MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY TO AMBALA ON THE OCCASION OF ITS SUMMIT
Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson
International League of Peoples’ Struggle
August 15, 2015
I have the honor to convey militant greetings of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) to the Alyansa ng Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (Alliance of Farmworkers in Hacienda Luisita, AMBALA) on the occasion of its Summit this August 15 to 16.
We of the ILPS congratulate you for your steadfast struggle and the victories that you have so far won against the most powerful big comprador-landlord family in the country. The whole world knows about the great Hacienda Luisita strike and about AMBALA as the broadest association of the toiling masses in Hacienda Luisita rallying for genuine land reform and justice.
The people of the world have the highest sympathy for you for suffering the worst forms of oppression and exploitation, including the deceptive use of the stock distribution option for a long time, the infamous Hacienda Luisita massacre and the series of murders, such as those of United Luisita Workers Union leader Tirso Cruz, Central Azucarera de Tarlac Labor Union leader Ricardo Ramos, Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Tarlac leader Marcelino Beltran, Anakpawis leader Victor “Tatang Ben” Concepcion, Bayan Muna-Tarlac leader Flor Collantes, Tarlac City Councilor Abel Ladera, Bishop Alberto Ramento and Fr. William Tadena who stood up and supported you.
The people of the world have the highest appreciation for you for having persevered in the struggle for land and justice and for having won substantial victories despite the rise of Benigno Aquino III to the highest position in the US-dominated government of big compradors and landlords and despite the impunity and promotion of officers liable for the Hacienda Luisita massacre and the aforesaid murders.
We support the summit in its resolute aim and effort to consolidate the peasant communities in the ten barangays of Hacienda Luisita and to prepare them better for bigger and more challenging struggles ahead in the face of the scheme of the Cojuangco-Aquino family and its accomplices to escalate its attempts to enclose, seize, grab and reconcentrate the land and frustrate the toiling masses in Hacienda Luisita.
As you have exposed and denounced, lies, deception, militarization, threats, harassment, and continued impunity are the ways by which the president of the puppet republic and his family have used to violate your basic rights to land and justice. They use complicated and sophisticated schemes to attack you and deprive you of the land. But AMBALA has succeeded in uniting you as a collective force and leading you to win further socio-economic and political victories.
There is a lot more to be be done in order to win greater victories. We are confident that your summit will succeed in consolidating your victories and drawing up the plan and tasks for obtaining greater victories. You must obtain more victories not just for yourselves in Hacienda Luisita but also for the rest of the toiling masses and our nation. It is inspiring that AMBALA has joined the national campaign for genuine land reform and national industrialization and has committed itself to the advancement of the national democratic struggle of the Filipino people.
Mabuhay ang AMBALA!
Isulong ang pakikibaka sa Hacienda Luisita!
Mabuhay ang mga magsasaka at manggagawang bukid!
Ipagtagumpay ang tunay na reporma sa lupa at hustiya sosyal!
Mabuhay ang pambansa demokratikong pakikibaka ng sambayanang Pilipino!