Amado Guerrero (aka Jose Maria Sison) who headed the United Front Commission of the Communist Party of the Philippines, convened the  Preparatory Commission for the National Democratic Front (Prepcom) in 1971 in order to bring together all the revolutionary organizations that had been forced underground by martial law under Ferdinand Marcos. Among those present at the convening were Satur Ocampo, Antonio Zumel, Henry Voltaire Garcia, Hermenigildo Garcia, and a few other Communist Party members and patriotic and progressive personalities. Subsequently more antifascist revolutionaries such as Edgar Jopson were added. Satur tried to invite ex-Senator Jose W. Diokno and Renato Constantino but both refused. Amado Guerrero had initially drafted and presented to the Prepcom at its convening a 10-point program or guidelines of revolutionary action. The Prepcom worked on this and held several meetings (three that I can remember) to further work on the organization’s 12-point program and left its final elaboration to Joma.

One of the last meetings of the Prepcom was held at the mansion of former president Ramon Magsaysay. The venue was facilitated by a close relative of the Magsaysay, the bereaved girl friend of a victim of enforced disappearance under the Marcos fascist dictatorship. Prior to this in 1975, Joma asked Edgar Jopson to join and head the NDF Prepcom. Jopson had headed the National Union of Students, and was priorly a “moderate” but was radicalized and had become Party member prior to his appointment. Joma worked to elaborate on the draft until 1977 and sent out the draft for release just a few days before our arrest on November 7, 1977. This was issued or released by the Prepcom on November 12, 1977. It was circulated internationally all over the world. Thus the Prepcom fulfilled the Party’s objective of arousing, organizing and mobilizing the broadest possible united front against the fascist dictatorship.

The united front is one of the three most powerful weapons of the new democratic revolution. The two others are the leadership of the working class and armed struggle. The united front consists of the working class allying itself with the peasantry, winning over the urban petty bourgeoisie and middle bourgeoisie and taking advantage of the contradictions among the big compradors and landlords in order to isolate and destroy the enemy at every given time. The broad masses of the people cannot defeat the overwhelming state power and economic wealth of the exploiting classes without the application of the united front policy.

In building the revolutionary united front, the working class and its revolutionary party links up with the peasantry, the overwhelming majority of the people, in order to form the basic worker-peasant alliance. The Party recognizes as the peasantry as the main force of the revolution and the fulfilment of its demand for land as the main content of the revolution. The Party forges the strongest links between the working class and the peasantry by building and developing the New People’s Army and the peasant mass movement in pursuit of the agrarian revolution. It applies the antifeudal united front policy of relying mainly on the poor peasants and farmworkers, winning over the middle peasants, neutralizing the rich peasants and taking advantage of the contradictions among the landlords in order to destroy the power of the despotic landlords.

Although the working class and the peasantry comprise at least 90 percent of the people and they constitute the foundation of the revolutionary united front, it is an urgent need to win over the intermediate social strata—the urban petty bourgeoisie and the middle bourgeoisie, which respectively are around 8 percent and 1 percent of the population as they play key roles in society and are highly influential as they have professional, technical, entrepreneurial and other capabilities which can best serve the revolution.

The basic exploiting classes of big compradors and landlords are the class enemies of the revolution and are divided according to their clans, the kind and magnitude of wealth, political affiliation and the degree of their anti-national and antipeople character. The revolutionary forces can take advantage of such contradictions, which under conditons of crisis can become bitter and violent, and derive from reactionary ranks temporary allies, even if unstable and unreliable, in order to bring about the broadest kind of united front against the worst enemy, which is the most reactionary force in the civil war or the foreign aggressor in a war of national liberation.

As a matter of flexibility, the CPP, NPA and the NDFP have encouraged and extended cooperation to political groups and leaders of the middle social strata and even some of those from the exploiting classes to take anti-imperialist and democratic positions on major issues within the institutions and processes controlled by the reactionaries.

Additionally, the NDFP has persevered in peace negotiations to demonstrate the just and reasonable cause of the revolutionary movement, to spread the content of the program for people’s democratic revolution and to anticipate the advance of the people’s war and the further worsening of the crisis. It is possible that a significant change in the balance of forces between revolution and counterrevolution would persuade the reactionary government to engage in serious peace negotiations.

Finally, the united front policy of the revolutionary movement has an international dimension, including arousing, organizing and mobilizing the migrant workers and other overseas Filipinos to stand for their democratic rights and interests and to develop their solidarity relations with the host people and international organizations. In representation of the entire Filipino people at home and abroad, the NDFP develops the broadest range of solidarity and cooperative relations with foreign governments and their appropriate agencies, various types of people’s organizations, parties and national liberation movements, including facilitating the international relations of its component organizations with existing and potential partners abroad.

Since its founding 45 years ago, the NDFP has won great political victories as an indispensable and crucial weapon in coordination with the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People´s Army as the two other main weapons of the Filipino people in carrying out the general line of people´s democratic revolution through protracted people´s war. To win these victories, great efforts have been exerted to arouse, organize and mobilize the broad masses of the people. It has helped to build the local organs of political power at the barangay, municipal or city, district and provincial levels in 73 of the 81 provinces of the Philippines to constitute the people´s democratic government.

In the process of building the united front for revolutionary armed struggle, the NDFP has engaged in activities and campaigns to promote and realize full national sovereignty, democracy, social justice, economic development through land reform and national industrialization, cultural progress, peace and harmony among the people and international solidarity. The NDFP has provided guidance and support to the people´s democratic government for reaching the people in their millions and for gaining support from the people of the world.

As we celebrate the 53rd anniversary of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines on the 24th of this month, let us recall the 12-point objectives to bring about national liberation and democracy through the broadest unity of all social classes, sectors, groups and individual Filipinos here and abroad desirous of genuine national freedom and democracy, lasting peace and a progressive Philippines:

  1. Unite the people for the overthrow of the semi-colonial and semi-feudal system through a people’s war and for the completion of the national democratic revolution.

  2. Establish a people’s democratic republic and a democratic coalition government.

  3. Build the people’s revolutionary army and the people’s defense system.

  4. Uphold and promote the people’s democratic rights.

  5. Terminate all unequal relations with the United States and other foreign entities.

  6. Implement genuine agrarian reform, promote agricultural cooperation, raise rural production and employment through the modernization of agriculture and rural industrialization and ensure agricultural sustainability.

  7. Break the combined dominance of the U.S. and other imperialists, big compradors and landlords over the economy. Carry out national industrialization and build an independent and self-reliant economy.

  8. Adopt a comprehensive and progressive social policy.

  9. Promote a national, scientific and pro-people culture.

  10. Uphold the rights to self-determination and democracy of the Moro people, Cordillera peoples and other national minorities or indigenous peoples.

  11. Advance the revolutionary emancipation of women in all spheres.

  12. Adopt an active, independent and peaceful foreign policy.

These twelve points comprehensively sums up what the Front’s 18 revolutionary organization are committed to achieve.

All CPP cares and members are aware that the national united front is the third magic weapon among the two others, which are the Party and the people’s army, for carrying out the national democratic revolution in accordance with the theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and the Party’s founding documents.

The CPP is the advanced detachment of the modern industrial proletariat and is the leading class in the people’s democratic revolution and the consequent socialist revolution. The New People’s Army is the main instrument, based on the worker-peasant alliance, for overthrowing the semicolonial and semifeudal state and establishing the people’s democratic state. And the national united front is for arousing, organizing and mobilizing the masses in their millions.

In the concrete conditions of the Philippines, the Party assumed the duty of the building the basic alliance of workers and peasants as the foundation of the national united front, winning over the urban petty bourgeoisie and the middle bourgeoisie and taking advantage of splits among the reactionaries in order to isolate, weaken and destroy the power of the worst reactionaries in a civil war or the imperialist aggressor in a war of national liberation.

At the base or foundation of the national united front, the Party is required to rely mainly on the poor peasants and farm workers, win over the middle peasants, neutralize the rich peasants and take advantage of the contradictions between the enlightened and evil gentry in order to isolate, weaken and destroy the power of the despotic landlords. The point is to accomplish the agrarian revolution as the main content of democratic revolution through a series of land reform measures and to mobilize the peasant majority of the people to engage in protracted people’s war in concert with the working class.

In carrying out the people’s democratic revolution, the Party wields the national united front as a weapon for strengthening the armed struggle by gaining political allies who can deliver arms to the NPA or can coordinate with the NPA in military operations. The NDFP allied organizations helps in the expansion of the armed revolutionary movement by waging the antifascist, anti-imperialist and anti-feudal aspirations of the people.

The most important role of the NDF in the democratic revolution is to arouse, organize and mobilize the broad masses of Filipino people in their tens of millions and to seek international solidarity, support and cooperation. For the purpose, it encompasses 18 allied organizations representing all patriotic and progressive classes and sectors of Philippine society belonging to various political tendencies, ethno-linguistic communities and religious beliefs.

The allied organizations include the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army, Revolutionary Council of Trade Unions, Katipunan ng mga Samahang Manggagawa Pambansang Katipunan ng Magbubukid, Malayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan, Kabataang Makabayan, Katipunan ng Gurong Makabayan, Makabayang Samahan Pangkalusugan. Liga ng Agham para sa Bayan, Lupon ng Manananggol para sa Bayan, Artista at Manunulat para sa Sambayanan, Makabayang Kawaning Pilipino, Artista at Manunulat para sa Sambayanan, Makabayang Kawaning Pilipino, Revolutionary Organization of Overseas Filipinos and their Families, Christians for National Liberation, Cordillera People’s Democratic Front , Moro Resistance and Liberation Organization and Revolutionary Organization of Lumads.

The NDFP has been successful at promoting and building the revolutionary organs of political power at the grassroots and higher levels, expanding and consolidating all its allied organizations, broadening the national united front against every unjust regime, carrying out diplomatic and solidarity relations and raising resources for the advance of the people’s democratic revolution.

The NDFP was conceived, born, developed and tempered in the crucible of the struggle against the US-supported Marcos fascist dictatorship. It worked hard to fight, isolate and defeat the dictatorship and made sacrifices, including martyrdom and imprisonment of many of its adherents. Ultimately, it played a decisive role in the overthrow of the fascist dictatorship in 1986.

The ground for the people’s democratic revolution through protracted people’s war will remain fertile so long as foreign monopoly capitalism, domestic feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism persist. These are the root causes of the armed revolution which will persevere until it wins total victory and usher in the socialist revolution.

The NDFP observes closely the contradictions among the parties and factions of the reactionary classes of big compradors, landlords and bureaucrat capitalists to determine the enemy to fight at every given time and to develop the broad united front against such enemy among the local reactionaries. The NDFP also observes closely the economic, political and military interventions of the US and other imperialist powers in order to unite the people against these and to make them vigilant to the probable ultimate that the current civil war can turn into a war of national liberation in case of foreign aggression by US imperialism or any other imperialist power.

The NDFP promotes the organization of overseas Filipinos for the purpose of uniting and mobilizing them in support of the people’s democratic revolution in their motherland. It carries out solidarity work along the anti-imperialist and democratic line by informing and encouraging foreign organizations and personages to support the Philippine revolution, cooperate with the organization of overseas Filipinos and develop partner relations with progressive or revolutionary organizations in the Philippines.

The NDFP engages in diplomatic and proto-diplomatic relations. It has relations with friendly governments which are anti-imperialist and progressive as well as with governments that have assisted in the holding of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations abroad. The work of the NDFP in developing proto-diplomatic and diplomatic relations is aimed at immediately informing the international community about the Philippine situation and the Philippine revolution and gaining international support for the revolutionary movement.

The NDFP can be relied upon to do whatever it must do in order to advance towards a just peace of national independence, genuine democracy, economic development through land reform and national industrialization, social justice, cultural progress and international solidarity with all peoples of the world. In any case, the NDFP will always need the support of the Filipino people and the peoples of the world.

The Filipino people and the NDFP are confident that the new democratic revolution will ever win greater victories in the Philippines as the crisis of the domestic ruling system worsens and compels them to fight back and as the world capitalist system worsens and the peoples of the world rise up and wage mass struggles against imperialism and all reaction.

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