign plunder of the country's re- lords. agribusiness venture agreements sources. Local food production is "Land reform" under CARP, (AVA), small peasants are made to endangered. thus, is no different from real estate sign contracts to supply them with There are now moves to change transactions. It is deaf to the clam- grain, pesticides and other inputs the 1987 constitution to remove or for social justice. In accordance with a promise to buy their produce. restrictions against foreign own- to "non-intervention of the state", Thus, individual peasant production ership of land in the Philippines. the reactionary government has is subjected to the overpowering While prohibitions under the 1987 taken no measure to ensure that commercial operations in partner- constitution still exist, these are peasants will gain and benefit from ship with foreign big capitalists that circumvented through the use of partner local big compradors. There are also various laws that ANG Contents allow them to virtually own the land such as the Foreign Bank Lib- Editorial: Intensify peasant resistance eralization Law which allows for- Vol XLVI No. 12 | October 7, 2015 to neoliberal policies 1 eign banks to own for several years REAP Mindanao Network 3 land used as collateral for unpaid Ang Bayan is loans; as well as the Mining Act published in Land reconcentration in HLI 4 which gives them the right to Pilipino, Bisaya, APEC: Collusion and conflict 4 plunder and extract the riches of Hiligaynon, Fisherfolk protest law 5 the land. Waray and Since the early part of the English. Vendors win vs privatization 5 1990s, all out trade liberalization It can be downloaded from the Yolanda survivors' protests 6 was carried out under the General Philippine Revolution Web Central at International day of protest 7 Agreement on Tariffs and Trade www.philippinerevolution.net and World Trade Organization in- NPA arrests soldier in Agusan 8 cluding breaking down tariffs on Ang Bayan welcomes Peasants killed in Bulacan 9 imported agricultural products. contributions in the form of articles Guards disperse workers 9 In blind obeisance to neoliber- and news items. Readers are alism, successive reactionary gov- encouraged to send feedback and War against the Lumad 10 ernments in the Philippines made recommendations for improving our Perverted views of politicians 11 no effort to aid the local small newspaper. Send your messages to Peasant killed in Samar 11 peasants in the face of dumping of [email protected] garlic, onion, rice, livestock and Ang Bayan is published fortnightly by the Central Committee poultry and other agricultural pro- of the Communist Partyy of the Philippines duce. This is despite the fact that 2 October 7, 2015 ANG BAYAN production of rice and other agri- cultural produce continue to be Unity against expansion of plantations state-subsidized and -controlled in to be formed the US, Japan, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and other coun- tries enabling them to dump cheap THE Resist Expansion of Agricultural Plantations (REAP) Mindanao Net- products in the Philippines to the work will be established on October 28 during the National Conference detriment of local production. on Plantations in Mindanao at the University of the Philippines in Dili- The reactionary state ignores man, Quezon City to unite various organizations and individuals who are the demand to raise the buying against the expansion of plantations in Mindanao. price of palay. Instead, it has al- REAP aims to gain broad local and international support around is- lowed imported rice to flood the sues in Mindanao. Mindanao is home to a large part of the country’s country. This has also resulted in total estimated mineral wealth, but these are controlled by intrusive worsening smuggling and corrup- transnational, multinational and conniving local agribusiness firms. tion in import contracts as well as Also in Mindanao are the largest plantations of rubber, banana ang in manipulation to cause the in- pineapple under giant corporations Del Monte, Sumifru and Dole in crease in rice prices. Bukidnon, South Cotabato, Sarangani, Compostela Valley and Davao. Neoliberal polices are a burden About one million hectares of grasslands are now being converted to oil on millions upon millions of peas- palm plantations in Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, Caraga and North- ants. They continue to call for ern Mindanao. democracy and social justice in the The initiators of REAP are calling for an end to land monopoly, land- face of the continued absence of grabbing and dispossession. They are also calling for respect for life, land reform. Big landlords continue livelihood, traditional beliefs and culture of indigenous peoples’ to retain large land monopolies. or Lumad communities affected by the intrusion of agricultural planta- In the face of the continuing tions. They uphold agricultural workers’ welfare against retrenchment, international capitalist crisis, the contractualization and other forms of flexible labor, slave-like wages, backward system of production in health and work hazards and inhuman working conditions in plantations the country is further exploited to and related mills, factories and packaging plants. They also call for the extract cheap raw materials. The end to impunity and to uphold the peoples’ civil and political rights. They Philippines and other semicolonial seek to stop environmental degradation and ecological destruction states under imperialist domination brought about by the expansion of plantations. REAP seeks to highlight are being pushed onto this path.