Laban ng Masa promotes socialism vs Duterte
Newly formed coalition group, Laban ng Masa (LNM), pushed for socialism on Sunday to end what they believe is an authoritarian government under President Rodrigo Duterte.
Photo by Amabelle San Pedro/THE FOURTH
During the coalition’s first general assembly at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman’s Ang Bahay ng Alumni, LNM Chairman Walden Bello emphasized in his speech the need for credible opposition against the authoritarian rule.
"The need for a genuine and credible opposition to authoritarian rule is one reason we have come together in Laban ng Masa," Bello said.
The group was also guided by a socialist oriented direction that takes away the people from repression, poverty and inequality – which were failed promises of Duterte as Bello pointed out. He also called the contention of the president as socialist “fake news” because of the lack of actions for economic reform ever since he held office.
He mentioned that Duterte has “shown his true colors” when he legalized contractualization instead of outlawing it. Furthermore, Duterte did not promote agrarian reform; did not give the farmers the coco levy funds as promised on his campaign in the 2016 elections; and ousted Gina Lopez as the secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for allegedly siding with the big mining companies in the country.
The opposition group also condemned the extrajudicial killings in the country for having a record of 13,000 deaths in less than a year in line with the drug war of the administration which they also called the “war against the poor.”
Bello then recounted when Duterte mentioned last October 2016 that 20,000 to 30,000 people might need to be killed to meet his campaign objectives.
"Many people then said he was just joking or he was engaging in hyperbole. A year later, no one is laughing anymore," he said.
In line with the general assembly, 13 platforms of the coalition were introduced and explained by respective members of LNM which tackled issues on ‘war on drugs’, martial law in Mindanao, labor and industrialization, women’s demands, foreign policy and poverty.
LNM chair also called the coalition the “broadest” and the “most diverse coalition of forces” having connections with several organizations nationally and internationally, such as the Socialist Alliance in Australia and the Socialist Party of Malaysia.
The assembly led by Bello, along with some members of LNM, ended in a noise barrage around 5 p.m. from UP Diliman’s Palma Hall to Commonwealth Avenue.
Socialism as an alternative
As a political activist, the Ex-Rep. Walden Bello has come across visions of socialism and called it an “attractive” word for the young despite its negative connotation which, according to him, is already fading away.
“So many years have passed and we’re recovering the essence of socialism at this point in time and I think this is why when people say [ask] what is your alternative [sic], it is socialism,” Bello said.
For LNM, socialism is an idea that represents social justice and participatory democracy.
“In one sense, you know, we can call it participatory democracy, they can call it democratic socialism, they can call it people’s democracy, but we thought that we would use the word socialism because it really expresses what we are really all about,” Bello expressed.
Bello said the coalition offers a socialistic but democratic outlook in the economy, despite the negative connotation surrounding the ideology, to be a “force” to go against the policies of the Duterte administration that is not the fascism that the latter offers nor the “elite rule”.
“There are, of course, many ideas about what socialism is all about—some of them [are] mistaken ideas, but the real word of socialism is real participatory democracy and real economic equality.” Bello reiterated and named Bernie Sanders as an example of the growing influence of socialism throughout the world.
According to Bello, the mistaken ideas of socialism came from the influence of the Soviet Union in the eastern bloc of Europe back in World War I which he called “centralized bureaucratic regimes” that did not serve the political interest of the people before.
The former representative of Akbayan Party also threw a jab to coalitions which he deemed too connected to the past and only runs on “one direction.”
“I’m not going to say anything at this point in terms of naming them, but you know, if the shoe fits as they say, then wear it. But, hopefully, at the moment, we travel on parallel paths in some areas,” Bello said.
However, Bello said he wanted to focus first on establishing LNM’s identity to attract more members to the coalition and encourage the masses to join their cause.
