REVOLUTIONARIES. Members of revolutionary groups under the National Democratic Front of the Philippines wore masks of the late New People’s Army commander in Davao City, Ka Parago to during a lightning rally along Crossing Elpidio Quirino Street, Davao City on Wednesday, March 29. The protest marked the 48th founding anniversary of the NPA, the Communist Party of the Philippines’s armed wing. (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines—The Communist Party of the Philippines said that it elected young leaders and amended its programs and constitutions during its second congress held on Oct.14 to Nov. 7, last year.
The CPP has released a communique coinciding with the 48th founding anniversary of its armed-wing the New People’s Army on Wednesday, Mar. 29. The CPP’s congress was held to kick off its observance of the centennial victory of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.
“The successful convening of the Party’s Second Congress is a testimony both of the accumulated strength and capacity as well as determination to assemble a big number of cadres. It underscores as well the inability of the reactionary state to destroy the armed revolutionary movement,” the CPP said in a statement.
The underground organization said the congress was indubitable as “for the first time in nearly five decades, key leaders and cadres representing the Party’s close to seventy thousand members, were assembled to strengthen the Party’s unity, amend its program and constitution based on accumulated victories and lessons and elect a new set of leaders.”
However, the CPP’s communique did not name the newly-elected members of the Central Committee and Political Bureau which will hold a five-year term.
“More than half of the newly-elected CC members are from the young and middle-aged cadres of the Party, ensuring that the Party leadership will remain vibrant, tightly linked with the lower levels of leadership and capable of leading the practical work and day-to-day tasks of the Party, especially in waging revolutionary armed struggle against the reactionary state,” the CPP said.
It added: “The combination of senior Party members with the young and junior Party cadres will ensure the ideological, political and organizational training of a new generation of Party leaders who will be at the helm of the Party in the coming years.”
Apart from the election, the CPP also updated its programs to achieve a clearer strategy and tactics against the global capitalist crisis and the threat of US imperialism in order “to advance the protracted people’s war towards complete victory.”
The updated program presents 10 general tasks and then proceeds to lay down the specific tasks in the political, economic, military, cultural and foreign relations fields.
According to CPP, its programs “reaffirms the necessity of waging armed revolution in order to counter the armed violence employed by the US imperialists and the local reactionary ruling classes and end the oppressive and exploitative semi-colonial and semi-feudal system.”
Also, the underground organizations’ second congress amended its CPP Constitution specifically “the elaborated preamble which enshrined the Party’s basic principles including its analysis of the concrete conditions of Philippine society, its national democratic line and program for waging a people’s democratic revolution to pave the way for socialist revolution and construction, its stand and history of struggle against modern revisionism, its strategy and tactics for advancing protracted people’s war and waging armed struggle as principal form of struggle, and establishing the people’s democratic government.”
Other amendments include:
1. A new article enunciating the role of the Party in the united front was introduced. Amendments were also made to complete the enumeration of the economic classes and their arrangement in terms of membership acceptance. A new provision was inserted to allow members of foreign fraternal parties assigned to work within the scope of the CPP to be accepted as members of the Party.
2. Another provision was inserted to specify the right of Party members who have reached the age of 70 years to retire from Party work but retain Party membership and to receive subsistence support and medical assistance.
3. A new provision was also approved specifying the formation of advisory committees to which Party cadres who have opted to retire can be organized into.
4. To ensure the vigor and vibrancy of the Party, a provision was introduced specifying that steps be undertaken to ensure that the Central Committee shall have a balance of young, middle-aged and senior cadres.
The CPP’s congress with the theme “Greater unity, greater victories,” was composed of 120 persons, 30 percent were above 60 years old, while around 60 percent were in the 45-59 years age bracket, while 15 percent were 44 years and younger. The oldest delegate was 70 years old. The youngest delegate was 33 years old.
“Reflecting the relative size of the Party’s membership, cadres from five Mindanao regions constituted around 45 percent of the regional delegates; while those from Luzon constituted 40 percent; and Visayas, 14 percent. The other delegates represented the Party’s central leading organs and its commissions,” the CPP said.(davaotoday.com)
