Oppositionists boycott Philippine elections

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14 SOCIALIST ACTION FEBRUARY 1986 Ferdinand Marcos called the Feb. 7 election in response to strong pressure by the U.S. government to apply a "democratic" facade to his regime. The Reagan administration had expressed alarm that Marcos—the United States' close ally for 20 years-was unable to stem the growing left-wing opposition movement.

U.S. intelligence agencies estimate that the Commmunist Party of the Philippines has grown to about 20,000 mem -bers-double the level of five years ago. They state that the CP-led New People's Army has a presence in 8000 of the country's 40,000 villages. The labor movement is also growing. Last year the number of strikes hit an all-time high-up 30 percent from 1984.

On the eve of the election, the U.S. government swung more openly behind the Cory Aquino-Doy Laurel slate as a more "moderate" alternative that might help to defuse a potential revolutionary situation. As Business Week remarked in its Feb. 3 issue, "The incumbent president is favored to win, and that victory—along with a sour economy-could exacerbate agitation against U.S. multinationals operating there."

Both Aquino and Laurel come from the traditional oligarchy that has dominated Philippine politics since before independence. Their election platform called for respecting the treaties under which the United States will use Subic Naval Base and Clark Air Force Base until 1991. After that date, they said, "We shall keep all our options open.

The "minimum program of government" distributed by the Aquino-Laurel campaign also stated, "Our economy should encourage and protect the intiative and participation of Philippine private capital." In short, despite formal calls for limited land reform and other democratic demands, Aquino and Laurel sought a return to the status quo which existed before the 1972 declaration of martial law.

Oppositionists call boycott

Despite the clamor for "anti-Marcos unity" behind the Cory Aquino-Doy Laurel slate, left-wing organizations including the National Democratic Front (NDF) and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) called for a boycott of the elections.

The NDF is an underground formation led by the Communist Party of the Philippines. BAYAN is a nationalist and anti-imperialist coalition of unions and community organizations with a total membership of up to 2.3 million.

Those who called for all oppositionists to unite behind Aquino's candidacy stressed that the main object of the movement should be to get rid of Marcos. For the boycotters, however, an equally important consideration was that Marcos be replaced by an anti-imperialist government re - sponsive to peasants.

By virtue of the presidential candidate's marriage to the martyr Benigno Aquino, the United States and the moderate opposition hoped to draw the mass movement behind the "moderates." The campaign therefore offered the temptation of what Stalinists call an "anti-fascist people's front," i.e., an electoral coalition with a section of the bourgeoisie on a capitalist reform program.

BAYAN's leaders realized in time that this course was not only illusory, but would disorient the mass movement. Hence, the present boycott was more significant than the boycott of the 1983 parliamentary elections. While the parliament was known to be powerless, the present elections offered the illusion of voting out the dictator and instituting reforms.

The rejection in practice of such a strategy by that section of the mass movement most closely tied to the oppressed and exploited is a good omen for the future of the Philippine revolution.