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Salient. Official Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 44 No. 13. June 15 1981

A Question of Land — The Peasants and the National Democratic Movement

A Question of Land

The Peasants and the National Democratic Movement

The peasantry of the Philippines make up 80% of the population. 75% of this rural population (50% of the total population) live below the subsistence income level. They own no land of their own; they either rent land from the richer peasants and landlords, or work on other people's land.

The desperate situation of the peasant population is a product of the system of feudalism which, introduced by the Spanish colonisers 400 years earlier, still prevails in the countryside today and is reinforced and intensified by measures of the Marcos Government.

Almost Impossible to Own Land

The two main systems of land tenure in the Philippines are the percentage system, under which a land rent is paid at a rate of 30 to 50% of the total harvest; and the leasehold system, under which a fixed rent is paid. This system sees between 50 and 80% of the total harvest paid over to the landlord (depending on whether it is just land which is rented, or also tools and animals).

No concession is made in the event of a bad harvest or a crop that it destroyed by a flood or storm. This means that the majority of peasants soon slide into debt, with little chance of ever emerging from it. Private loans run at an interest rate of 100%, and are doubled if they are not paid within the fixed term.

Government loans run at an interest rate of 12½%, which must be paid immediately. Thus it is deducted from the loan before it is received, and the whole loan must be paid off by the end of the harvest (approximately three months) — which constitutes and effective interest rate of 50%.

Half of the loan is given in fertilisers and pesticides whether wanted or not. President Marcos owns the largest fertiliser and pesticide producing company in the Philippines.

Government Land Reform a Washout

It is not that there is insufficient land for the population to live off. In actual fact, despite the government's supposed attempts at land reform, there are still many landlords (most of them absentee, many American) with vast holdings. The government, far from alleviating the peasants' situation, adds to it by driving the peasants off their land in order to implement the projects of the foreign investors (mostly American) — the props of the Philippines economy. Even 20 years ago there were many more peasants who had a little land, but what has not been swallowed up by the transnational corporations, has been taken as payment of debts. This process has produced the current statistic of 75% with no land.

A History of Resistence

However, these people have never taken colonial oppression lying down, and the history of the Philippines has been one of peasant rebellion. For 400 years there have been continual sporadic peasant revolts — against Spanish rule and, in the 20th century, against the American and local big landlords.

But never has the oppression been so brutal or thorough as in the present day under the Marcos regime. Marcos, despite his front of "winning the hearts and minds of the people," advocates more direct tactics in the countryside — using the government military to crush any resistance to his presidency. People who are suspected of supporting the New People's Army and the revolutionary movement they fight for, are subjected to continual military harassment — and often torture and murder.

Villages Wiped Out

The other method of eradicating suspected support for the "insurgents" is to force the evacuation of the barrios concerned, and creating a 'free fire zone', where anything that moves is killed. In some parts of the country there are reports of barrios which have been bombed and wiped out entirely, inhabitants and all.

However, government brutality is a measure of its own doom, as ultimately it serves only to strengthen the resolve of the people to support and work for the revolution.

The peasantry are mobilised into support for the revolution by the New People's Army, who educate them about the nature of their oppression and its causes: feudalism and imperialism. The NPA's influence builds support amongst the peasants for elimination of their oppression through there mined struggle for national liberation.

The NPA have had success in mobilising the support of the vast majority of the population in areas where they are active (28 guerilla fronts in 40 provinces).

Peasants Support the NPA

The peasants provide support for the armed struggle not only through joining its ranks (the peasants form the bulk of the NPA) but also through housing and feeding the fighters who must be Constantly on the move.

This mutual support is the basis of the NPA's growing strength. The NPA provides the educative groundwork and military leadership of the struggle — together with winning immediate reforms such as forcing lent reduction from landlords. The peasantry provide the necessities of existence for the fighters, and the moral and active support essential for the success of the revolution. It produces the nationwide unity, of the peasantry that has never been achieved in the past; a unity which forms the backbone of the revolutionary movement in the Philippines today.