Closing out 2017, the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army celebrate the 49th anniversary of the party’s refoundation, vowing to overthrow the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Rodrigo Duterte. Duterte has come under fire for the use of arbitrary arrest, torture, indefinite detention, and massacre of suspected revolutionaries and legal social activists, while carrying out a revved-up drug war resulting in thousands of extrajudicial killings. Trump has lavished praise on Duterte, saying that he is doing an “unbelievable job,” while courting the Philippine leader as an ally against North Korea. The CPP calls on all democratic forces in the country to oust the brutal, pro-imperialist regime.
