On the Role of Fil-Ams in the Philippine ND Movement
In response to my friend Michele’s blog post, “On Hunger, Some Thoughts On The Role of Fil-Ams in the Philippine ND Movement”
Hi Michele, I don’t think you should take it personal. It’s a people’s movement, so it has all kinds of people. You know how everybody has different personalities, even amongst our friends. It’s the same kind of thing over there.
Some people are hella young and still have to learn some things. Some people really don’t care that you’re there.
But some people will tell you that you being there has an impact and let’s them know that they are not alone, to find that people outside of the country care about what’s going on in our homeland and are spreading the movement, helping to shape public opinion in other countries.
If only you’d had more time to integrate. But don’t worry, they appreciate you :)
If I were asked the question, “Why do youth from the States keep coming here? Or care what happens here? You do not feel the hunger that we do here (in the Philippines)” I would say, “Because we don’t have the same conditions in the US, that is exactly why it is important for us to come here, join in the struggle, and live in the conditions of the most oppressed and exploited. By seeing and living it for ourselves, we can better understand why this society and this world needs to be completely changed.”
I would say, “I’ve learned about our history and the basic problems of Philippine society and I know that my family would have never had to leave this country in the first place if things were all good over here. I want to do my part so that families in the future won’t be forced to leave the country in order to provide for their children.
I know that the US is the main reason why the Philippine economy can’t stand on its own feet and provide decent jobs for its own people. I know that corrupt politicians and families exploit and manage their political offices as businesses to enrich their own wealth. And I know that the majority of the people are landless and still living in feudal conditions, working for landlords who prevent national industrialization and the building of a genuinely stable economy by keeping all the profits from the harvests.
I came here to see and feel it for myself, to learn from the people, in order to gain a better understanding and more effectively spread awareness of our people’s struggle to the people in America and across the world.”
I would also ask the question, “Have you read ‘In Memory of Norman Bethune’?’”
As you may recall, Norman Bethune was a white Canadian doctor who was a genuine example of an internationalist.
In 1938, he decided to move to China during the thick of their revolutionary struggle and performed emergency battlefield surgical operations for the Red Army during the war of national liberation against Japan.
Two years prior to that, he moved to Spain and helped develop mobile medical units during the Spanish Civil War.
Although he hailed from a first world country, he chose to participate directly in the life-and-death struggle for the freedom of the Chinese people. And it was a choice that he was willing to, and did, die for.
What were his motivations?
I think that’s a natural question to ask. One would probably ask out of sincerely wanting to know the answer.
Actually, Mao asked, “What kind of spirit is this that makes a foreigner selflessly adopt the cause of the Chinese people’s liberation as his own? It is the spirit of internationalism…”
In essence, this speaks the same message of international solidarity as the indigenous saying you quoted from Australian Aboriginal Elder Lilla Watson, “If you’ve come here to help me, you’re wasting your time. But if you’ve come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
This spirit of internationalism is the reason that people across the world have in common. It is based on shared political principles, understanding, common commitment, and accountability to a greater cause.
Norman Bethune realized that the struggle in one country against imperialism and fascism was part of the whole international struggle for people’s liberation.
He wanted to contribute his skills and abilities to the revolutionary struggle of China because he wanted to advance the struggles for genuine freedom and democracy of all oppressed and exploited people across the world. He knew that the struggles in all countries were interconnected and he wanted to make the most of his life and do his part to attain victory.
It reminds me of a conversation I recently had with a new member of Anakbayan Los Angeles, who sincerely wanted to know, “What can we really do here?”
What I said, more or less was:
1) Well first of all, we need to understand that the primary struggle for liberation is being waged inside the Philippines and whatever we do out here in other countries plays a secondary, supportive role towards achieving that.
2) But we have a special opportunity, living in the US, to reach out and spread awareness of the Philippine struggle to people from so many different backgrounds and countries since we live in a more diverse society here than in the Philippines.
It’s our duty to not just keep to ourselves as a Filipino community, but to really reach out and connect our struggle to the struggles of people from all countries. We gotta do our best to spread awareness of the fact that we are all being oppressed and exploited by a common enemy - imperialism.
The imperialists (big business & the richest governments) are united against us and all the working people of the world. That’s why they have instruments like the G20, World Trade Organization (WTO), World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and all those institutions and conferences. It’s where they set policies to further exploit us for their own profit.
That is why it’s so important for us to UNITE and advance the worldwide struggle to defeat imperialism and gain national independence and genuine democracy in all oppressed countries.
It’s for this reason that AB is a member of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), an alliance of more than 200 organizations from 40 countries that strives to realize the unity, cooperation, and coordination of anti-imperialist and democratic struggles throughout the world.
3) But as we are living here, we also have our own problems that people in our local communities face every day. If we really are for the people, then we need to help out and take part in the struggles of people in our own backyard who are fighting for better working conditions, living conditions, and basic human rights.
For example, right here in Downtown Long Beach, Filipino and Mexican hotel workers at the Hyatt and Hilton are being overworked, underpaid, disrespected, and intimidated by the management.
In the Hyatt, over 80% are Filipino, and they’re being pushed to clean 30 hotel rooms in an 8 hour shift. Despite that being impossible to complete, they aren’t even provided with the basic equipment such as long handle mops so they have to get down on their knees with rags.
Many have suffered injuries and some have had to undergo multiple surgeries on their shoulders and other parts of their body. It’s completely exploitative and unjust. Any person with a heart who knew about it would want to do their part to fight for better conditions alongside them.
That’s why AB has been fighting alongside the workers in their boycott of the Downtown LB Hyatt & Hilton and working with the Long Beach Coalition for Good Jobs and a Healthy Community for over a year and a half, since they really address problems that are affecting real people who live in Long Beach.
But it’s important to help the community understand that these local struggles are connected with the international struggles going on around the world, since those in power are enacting the same kind of policies all over.
For Filipinos in America, it’s also important to understand the connection between our local issues with the 3 basic problems in the Philippines (U.S. Imperialism, Bureaucrat Capitalism, and Feudalism). Basically, we wouldn’t have had to move here in the first place if those problems did not exist.
4) And through organizing people here in our communities, we’re working together to help each other out and remold from our old ways to become better people who continually develop a greater capacity to serve the people (work for the betterment of everybody more than our own personal interests). And that in itself is tangible social change that is happening right now.
5) But as far as a tangible thing we can do for the struggle in the Philippines? I think the most substantial impact we can have is to cut off the money flow from the US government to the Philippine military & government. In essence, we need to control where OUR own tax dollars are being spent. We need to make Congress stop sending foreign aid which funds assassinations, abductions, tortures, and massacres of people who are merely working for a better future in the Philippines.
6) Also, we need to educate and build more support from the greater American public for the people’s struggle in the Philippines. This is important because we need to recognize that the US will not easily let go of its control of our country, because it desperately needs to keep exploiting the Philippines’ resources and people in order to keep making profits.
With that, we can foresee that as the people’s struggle in the Philippines gains strength and advances towards victory, the US will plan to directly intervene and invade the Philippines just like Vietnam.
We, as Filipinos in the US, need to expose their oppressive intentions and gain mass support amongst the greater American public to prevent this imperialist war of aggression.
So as time goes on, our role here in the US will become even more important, but still be secondary to the primary form of struggle being waged in the Philippines.
7) Then, especially after the victory of the struggle for freedom in the Philippines, we will have an increased responsibility to go back and offer our various skills, talents, and abilities to help to rebuild the country and bring to reality a more just, peaceful, and humane society of the future.
As far as your professor friend’s questions, these points I just raised are an example of how the PSR (Philippine Society & Revolution, written by Jose Maria Sison, aka Amado Guerrero) is applied to our work here in the US. His argument of the “declining significance” of Joma is quite frankly, misinformed and unfounded.
It may be enlightening for him to read the 4 new volumes of Joma’s writings, which we recently launched at our AB LA & SD anniversary. They feature articles and analysis written by him over the past 20 years, dealing with issues such as the current world financial crisis, the US wars of aggression in the Middle East, and the continuing steady advance of the Philippine struggle for national liberation and democracy.
Despite over 20 years in exile, he continues to struggle intensely and put in hella work every day, constantly studying the current world situation and Philippine situation, and providing political analysis through his public writings. His writings help people all over the world to analyze current conditions, continue fighting for national democracy in the Philippines, and advance the international struggle against imperialism to bring about a more just society.
According to Mong Palatino of Kabataan Partylist, very few political figures in the Philippines have stayed significant enough to make news headlines continually for the past 4 decades. As you can see in recent headlines, Joma still plays an important role as chief political consultant of the NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines) in the peace negotiations with the Philippine government.
The mere fact that the Philippine government is engaging in peace negotiations speaks to the fact that the national democratic struggle continues to be a significant political force in the country. And until genuine change is achieved, its significance will continue to increase.
*By the way, here’s Joma’s recent audio message concerning his new books and the current world situation
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Michele. I hope this helps you in some way :)
