By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson,
International League of Peoples’ Struggle
May 9, 2014
Warmest greetings of solidarity!
On behalf of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, I wish to express high appreciation for your determination to strengthen the Portland Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines by holding your first general assembly and ratifying your constitution.
Indeed, your general assembly is a momentous event. You are holding it after gaining ten years of experience in human rights advocacy for the Filipino people in their struggle for national liberation and democracy.
We presume that your assembly can serve to revitalize your organization and strengthen your determination to fullfill your tasks. We are confident that the ratification of your constitution can make your organization more cohesive and can provide a clear sense of direction.
We hope that during the assembly you will be able to plan campaigns and activities to uphold, defend and promote the human rights of the Filipino people and stand in solidarity with them and support them in their revolutionary struggle for national and social liberation against US imperialism and the local exploiting classes in the Philippines.
We in the ILPS look forward to your greater efforts and greater successes. We appreciate your seriousness and militancy in your commitment and work in the field of human rights. We advice you to be in close touch with the Karapatan and other human rights organizations in the Philippines and the ILPS Commission on human rights.
You must develop solidarity and close relations with the various organizations of the exploited and oppressed classes and sectors of Philippine society. You will gain strength and effectiveness if you keep on sending your members to observe the social situation and struggles of the people in the Philippines.
The people in the US and the Philippines are beset by an ever worsening social and economic crisis as a result of the basic workings of monopoly capitalism, the unbridled greed of imperialist banks and firms under the regime of neoliberalism and the growing propensity of the US for launching wars of aggression.
The peoples of the world are suffering from ever more extensive and intensive forms of exploitation and oppression. They must unite to fight against the oppressors and exploiters and aim for a fundamentally better and brighter world of greater freedom, democracy, social justice, all-round development and world peace.
Thank you.