On January 25, RAIL and MIM showed Land for the Masses to over 50 people at Boston University. One of the filmmakers introduced the film and led a discussion afterwards. He introduced the film by explaining the three main problems in the Philippines: imperialism, bureaucrat capitalism, and feudalism. The activist also explained that the broad national democratic movement -- which includes legal mass organizations in the cities as well as the armed revolutionary movement in the countryside -- agrees that these three main problems must be eradicated to achieve any kind of real peace and justice for the Filipino people.
The film documents the conflict between capitalist land-grabbers and the people of Hacienda Looc, a village south of Manila. The villagers of Hacienda Looc are fighting against developers and the Philippine government for control of their land. Foreign developers and local reactionaries want to steal the peasants' land to build a large golf course and resort, which will serve as a playground for wealthy Filipinos and foreign tourists. As a result, villagers will loose the land that they live on and farm for subsistence. Most peasants will be forced into low paying service jobs and many worry that young village women will be forced into prostitution as a means of survival.
The documentary shows interviews with local activists who work with organizations in the National Democratic Front, such as the Peasant Movement of the Philippines (a legal organization fighting for genuine land reform). The film expands on a documentary FORAIL hosted the previous year, called The Golf War, which also covered the struggle of peasants in Hacienda Looc, but is now more than two years old. This film is still a work in progress, and RAIL and MIM hope to show it again when it is complete.
In the discussion following the film, some attendees wanted to hear more details from the film maker about the current political situation and the revolutionary movement in the Philippines. Some wondered if the ouster of Joseph Estrada would affect the peasants. The speaker explained that the (now finalized) ouster of Joseph Estrada will not amount to real change for the peasants. Only a revolution can accomplish real land reform. The new president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroya, will be another puppet for u.$. interests.(1)
Founding chairpersyn of the Communist Party of the Philippines, Jose Maria Sison, says about the situation, "The crisis is not simply due to the corruption and repressiveness of the Estrada ruling clique. These are in fact the consequences of the imperialist domination. The crisis is due to the fundamentally oppressive and exploitative workings of the ruling system of big compradors and landlords who are servile to foreign monopoly capitalists."
"The evils of this system will continue to inflict suffering on the people and incite them to wage all forms of revolutionary struggle. The revolutionary forces and people will continue the struggle for national liberation and democracy against foreign monopoly capitalism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism."(2)
The discussion naturally turned to the armed revolutionary movement led by the Communist Party of the Philippines. The filmmaker was of the opinion -- and MIM and RAIL agree -- that the revolutionary movement is the best hope for ending the oppressions of feudalism, imperialism, and corrupt capitalism. As one New People's Army guerrilla interviewed in The Golf War says, "Ultimately it would have to come down to armed struggle, because that is the only way we can change the whole system, the whole structure. We have to seize political power from the ruling classes and not lead simply a legal or parliamentary struggle, because it would never be resolved by those means - as history has proven time and time again."(3)
Several people in the audience asked about organizations fighting for the peasants rights who are not communist. There are indeed many organizations in the Philippines and internationally who support the struggle for genuine land reform (see e.g. KMP internal fact finding mission). Such organizations are friends and allies of the international proletariat. We seek to work with them on common causes, and encourage people who are interested in this issue but disagree with MIM and RAIL to check them out.
Still, MIM pointed out that the history of the struggle in the Philippines demonstrates the necessity of communist leadership to end the semi-feudal system. We can look at the failure of the ousting of President Marcos to achieve any improvements in conditions for the people as a clear example. Changes in figureheads will not help the masses; the masses must take political power for themselves in order to achieve real change.
Many Filipino students in the audience expressed their support for the work that MIM is doing to expose imperialism in the Philippines and to support the just struggle of the people in that country. During the event MIM distributed a petition in support of the peasant's struggle in Hacienda Looc and encouraged people to work with us to gather signatures and educate more people about this battle.
At a showing of the film in Los Angeles, Puerto Rican independence activists exclaimed that the film reminded them of struggles in their own country. Likewise, when a RAIL activist was putting up posters for the Boston event, a Haitian woman asked what it was about and when told replied that it sounded like struggles in her home country, and asked if she could have a flier. Indeed, the land problem is not specific to the Philippines. The largest social class in the world is still the peasantry, concentrated in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Notes: