The following is Louie Jalandoni’s message to the organizers and participants of the book launch at the UP Mindanao Department of Social Sciences. The book highlights the revolutionary life of Louie Jalandoni who commits his life and devotes his energy and time to the national democratic revolution that leads the Filipino people in their various struggles and engagements against the stranglehold of the evils of US imperialism, bureaucrat-capitalism and feudalism.
Dear Friends and Compatriots,
I wish first of all to thank the organizers of this book launch, the Department of Social Sciences of the University of the Philippines-Mindanao and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers-SMR. I also warmly greet the participants of this book launch, including faculty members and students from UP and other schools, professionals, church people, social activists and others.
I also wish to express my gratitude to the author of the illustrated biography, “Louie Jalandoni Revolutionary” Ina Alleco Silverio who worked diligently in writing this book. With her, I congratulate Renan Ortiz and the other dedicated and talented artists who made the excellent illustrations and did the research.
May I also greet and thank the reviewers of the book concerning my life: Agustin “Don” Pagusara and Professor Antonio G. Moran, Ph. D. Don Pagusara is a familiar name. Way back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was well known as the leader of CRY in Cebu.
Looking back to those times of intense struggles in Negros in the late 1960s and first years of 1970s, I gratefully acknowledge that it was the militant struggles of the sugar workers and peasant settlers that politicalized me. Several years of unceasing struggles by these oppressed and exploited workers and peasants, which I was privileged to join, seared into my soul their revolutionary character, belying all the false claims of their oppressors and exploiters. The sugar workers and peasants helped firm up my conviction that their struggle was just and deserved to be supported.
During those years, it was the student youth who decisively helped in my political birth. The young activists discussed with me Ka Joma’s book: Philippine Society and Revolution or PSR. It was a great eye-opener for me. Especially the third chapter on the Program for a People’s Democratic Revolution firmed up my conviction that this was the correct path to obtain justice for the oppressed and exploited, no matter how long it will take and no matter what sacrifices have to be offered to win genuine national and social liberation for the Filipino people.
Now almost fifty years since those heady days of struggle, we continue to face even greater exploitation and oppression. The Filipino people still suffer from the three basic problems: imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism. The revolutionary youth exposed and condemned these fundamental problems especially during the historical First Quarter Storm in 1970.
The need to integrate with and strongly support the struggles of the oppressed and exploited is stronger than ever. The struggle for justice and liberation remains. In Mindanao as in other parts of the Philippines, there is the resounding call for the youth to go to the countryside and join the revolutionary struggle.
The youth themselves are taking the lead. For example, in Mindanao, Michelle Campos, the 17-year-old daughter of Lumad leader and martyr, Dionel Campos, stands out in condemning Aquino and fighting for the people’s rights. She declared: “Aquino, ibasura mo na ang iyong Oplan Bayanihan! It is not a program of development. It is a program of death!” She and Karlgen Samarca, 18-year old son of ALCADEV martyr, Emerito Samarca, are among those leading mass actions against the Aquino regime and its military and paramilitary forces.
Dear Friends and Compatriots, Organizers and Participants of this book launch of Ka Joma’s latest book, “Crisis Generates Resistance” and Ina Alleco Silverio’s “Louie Jalandoni Revolutionary”, I wish you all a successful and fruitful gathering of benefit to our people’s struggle for national and social liberation and a just peace!
Mabuhay ang rebolusyonaryong pakikibaka ng mga magsasaka at manggagawa!
Mabuhay ang mga estudyante at kabataan ng sambayanan!
Mabuhay ang Sambayanang Pilipino!
