Interview with Ka Andres & Ka Rosa on Communist Mass Work [Eng.]

Understanding Communist Mass Work in the Philippines & Diaspora Hello and welcome to Radio Resistance. In this episode today, we are happy to present you an interview with Car Andres and Carlosa about communist mass work in the Philippines and the diaspora. Communist mass work is a central component of revolutionary practice. As Ka Andres will tell us in the interview, it is the backbone of any revolutionary movement because it has a dual function, first, spreading the political positions and 2nd, strengthening grassroots organization. So that means that on the one hand, it serves to popularize concrete revolutionary perspectives among the population, and on the other hand, mass work forms organisations in which as many new people as possible can organise without immediately committing themselves to the revolutionary struggle. Maoist communist organisations such as the Communist Party of the Philippines refer to the concept of the mass line in their mass work. This means that political programs must arise from the masses to the masses. That is, they must be developed in exchange with the masses and can only be successful if they, meaning the masses, also adopt the positions as their own. In this way, a program can be developed that is not formulated abstractly for the people but actually emerges from their concrete experiences, needs and struggles. The result is a program that is not only propagated but also supported and defended by the masses themselves. In the imperialist centres, there have been few successful examples of consistent mass work to date. Most communist organisations continue to exist on the margins of society and often appeal only to small sections of it. Few even used the term masses as a political category. When they speak of mass politics, it is more in the sense that their politics should appeal to as many people as possible. However, according to communist terminology, the masses are those classes in society that have a potential interest in revolutionary change, For example, the working class, the sub proletariat and the lower sections of the petty Bushra Sea. More recently there have been some attempts to establish a practice aimed at anchoring oneself in the masses. This podcast, Radio Resistance, is from the German speaking part of Europe. Here many use terms other than revolutionary mass work to describe their practice, for example, revolutionary neighborhood work, revolutionary base building, organising from below and so on. At their core, however, they are influenced by the same aspiration, the aspiration to root themselves as revolutionaries in those sections of the population that have a potential interest in a revolutionary perspective and that is the masses. Regardless of the political spectrum, regardless of the respective revolutionary strategy or whether such strategy exists at all, these approaches can benefit enormously from engaging with the experiences of revolutionary movements in other countries that have been doing revolutionary mass work now for several decades. One such example would be the comrades in the Philippines. This makes it all the more important that Car Andres and Carrosa 2 comrades were active in member organizations of the NDFP are taking the time to share their understanding and experiences of communist must work with us in this interview. The interview was conducted in summer 2025. Because the NDFP is facing political persecution, we had to alter the voices of Andres and Carlosa by technical means to ensure their future safety. Also, we re recorded the questions to increase the listening experience. We hope you will enjoy the interview. Organizers' Roles, Sectors, and Challenges in the Philippines Hello Andres and Carosa, thank you very much for taking your time to share your experience with us. Please introduce yourself quickly. Who are you and where are you organized and what are the tasks that you are fulfilling in your revolutionary work? Speaker 2 My name is Andres, I am a organizer from the Philippines and our focus mainly on fisherfolk and besant organizing in the Philippines. Speaker 3 I'm Rosa and I'm working for the Filipino compatriots in Europe. Speaker 1 You're both active in revolutionary mass organizations. Can you tell us about the topics that you're engaging with in those organizations? What are the main challenges that you're facing at the moment? Speaker 2 Yeah, so because I organize in the peasant sector mainly, my work focuses on agrarian revolution, wage and labour rights for agricultural workers and fish workers, anti privatization campaigns and anti neoliberal policy campaigns. These issues are rooted in our semi feudal and semi colonial overall socio economic conditions of the Philippines. And our main challenges especially right now include the non-stop harassment, militarization of peasant communities, red tagging of our leaders and even us the organizers. I myself have experienced surveillance and intimidation from state agents, but unfortunately a lot of our cases are much worse. Some of my comrades have experienced abduction and even killings. Most notably, some of our comrades especially were involved in a massacre in the Philippines. They were killed inside their home in front of their child just because they are defending their community against a large scale project that is trying to convert their community. And you know, at the same time, many of the problems that we face are connected with the overall National Democratic movement in the Philippines. So that's why our organization, particular organization, is part of this broader movement for national democracy. Speaker 3 I'm from a very specific sector which we call the migrant sector of the Philippines. And mostly this were originally from the farmers, workers and petty bourgeois sectors in the Philippines. But because we don't have enough infrastructures in the Philippines, like a real industrialization and a progressive agricultural system, people are really drawn to seek work outside the Philippines. And there's like a big diaspora of Filipinos, like every day around 30,000 of Filipinos leave the country. And I think that's why we need to organise them because they're a substantial force in society. The State's Strategy of Red Tagging and Its Consequences Now before we move on, Andres, you mentioned 2 terms that listeners might not be familiar with. One of them is of course the New Democratic movement or New Democracy in general, but that is actually too big of a topic to cover here. But the other one was the red tagging. Could you maybe explain to people here in Central Europe what is meant by this? Speaker 2 Term Okay, so in the Philippines there are legal National Democratic organizations and there is the underground National Democratic organization and the state do not differentiate between the two. And so you see, in order to suppress the revolution in the Philippines, the state targets the legal activists even though they are not directly engaged in armed struggle. They are tad this Rebus and armed groups. And so that gives them the justification to kill them even though they are in the urban setting and doing legal reformist work. So this is one of their strategies to suppress the urban mass movement in the Philippines. That's to add, it doesn't work for them because what is really happening is because they are suppressing the legal activists. They have no other choice but to go to the countryside. So you end up just radicalizing these legal activists into joining the armed movement. Communist Mass Work: Definition, Significance, and Practice Both of you are part of the revolutionary communist movement. Both of you also engage in mass work. Can you explain to us what is to be understood by the term mass work and what is the significance of mass work for the strategy of the revolutionary communist movement in the Philippines? Speaker 2 For us, mass work is the backbone of our revolutionary movement. For us, if you're a communist, if you're a revolutionary, mass work should be top of your priority. It means integrating with the masses, learning from their conditions, arousing their consciousness, organizing their ranks and mobilizing them to fight, making them realize that they have the power to fight not just for short term solutions, but for long term solutions as well. It is through mass work for us that we build its base and also wages ideological struggle. Speaker 3 From the compatriots point of view, I think we also do mass work among the members from the migrant communities in all over the globe. And for me the mass work is like your arrow when you want the target. As a communist, we are so overwhelmed with theories and the target, but mass work is your arrow to the target and I think that's very important in our work. Speaker 2 Even our people's army was actively engaging in armed draga. They're not just, you know, an army that always goes to battle. They're also a social political army that has three essential ingredient to waging the war. And one of that is mass work, expanding the mass basis through mass work. And that means going to the community, investigating their issues, investigating their problems, solving those issues, and also, of course, linking their problem to the broader problem the Filipino mass is in, placing their consciousness and eventually recruiting them to the People's Army. Addressing Diverse Needs Through Multiple Mass Organizations Now we have 2 follow up questions. In the Filipino movement, there are a lot of mass organizations. They address a variety of different societal problems. How does a revolutionary party such as the Communist Party of the Philippines choose in which sectors to build up mass organizations, and what are the reasons for making those decisions? And the second question also relates to the fact that there are so many different mass organizations. Why was the choice made to not just build up one big mass organization that addresses all those different societal problems at once? Speaker 3 It's a good question. So as I said earlier, the migrants community is a special sector because it's a combination of different sectors like people coming from the peasant, from the workers, from the urban poor and also from petty bourgeois factors who couldn't find jobs in the country, for example, completely like a teacher who is trained to be in the educational sector comes to another country to be a domesticated worker. So that's the big sectors that we are dealing with. I think it just involved in the post 70s after the market policy of sending migrant workers abroad. Speaker 2 And just to add to that regarding your question, the National Democratic Revolution in the Philippines course led by the Communist Party of the Philippines has a social investigation about the conditions of the Philippine society. It is semi colonial and semi feudal. The country is ruled by the 1%, which is made-up of the landlords, the big landlords, the contrador bourgeoisie, the big contrador bourgeoisie and of course the imperialists. And that is the 1% of our society and the 99% below that 1%, which consists of the local capitalist, the petty bourgeoisie, the workers, of course, and the peasants, which constitutes the majority of the population. And in order to organize the 99%, you can't just automatically recruit them to the party and tell them we need a revolution. That's why mass work is very important. You need to know the issues of each of those classes. You need to know the concerns and the need of each of those sectors. That's why I think, you know, I'm being romantic. But the National Democratic Revolution is, is invincible because it addresses all of those needs, all of those concerns of each of those sectors. And I think that answers your question about why are there so many mass organizations in the Philippines to address the needs, the specific needs of each sector of each classes of our society, but also link them to the broader movement of the Filipino people, the National Democratic movement. And while we have various organizations all over the Philippines, they are sectoral, but they are united under the leadership of the party through the National Democratic United Front. And this united front consisting of all these organizations allow those organizations, sectoral organizations, even though they have, you know, particularities, they allow it to unite and under 1 popular struggle to coordinate with campaigns, consolidate gains, and also deepen political consciousness. Speaker 3 So, for example, completely among the peasant sector, among the peasant sector, half of the sector are women. So we cannot just take the issues as peasants, but also women have issues very specific to them, like patriarchy and other forms of violence. And that's why it's very important to have sectoral violence. But at the same time, I think what links all these sectors is the issue of gas. Speaker 2 Exactly. And creating many organizations and hitting the needs of all the sectors. I think it's a good strategy, and it is the strategy of the the National Democratic movement to unite the broadest possible forces in order to take down the three basic problems of the Philippines, imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism, and to win the National Democratic revolution and establish eventually socialism and then communism. From Local Issues to National Democratic Revolution: A Step-by-Step Approach To follow up on what you just said, how do you concretely link the struggles of different sectoral organizations? Speaker 2 Yeah, that's very good question. You know, I work mainly in the fisheries sector. I have lots of experience organizing the Fisher folk. And when you go to a community that's entirely new to the National Democratic movement, you don't immediately tell them that we need to take down imperialism, feudalism, bureaucrat capitalism and establish the new democratic government and forward to socialism. They won't understand you. You will become alienated. You will become isolated. And So what you do is you go to the community, do social class analysis and social investigation, and then eventually you find out their problems. For example, in one community, what they are facing are privatization projects. You see foreign corporations trying to privatize their fishing ground, and so you help them struggle against that specific problem. But also you don't stop there. Even if they win that local battle, you connect that issue to the broader issue of feudalism, where the resources are monopolized and are carved by foreign interests through the help with the collaboration of the Philippine government. And so you step by step through a process, you not only help them with their local struggle, but also raise their consciousness. No. And after that, you know they themselves will ask the questions, what's the next step after we win this local battle? How do we help forward the National Democratic movement to benefit everyone, not just the Fisher folks? Speaker 3 From my perspective, sometimes we have the very specific sectoral organizations, but we also have what we call the people's movement. And the people's movement is a reflection of the different sectors that we work with. And concretely, for example, in a community, you just don't organize the peasants, but in a small group there's a representative from the teacher, from the youth, from the women, from the person. So all possible representations. I think in the micro units you can see the people's character of this integration and. Speaker 2 It's also what's very good about the party, the communist part of the Philippines and the People's National Democratic Movement is that even in the smallest unit, you see the committee system, the party system in work. And so that's why the people get to see a glimpse of what the victory will look like eventually. The Strategic Importance of Organizing the Filipino Diaspora Now to go back to the topic of diaspora organising, can you talk about the motives behind the decision to not only do mass work in the Philippines but also in the diaspora? And how is the work in the diaspora linked to the work in the Philippines? Speaker 3 So as I said, it's a new phenomenon in the Philippines, it's a post 70s phenomenon. As I said, while migrants are driven out by the lack of infrastructure and backward economic systems in the Philippines and political system, it's always anchored on the semi futile, semi colonial character of the country. We think from the National Democratic Front that it's like a direct relationship. The worse the economic and political system is, the more migrants are sent out to seek out a greener pasture, as we say. Speaker 2 Also, the comrade already explained it very clearly, but just to add that the Filipino diaspora is very important because it is a clear result and it's a clear illustration of how Filipinos are forced to migrate because of the effects of imperialism. And also another strategic role of the migrant workers, you know, the Filipinos in the diaspora is to support our work through political education, resource mobilization, advocacy, while also linking our movement to the broader internationalist proletarian movement in different countries. Speaker 1 Do the diaspora mass organisations focus mainly on the struggle in the Philippines or do they also engage in class struggle in the diaspora? Speaker 3 I think it's also our role to be involved in the local issues where we are situated because it also reflects the situation of migrants in that locality. I think somehow migrant workers from the Philippines are also compelled to do internationalist work because of the character of being in another country and and embracing both your own country and a place of president at the moment. Navigating Reformist Goals Towards Revolutionary Consciousness Many of the mass organisations do not pursue a clear revolutionary line. They fight for certain reforms inside the capitalist imperialist system. How the US revolutionaries experienced the tensions between revolutionary and reformist goals in the mass organizations. Speaker 2 So I don't think there's any tension concerning the National Democratic revolution between reformist and revolutionary strategies. We engage the masses where they are, such As for higher wages to stop projects that are destroying the livelihoods of people, for example. They can always serve as entry points to becoming a revolutionary to the revolutionary ideas by the National Democratic revolution. So we do not reject reforms, but we struggle to raise the political level. So that's the thing. We also engage in reforms in that parliamentary struggle, but we don't stop there. We are very specially careful with that, especially when you're organising in the communities. Of course you help them struggle for reforms, but you should never stop there, but always raise their consciousness. And the party ensures that these reformist aspects are transformed into revolutionary, resolved through olitical education and, of course, ractice. Speaker 3 If I may add to that, concretely, for example, election is seen as a reformist strategy and there was a history in the movement where election was boycotted by the movement, but because it was an exercise of Damascus to pass their both the movement was isolated in that point of time. So today, we still engage in electoral reforms, quote, UN quote, but we are very critical that we're entering in very reforming structures and we know that electoral system is dominated by the ruling clan. And as Comrade Andresen, we take advantage of these opportunities to advance the National Democratic agenda and to seize these opportunities for discussion. Speaker 2 I think the key is, you know, as comrade said, do not be drowned in the illusion that the reform wouldn't solve the problems through its roots. You know, engage in reforms, but also don't stop there. Always raise the consciousness into a revolutionary consciousness of the masters. How Mass Organizations Relate to the Armed Struggle of the NPA Now in the Philippines, there is also armed struggle waged by the NPA, the New People's Army, against the bureaucrat capitalist government. How did the masses in the mass organizations relate to the armed struggle and do they look upon it favourably? Speaker 2 First there there would be no people's army without mass. And for the question of how does it begin, usually it's different from area to area. But what I would say is that from my experience, the new People's Army that is currently waging an armed revolution in the Philippines enjoy a broad support of the Filipino mass because they themselves are comprised of the peasant masses. They are a peasant army primarily, and they recruit from the ranks of the peasant, which constitute 75% of the Philippine society. So without mass work and without that constant going to the masses and engaging with them, you will not have a people's army. Do not have a protracted 1. Speaker 1 What kind of difficulties do you face when trying to familiarize the masses with the armed struggle? Speaker 2 Well, in the urban area, it's much more difficult because of the propaganda machinery of the state through the health of the US especially. And the government created this whole of the nation approach and built this anti communist agency just to spread the red scare among the people. And so you see a lot of people being misinformed about the People's Army, about the communist movement in the Philippines in general. But it's very different in the countryside. From my experience. We ask the peasants what they think of the People's Army. They will say a lot of good things about the People's Army, and sometimes they will even tell you that some of their relatives are part of the People's Army. But it's another task for the urban movement to also prepare the people and also inform the people about the People's Army and kind of counter that propaganda being spread by the US backed Philippine government. The Essential Role of Internationalism in Mass Movements For revolutionary communists, the role of internationalism is clear. They are proletarian internationalists. But how is it with the mass organizations? What is the role of internationalism for them? Speaker 2 International solidarity is essential. We relate with anti imperialist, anti fascist and even other druggers as well. Whether it be environmental, climate justice movements, even feminist movements, indigenous movements globally and we stand with struggles in different countries, Palestine, Latin America, other parts of Asia as well, even in Europe. You know, this is to help us amplify our campaign and amplify their campaign in the Philippines as well. But also on a party level it is important to find other organizations that are aligned not aligned to their ideology but can be allied in the anti imperialists cause in the global proletarian movement. Speaker 1 How are the specific fields of international solidarity decided in the mass movements? Do they develop organically out of the interest of the masses, or are they sometimes also proposed by the revolutionary cadres active inside the mass movement? Speaker 2 He can be both. Like for example, one of the issues that I'm currently engaged in right now, the campaign is the anti privatization campaign, which of course is an issue of the masses. But for the overall issue and the anti imperialist struggle, the Palestine issue and the other anti imperialist campaigns is of course pushed by the party because the party is an anti imperialist party. Speaker 1 Thank you very much for sharing your insights on communist mass work. I'm sure the listeners will take away a lot from this, especially since you both talk not only about the concepts but also their practical implementation. Overview of the Revolutionary Movement and Third Rectification Before we end the interview, I would like to ask you some more general questions about the revolutionary struggle in the Philippines. Can we begin by you giving us a broad overview about the situation of the revolutionary movement in general right now? Speaker 2 So, currently, the movement in the Philippines is under its third rectification movement. It has admitted that it suffered losses in the past years. So it's now in like a recovery stage. But all the regional chapters are still active. All the guerrilla fronts are still active and is still conducting peoples who are in, still building political powers all over the country and still establishing the people's democratic government all over the country. And you know, despite fascist attacks and relentless US backed counterinsurgy campaigns by the government, and the revolutionary movement continues to gain strength in many areas, opening up new fronts actually. And mass bases are also expanding, of course, through mass work. We've talked about it. The revolutionary forces are adapting to changing conditions and also deepening ties with the masses, ensuring the longevity and resilience of the people. As far I think the late Samaria season summarized it perfectly. I mean, the National Democratic movement is invincible. And it is because of the mass work that we do. We are deeply rooted in the Filipino masses. And so yes, to summarize, we have suffered some losses, but the fact that we are doing a rectification movement amidst that relentless attack is testament to what the movement is currently doing. It is doing very good I think. Speaker 1 Now, concerning this third rectification movement, can you expand a little bit on the topic? What is the purpose of a rectification movement in a revolutionary communist movement? In general, what are the specific aspects that the current rectification movement is addressing? Speaker 2 Right now we are on our third rectification movement. Rectification movements are done to correct wrong practices, wrong ideas, whether it's ideological, whether it's the practice of the movement in general. So third rectification movement, they've identified key problems and key wrong ideas that are being practiced in the party, one of which is empiricism. And the concrete examples of this is some units in the People's Army have become comfortable in their old practices and have refused to change that, to adapt in the condition some of them have constituted like a base where they are comfortable and have refused to expand their base. So a lot of those were identified by the party and decided that there is a need to launch 1/3 rectification movement. So it's not just in the Army, it's the entire movement. Final Thoughts: Mass Work as the Foundation of Revolution Well, thank you so much. We have come to the end of the interview. Do you have anything to add? Anything that the listeners should keep in mind, specifically concerning mass work? Speaker 2 Yeah. So to everyone listening, do not neglect mass work. Mass work is very, very important. Without mass work, you cannot do revolution. Speaker 1 By that, we've come to the end of the interview. We hope you enjoyed the interview as much as we did. In the next few weeks and months, a lot of additional content on the revolutionary movement in the Philippines will be published. We hope to see you then here on Radio Resistors.