Kabataan Laban sa Pasismo! Youth Fight Fascism!
Kabataan Laban sa Pasismo! Youth Fight Fascism!
Anakbayan USA calls on all Filipino youth to build deeper roots in our communities and fight back against the fascist attacks on our people!
Though Trump’s victory in the election may strike anxiety and fear into the hearts of many, including so many of our kababayan, Anakbayan USA is resolved to fight fiercely against the oncoming onslaught of fascist attacks on all of our communities. We can not place all of our hope on any candidate. The power to change our future and fight for our demands are in the hands of the people and only the people.
Trump and his regime have made their targets clear: mass deportation of migrants, further neglect of the working class, and foreign policy that will only drag the people into imperialist wars. But this is not new—for the past 8 years and longer, Democrat or Republican president, the people have already been facing further neglect and a worsening economic crisis and seemingly endless wars. We have not forgotten the rotten policies and actions of the Trump regime before—the Muslim ban, over 1.5 million deportations of immigrants, nearly drawing the US into numerous wars, and an unprecedented economic crisis with his mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, but all of these have been built on previous policies of presidents before him.
As Filipino youth, we also have a large stake in this—while our migrant communities will be under greater attack here in the US under Trump, his foreign policy will also have severe impacts on Filipinos back home. As history has shown us, regardless which US president has assumed power, the Philippine government has and will continue to neglect its people to prioritize the interests of US imperialism. Philippine President Marcos Jr. was quick to congratulate Trump, expressing enthusiasm to continue their “alliance” – but the Filipino people know all too well that this unequal relationship with the US will only continue to worsen the effects of military-base building, occupation, and the threat of inter-imperialist war of in the Philippines.
Under Biden, we have already witnessed the direct violence of US militarism on our families and communities in the Philippines. Biden ushered in the expansion of US military bases in the Philippines with an additional 4 EDCA sites, where war exercises are conducted annually, displacing local communities and destroying the surrounding environment. The money we pay in taxes here in the US is going directly to American-made weapons and US military aid used to repress students, workers, and peasants back home seeking better livelihoods. As Filipino youth, we must understand that this intensifying militarism is not separate from our everyday lives here in the United States. With a Trump victory, we know he will continue to finance and fund war, all the while, the people will continue to drown in debt, face lower wages, and further trampling on people’s rights.
For the youth, the Trump victory spells the continuation of further student debt, causing even more youth to be pushed out of an affordable education and making them turn towards more desperate means to make a living, exploited within the workforce. In his push to “end all wars,” we can expect that the predatory military recruitment of youth to fight imperialist wars abroad will only accelerate.
Throughout the election period, chapters of Anakbayan USA, alongside countless Filipino youth have clearly made their demands: Services, Jobs, and Education for the People Now! Fight Militarization, War, and Genocide!
As Filipino youth, we see clearly that genuine and lasting change cannot and will not come about through elections. We do not place our hopes on any president which ultimately represents the interests of imperialism. Rather, we rely on the collective will of the people, struggling for a brighter future for the youth and all of society. Only through militant struggle can the youth, alongside the oppressed peoples achieve the change which we hope for!
