Support the Filipino peoples’ struggle against the tyrant Duterte!
Potere al popolo stands in solidarity with the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan alliance and the Philippine people’s struggle against the brutal repression being carried out by Duterte’s regime.
On the eve of the anniversary of the declaration of martial law by Ferdinand Marcos, which ushered in a decade of state terror, the Philippines is once again in the clutches of a fascistic dictator. Using the premise of the war against ISIS and the so-called “war on drugs,” Duterte has himself proclaimed martial law in a large part of the country and is carrying out the execution or imprisonment of opposition leaders, trade unionists, community leaders, as well as citizens in poor urban and rural areas. He has abruptly ended the peace process aimed at reaching an agreement with the National Democratic Front (NDFP), commencing instead with military operations against communist forces in rural areas, operations that also serve as a cover for a more general repression of rural urban workers’ struggles against extraction and exploitation.
We denounce the violence of the Philippine regime, but we also denounce the complicity of our own government and its allies, and of an international order that allows dictators like Duterte carte blanche to murder and imprison those who resist his brutal rule. The Philippines continues to receive arms and military aid from NATO countries and from Israel, arms which are used by the the state against its own population. Potere al popolo is calling for Italy’s exit from the NATO treaty and for the dismantling of its arms sector. We also call for our government to put pressure on Duterte to restore the rule of law and stop the mass killings of citizens.
