Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has mobilized all its forces in the Bicol and Southern Tagalog provinces where supertyphoon Rolly slammed today resulting in massive floods, landslides, destruction of property, displacement, injuries and a number of deaths. Houses, farms and sources of livelihood, both in the cities and countryside, are severely damaged.

The peasants and fisherfolk have suffered the worst effects of the disaster. These come on top of the rapid deterioration of socioeconomic conditions as a result of the economic crisis and government neglect. In many villages, the disaster wrought by the successive storms add to the grave effects of militarization of their communities by abusive AFP counterinsurgency troops.

The Party calls for mass mobilization to help victims of the disaster to collectively recover from the damage of the successive typhoons. We urge all humanitarian agencies and people’s organizations to collect and help distribute food, water, clothing, construction supplies, as well as other farm implements, seeds and others. They can coordinate with local revolutionary forces to ensure that assistance will reach the intended recipients with dispatch.

While remaining alert, units of the New People’s Army have been mobilized to coordinate with revolutionary mass organizations in the rural areas to help in rebuilding houses and structures damaged by the strong winds and heavy rains. Efforts are underway to ensure the facilitation of the entry of emergency supplies especially to the interior villages.

Plans to help the masses recover economically must be carried out the soonest. There can be mobilization from less affected areas to form production brigades and mobilize resources to help the masses repair their farms, damaged boats and other means of production.

While the Filipino people reel from the catastrophe, Rodrigo Duterte was nowhere to be found, not even appearing in a Malacañang briefing. They are utterly peeved by his display of gross disinterest for the welfare of millions of Filipinos who are suffering from the impact of the severe storm.

Indeed, he has no face to show to the people as disaster preparedness and response has never been a priority of his regime. Under his regime, calamity fund has been cut by 60% from P39 billion in 2016 to a measly P15.7 billion this year. Government agencies are grossly underfunded, and incapable of tiding affected families over the crisis caused by the calamity amid a pandemic.

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