The YCL-LJC stands in solidarity with Filipino Youth against the Duterte Administration

Central Executive Committee, September 21, 2020

The Young Communist League of Canada echoes the call of progressive Filipino youth for national democracy and peace, and against the extrajudicial killings and vicious attacks on land and human rights defenders in the Philippines by the Duterte regime. The Duterte administration, under the guise of “anti-terrorism” and the “war on drugs”, has escalated its attacks against the working class, against those living in poverty, and against Indigenous peoples in the Philippines, even as the world faces a deadly pandemic. Duterte, as a designated “Major non-NATO ally”, has worked hand-in-hand with the United States to murder political opponents — activists and advocates for workers and peasantry in the Philippines — that threaten his regime simply through their attempts at organizing and unifying working people. 

This is, of course, not the first time the Philippines has seen mass-scale political repression: September 21, 2020 marks 48 years since President Ferdinand Marcos placed the Filipino people under Martial Law. For 14 years, Marcos’ Armed Forces staged the brutal repression of students, young people, political opponents, journalists, and workers, under the phony excuse of a “communist threat” to the ruling class. In only 14 years, according to accepted statistics, the Philippines saw nearly 3,300 extrajudicial killings, the torture of 35,000 people, at least 35 forced disappearances, and the mass incarceration of 70,000 people. 

We see today an eerie reflection of the era of Marcos’ Batas Militar. As young people and workers are struggling under the global pandemic only worsened by poverty and state violence, students are turning to increasingly dangerous strategies in order to access education. In reaction, we have seen the mass-organization of progressive youth in the Philippines, who have taken up the fight not only for free education but for democracy and peace. However, in their struggle they have been increasingly targeted through surveillance, arrests, and even torture. 

We know that the Canadian state has played a dangerous role for a long time. The exploitative caregiver and Temporary Foreign Worker programs have torn families apart and sent young people into dangerous and precarious working conditions. After China and India, the third most common country of origin for people coming to Canada is the Philippines. The pandemic’s effects in Canada have had disproportionate effects on the Filipino diaspora, because of the exploitative nature of Canadian foreign workers programs and imperialism’s forced economic migration. For-profit retirement and nursing homes, an industry where 90% of migrant caregivers are from the Philippines, have seen disastrous outbreaks; nurses and PSWs have been on the frontlines for months. There have also been massive outbreaks in other industries such as meat-processing plants like Cargill in Alberta, an industry where 70% of all workers are Filipino. 

The Young Communist League of Canada stands in solidarity with progressive and militant Filipino youth, and calls for widespread action against the murderous Duterte administration. We acknowledge and celebrate the continuation of the legacy of youth organizing both in the Philippines and in the Filipino diaspora . Both in that 14-year period of Martial Law, as well as today, the youth have been the first to speak out against horrendous human rights abuses, and organize for democracy, sovereignty, and peace in the Philippines. 

We know that there is lots of work to be done, and we have seen the fruits of organizing. Environmental groups in Canada and the Philippines have forced the Canadian government to acknowledge their Basel Convention obligations and remove their toxic waste shipment from the Philippines after 6 years. Notably, peace and solidarity activists twisted Trudeau’s arm and blocked the sale of attack helicopters to the Philippines, which no doubt would have been used in the murderous anti-drug, anti-terrorist campaigns. We know that we are united by our common class interests and our common imperialist enemies, and we, as young communists, will continue to struggle alongside progressive Filipino youth in your fight for democracy.