Christians for National Liberation

Last updated
Christians for National Liberation
Also known asCNL
FoundationFebruary 17, 1972 (1972-02-17) [1]
Country Philippines
Allegiance Communist Party of the Philippines
MotivesSupport the national democratic revolution in the Philippines
Ideology Communism
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism
Liberation Theology
Theology of struggle
StatusActive
Part of National Democratic Front of the Philippines

The Christians for National Liberation is an underground revolutionary mass organization in the Philippines committed to uniting Christians in the revolution led by the Communist Party of the Philippines. [1] A member of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, it supports the armed struggle waged by the New People's Army and led by the Communist Party of the Philippines. [2]

Contents

Established in 1972, the CNL took inspiration from liberation theology movements in Latin America and the social justice imperative in Vatican II. [3] It played a significant role during the Martial Law period in the Philippines. [4] CNL members also participated in the armed struggle and joined the NPA. [5] CNL is still active today as an underground movement.

History and background

The impetus to establish the CNL began as early as the late 1960s, with a rise of political consciousness among members of the church. A "significant minority" became influenced by social and ideological factors emergent all over the world. [6]

Within the Philippines, events such as the First Quarter Storm and the rise of national democracy galvanized Filipinos towards greater political and social action. Works such as Amado Guerrero's Philippine Society and Revolution provided a Marxist understanding of Philippine society. [5] Outside the Philippines, the call to social action embedded in Second Vatican Council and the rise of liberation theology in Latin America served as the inspiration for members of the church to be involved in political and social issues. The writings of Gustavo Gutiérrez and Paolo Freire were also widely known and circulated, while figures such as Camilo Torres Restrepo were popular among what was being labelled as the "Christian Left." [6]

Organizations such as Philippine Priests Inc. were transformed from providing retirement benefits to providing an increasingly revolutionary critique of Philippine society. Edicio de la Torre and Luis Jalandoni were influential in radicalizing members of the PPI, and were also influential in inspiring Christian youth organizations such as the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines. [6]

This culminated with the first assembly of the Christians for National Liberation on February 17, 1972, coinciding with the 100th year death anniversary of Fathers Gomez, Burgos, and Zamora. [7] The assembly took place at the worship room of the Sampaloc University Center in Manila and was attended by 72 members. [8] CNL declared that it was working with the Communist Party of the Philippines to "expose and oppose imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism" and to "arouse, mobilize and organize both the middle elements and the masses of our society for a protracted and disciplined struggle on all fronts." [6] The founding assembly outlined the following major tasks for CNL members: [9]

  1. To expose and oppose imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism
  2. To arouse, mobilize and organize the masses for a protracted and disciplined struggle on all fronts
  3. To constantly remould ourselves and others away from selfishness and pride to selflessness and humble service to the people.

A second general assembly was held on August 19–20, 1972 at the Assumption Convent in Herran, Manila, [8] and was attended by over two hundred delegates. [1] The CNL and other political organizations were shortly forced underground following the imposition of Martial Law in the Philippines on September 21, 1972.

During Martial law

The CNL was the main organization for the church sector in the underground Left. It sought to mobilize members of the church into supporting the armed struggle and the transformation of churches around national democratic principles. [5] CNL members adopted a "dual persona" during the Martial law years, working in legal organizations while also participating in underground activities. CNL members were placed in strategic Church institutions and social action programs, mobilized and utilized Church resources such as schools and convents, organized communities through Basic Christian Communities, channeled Church funds to support the CPP, and supported people's struggles and collective action. [1]

On April 24, 1973, the CNL participated in the founding Congress of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, becoming part of its united front. [2] Owing to the Church's established infrastructure, CNL quickly became "the most organized and extensive ideological group that offered a MarxistLeninist-Maoist framework for social transformation" within the NDFP. [5] By 1981, the CNL was the largest organization within the NDFP. [10]

CNL members supported the La Tondeña workers' strike in 1975, the first workers' strike under Martial Law. [4] Priests and nuns, including those who were members of the CNL, joined the strike to prevent police harassment. [1] CNL members were also instrumental in pressuring Jaime Cardinal Sin and other Roman Catholic bishops into being critical of the Marcos dictatorship. [4]

CNL members faced harassment and arrest during Martial Law. In 1973, Jalandoni and nun Coni Ledesma were arrested. The following year, CNL founding Chairperson Ed de la Torre was also arrested. [9] Jalandoni and Ledesma would be released in 1974 and have continued to work with the NDFP ever since. [11] de la Torre would be released nine years later in 1983.

Despite close links with the CPP, few members during the 1970s and 80's desired Party membership, owing to a feeling that Church membership and communism were contradictory. [1] Despite this, many CNL members supported and joined the armed struggle in the countryside led by the New People's Army, describing it as "the highest expression of loving God and loving one’s neighbor." [5] Many CNL members during this time also still identified with the organization despite its links to the CPP.

Post-Marcos dictatorship

Political activity within the Church decline after 1986 in the aftermath of the People Power revolution and the inauguration of Corazon Aquino as president. [10] Church members were close with the Aquino administration and were involved in both her cabinet and in drafting the 1987 constitution. [9]

The CNL remained firm in its revolutionary stance despite optimism within the church for the Aquino government. In 1987, CNL held its Third Mindanao Congress which denounced the "church-backed US-Aquino regime" for its support for anti-communist vigilante groups like the Alsa Masa. [9]

Ideological, political, and organizational splits within the CPP and the revolutionary Left also affected CNL. [1] During this, CNL first tried to adopt a neutral stance during its 1990 Congress, but could not escape increasing divisions between "reaffirmists" and "rejectionists" within the Left. Eventually, CNL chose to reaffirm. [5] Some former CNL members, including rejectionists like dela Torre decided to break with the organization to explore other avenues of social activism, eventually establishing the social-democratic organization Akbayan and becoming the head of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority in 1998. [12]

CNL held its 9th Congress in September 2022, electing a new set of officers and ratifying a four-year plan emphasizing participation in the armed struggle and the resumption of peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the NDFP. [2]

Ideology

Members of the CNL consider themselves to be "Christians and revolutionaries" [5] The organization subscribes to what it defines as the theology of struggle, [1] which shares similarities with liberation theology. The theology of struggle emphasizes the role of the Church in the Filipino people's movement for national liberation, [13] and shares in that respect ideas found in national democracy. CNL emphasized the link between theology and activism.

CNL also reaffirmed the NDFP's program of action, emphasizing the need to "fulfill the Christian imperative of the revolution." [5] The CNL has gone to criticize the Catholic Church's stance on social action, specifically commenting on the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, [14] criticizing the Roman Catholic Church as "slanted towards monopoly capitalism and [denying] the common good of socialism." [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New People's Army</span> Armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines

The New People's Army is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). It acts as the CPP's principal organization, aiming to consolidate political power from what it sees as the present "bourgeois reactionary puppet government" and to aid in the "people's democratic revolution". Founded on March 29, 1969, by the collaboration of Jose Maria Sison and former members of the Hukbalahap led by Bernabe Buscayno, the NPA has since waged a guerrilla war based on the Maoist strategy of protracted people's war. The NPA is one of the key figures in the ongoing communist rebellion in the Philippines, the longest ongoing conflict in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communist Party of the Philippines</span> Political party in the Philippines

The Communist Party of the Philippines is a far-left, Marxist–Leninist–Maoist revolutionary organization and communist party in the Philippines, formed by Jose Maria Sison on 26 December 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jose Maria Sison</span> Filipino Maoist leader (1939–2022)

Jose Maria Canlas Sison, also known as Joma, was a Filipino writer, poet, and activist who founded and led the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and added elements of Maoism to its philosophy—which would be known as National Democracy. His ideology was formed by applying Marxism–Leninism–Maoism to the history and circumstances of the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Democratic Front of the Philippines</span> Revolutionary left-wing coalition in the Philippines

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines is a coalition of revolutionary social and economic justice organizations, agricultural unions, trade unions, indigenous rights groups, leftist political parties, and other related groups in the Philippines. It belongs to the much broader National Democracy Movement and the communist rebellion in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930</span> Communist party in the Philippines

The Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930 (PKP-1930), also known as the Philippine Communist Party, is a communist party in the Philippines that was established on November 7, 1930. It uses the aforementioned appellation in order to distinguish itself from its better known splinter group, the Communist Party of the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New People's Army rebellion</span> Insurgency in the Philippines (1969–present)

The New People's Army rebellion is an ongoing conflict between the government of the Philippines and the New People's Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Marxist–Leninist–Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). It is the world's longest ongoing communist insurgency and the largest, most prominent communist armed conflict in the Philippines, with more than 43,000 insurgency-related fatalities between 1969 and 2008. Due to the involvement of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the legal wing of the CPP, in the conflict, it is also called the CPP–NPA–NDF conflict, or simply the C/N/N conflict, especially in the context of peace talks with the Philippine government.

National Democracy (ND) or the National Democratic Left, known colloquially as NatDem, is a political ideology and movement in the Philippines that aims to establish a people's democracy in the country. With the Communist Party of the Philippines as the vanguard party, the movement seeks to address what it deems to be the "root causes of social injustices affecting the Filipino masses" in what is analyzed to be a "semi-colonial and semi-feudal society", by confronting the "three fundamental problems" of imperialism, feudalism, and "bureaucrat capitalism".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malayang Pagkakaisa ng Kabataang Pilipino</span> 1967–1972 Philippine communist youth organization

Malayang Pagkakaisa ng Kabataang Pilipino, abbreviated MPKP was a youth organization in the Philippines. It was the youth and student wing of the pro-Soviet Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas-1930 (PKP). The MPKP was founded on November 30, 1967, as the PKP broke its links with the Kabataang Makabayan. Whilst the KM developed a Maoist orientation under the leadership of Jose Maria Sison, the MPKP argued that protracted revolutionary war was not feasible considering the geography of the Philippines. Some six hundred delegates took part in the founding congress of the MPKP, held in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija. The leading group of the MPKP had belonged to the KM in Central Luzon. Francisco Nemenzo Jr. was amongst the founders of the MPKP. As of 1970, the MPKP was estimated to have some 5,000 members, predominantly young peasants and rural workers. The MPKP published Struggle as its organ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communist armed conflicts in the Philippines</span> 1942–present insurgencies in the Philippines

The history of communist armed conflicts in the Philippines is closely related to the history of communism in the Philippines, with various armed conflict linked to the armed wings of the various communist organizations that have evolved since 1930. The two largest conflicts have been the Hukbalahap rebellion of 1942–1954, and the ongoing rebellion of the New People's Army, which began in 1969 under the auspices of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). But various splinter groups have since separated from the CPP and have had a history of armed conflict with the Philippine government since then.

Communism in the Philippines emerged in the first half of the 20th century during the American colonial era of the Philippines. Communist movements originated in labor unions and peasant groups. The communist movement has had multiple periods of popularity and relevance to the national affairs of the country, most notably during the Second World War and the Martial Law Era of the Philippines. Currently, the communist movement is weaker, and considered an insurgent movement by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The First Great Rectification Movement refers to a 1965 ideological movement by Filipino communists led by Jose Maria Sison wherein they "criticized, repudiated and rectified the major ideological, political and organizational errors and weaknesses" of the 1930s-era Communist Party of the Philippines. This rectification movement led to the reestablishment of the Communist Party of the Philippines on December 26, 1968 along Marxist–Leninist–Maoist Thought.

The Second Great Rectification Movement refers to a 1992 ideological campaign initiated by the leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) wherein an effort was made to "identify, repudiate and rectify the errors of urban insurrectionism, premature big formations of the New People's Army and anti-infiltration hysteria". The rectification movement resulted in the once monolithic Filipino communist party fragmenting into at least eight warring factions during the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kabataang Makabayan</span> Philippine socialist youth organization

Kabataang Makabayan, also known by the acronym KM, is an underground communist youth organization in the Philippines which was active from 1964 to 1975. It was banned by the Philippine government in 1972 when then-President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, and was driven underground. It was dissolved in 1975 along with other National Democratic mass organizations, as part of the National Democratic movement's change of strategy against the Marcos regime. Revived within the Manila-Rizal area in 1977 and later nationally in 1984, the organization continues to exist.

Religious sector opposition against the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos included leaders and workers belonging to different beliefs and denominations.

Fidel V. Agcaoili, also known as Ka Fidel, was a Filipino activist and revolutionary. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines' Central Committee, along with Jose Maria Sison and Luis Jalandoni during the Marcos dictatorship. In 1974, he was arrested and became the longest detained political prisoner under Marcos, being imprisoned for 11 years. On his release, Agcaoili founded the Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA), a prisoners' rights organization.

Antonio De Leon Zumel II, also known by his nicknames Tony, Manong, Ching and Antumel, was a Filipino journalist, activist, and leftist revolutionary. He was two-time President of the National Press Club of the Philippines before going underground in 1972 at the start of the Marcos dictatorship. In 1990, he was elected Chairperson of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in absentia, and was a senior adviser to the NDFP negotiating panel from 1994 until his death in 2001.

The Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP) is a youth ecumenical national democratic mass organization in the Philippines. It aims to uphold students rights and participates in numerous local and worldwide peoples' advocacies. As with other SCMs around the world, SCMP is a member of the World Student Christian Federation. In the Philippines, it is an associate member of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) and Kalipunan ng Kristiyanong Kabataan sa Pilipinas (KKKP). It is also a member and a founding organization of Kabataan Partylist.

<i>Philippine Society and Revolution</i> 1971 book by Jose Maria Sison

Philippine Society and Revolution, first published in 1971, is a book written by Filipino Maoist revolutionary and founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines Jose Maria Sison, under his nom de guerre Amado Guerrero. Regarded as one of the CPP's principal references, PSR has also influenced the Filipino mass movement since its first publication. It applied Maoist analysis to contemporary Filipino society, describing its class structure, its basic problems, and the "class logic of the revolutionary solution — which is the people's democratic revolution."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlos Tayag</span> Filipino Benedictine deacon and activist

Carlos "Caloy" Nuqui Tayag was a Filipino Benedictine deacon and activist.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Harris, Anne (14 November 2007). "The Theology of Struggle: Recognizing Its Place in Recent Philippine History". Kasarinlan: Philippine Journal of Third World Studies. 21 (2): 83–107. ISSN   2012-080X . Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "Christians for National Liberation successfully holds 9th Congress with firm commitment to pursue people's war". PRWC | Philippine Revolution Web Central. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  3. ↑ "Christians for National Liberation". rpl.hds.harvard.edu. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Sison, Jose Maria (7 May 2005). "Ideology and Religion in the Philippines". Jose Maria Sison. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Imbong, Jerry (2021). "Uncovering Christianity's 'Dangerous Memory': Christians for National Liberation (CNL) and the Church's Revolutionary Legacy" (PDF). MST Review. 23 (1). Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Shoesmith, Dennis (1979). "CHURCH AND MARTIAL LAW IN THE PHILIPPINES: The Continuing Debate". Southeast Asian Affairs: 246–vi. ISSN   0377-5437. JSTOR   27908361 . Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  7. ↑ Tan, Michael L. (16 February 2022). "More than 3 priests". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  8. 1 2 Sison, Jose Maria (13 May 2014). "The New Democratic Revolution Through Protracted People's War". Jose Maria Sison. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Ofreneo, Rosalinda Pineda (January 1987). "The Catholic Church in Philippine politics". Journal of Contemporary Asia. 17 (3): 320–338. doi:10.1080/00472338780000221.
  10. 1 2 Saludes, Mark (24 February 2017). "Christian activists play key role in Philippine revolution". Union of Catholic Asian News. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  11. ↑ Silverio, Ina Alleco (14 February 2011). "Love Underground: When Louie Met Coni". Bulatlat. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  12. ↑ Dela Torre, Edicio (12 July 2007). "Profile". Edicio dela Torre. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  13. ↑ Asedillo, Lisa (12 August 2021). "The Theology of Struggle: Critiques of Church and Society in the Philippines (1970s-1990s)" (PDF). Indonesian Journal of Theology. 9 (1): 62–92. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  14. ↑ Christians for National Liberation. A Commentary on the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (PDF). Foreign Languages Press. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  15. ↑ Sison, Jose Maria (27 June 2021). "POSTSCRIPT on the CNL Commentary on the of The Social Doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church". Jose Maria Sison. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.