The International Office of the National Democratic of the Philippines (NDFP) successfully launched at its conference hall in Utrecht the book of Jose Maria Sison, Reflections on Revolution and Prospects and its German version Ein Leben im Widerstand, on Saturday, December 21, 2019.
Solidarity activists in support of the Filipino people’s struggle for national and social liberation filled the conference hall. They came from various countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, Canada, Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia.
Acting as the moderator, Coni Ledesma welcomed all the guests and introduced the speakers, the author Jose Maria Sison and his co-author Dr. Rainer Werning, and the book reviewers NDFP chief international representative Luis Jalandoni and Peter Weispfenning of .
Sison thanked Rainer Werning for asking him the questions he answered, the Editor Julieta de Lima, the publishers International Network for Philippine Studies and the Verlag Neuer Weg, the book reviewers and the NDFP International Office as sponsor of the book launch. He also discussed briefly the current Philippine and global situation.
Dr. Werning narrated his solidarity of more than 50 years with the Filipino people’s struggle for national and social liberation. He spoke warmly of the Filipino comrades and friends he had known personally and worked since 1970. He referred to his German translation of Jose Maria Sison’s Philippine Society and Revolution published in 1973.
In his book review, Luis Jalandoni discussed how Reflections on Revolution and Prospects reflects the development of the revolutionary struggle of the Filipino people under the leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines since 51 years ago. He described the revolutionary forces., including the CPP, the New People’ Army, the mass organizations, the NDFP and the local organs of political power.
In his book review of Ein Leben in Widerstand, by Peter Weispfenning discussed the global issues in relation to Filipino-German revolutionary solidarity. He concurred with Sison on the global situation characterized by the intensifying contradictions between the old imperialist powers headed by the US and the new imperialist powers, China and Russia.
In the course of the sharpening struggle for a redivision of the world, the crisis of the world capitalist system escalates the oppression and exploitation of the people and at the same time drives the people to wage revolutionary struggle.
The book launch was made lively with the cultural intermissions, open forums and open mic session during which solidarity greetings were given to the Communist Party of the Philippines through the NDFP. Snacks were served to the guests during the sale of book copies and autographing by Sison and Werning. The guests of the book launch milled around to converse among themselves.###
