“Mangahas!” – Forward with Courageous and Inclusive Resistance
The Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG) conveys its solidarity with Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and the over 300 worker-delegates who gathered in Baguio City, 27-30 June 2025, for the 13th National Congress—a powerful convergence grounded in the theme: Mangahas!
In this critical moment of deepening economic injustice and shrinking civic space, the Congress is a bold assertion of workers’ resistance and class leadership. CPDG honors KMU for steadfastly advancing genuine, militant, and patriotic unionism—especially amid fascist repression, widespread contractualization, and the wholesale assault on labor and people’s rights by neoliberal policy regimes.
We laud the adoption of KMU’s 3-Year Program of Action, which reaffirms the need to expose the US-Marcos Jr. regime, expand organizing efforts, forge broader unity among all oppressed sectors, and lead the change for a national-democratic future with a socialist perspective. These aspirations resonate deeply with CPDG’s own advocacy for rights-based development, participatory governance, social justice, and national sovereignty.
As a network of people’s organization and civil society actors working for a democratic, equitable, and ecologically sustainable future, CPDG stands shoulder-to-shoulder with KMU in pushing back against the neoliberal offensive—through labor flexibilization, digital precarity, union-busting, and red-tagging—that continues to exploit and fragment the working class.
We especially recognize the Congress’ historic affirmation of LGBTQI+ workers’ rights and the election of KMU’s first openly LGBTQI+ Secretary General—a vital reminder that the fight for workers’ liberation is inseparable from the fight for inclusivity and dignity for all.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the newly elected national officers—Jerome Adonis, Florentino “Pol” Viuya, and Mary Ann Castillo—and pay tribute to Elmer “Ka Bong” Labog, now Chairperson Emeritus, for his tireless decades of service to the labor movement. His legacy, along with those of countless militant workers, lights the path forward.
This Congress is made even more meaningful as it marks KMU’s 45th anniversary since its founding on 1 May 1980, at the height of the Marcos dictatorship. Born in defiance of tyranny, KMU has stood for nearly half a century as a symbol of working-class militancy and a cornerstone of the broader people’s movement.
CPDG commits to continue walking with KMU and the broader labor movement—defending civic space, upholding human rights, and uniting to build a sovereign, democratic, and just society.
Mabuhay ang mga manggagawa!
Mabuhay ang ika-13 Pambansang Kongreso ng KMU!
Pagpupugay sa ika-45 taon ng militanteng paglilingkod sa uring anakpawis!
Isulong and pambansang demokrasya na may sosyalistang perspektiba!
In solidarity,
Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG)