Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) is the largest alliance of urban poor organizations in the Philippines, carrying out a long-term struggle for the eradication of poverty and for a just, free, and prosperous society since November 7, 1998.
We stand as the militant center of the Filipino urban poor and leads the sector’s struggle to achieve the sector’s main interests and well-being.
We believe that through collective action and militant action, the struggle for the immediate and long-term aspirations of the urban poor can be won.
We recognize the importance of enjoining the urban poor sector in the people’s movement in advancing the struggle for national democracy and genuine freedom for the ultimate eradication of poverty.
Our principles
We believe that due to the nature of the Philippine economy which is backward, agrarian, and non-industrial maintained by US imperialism for its own interests, the increasing number of reserve army of labor in both rural and urban areas has remained an indelible characteristic of the Philippine society.
The Philippine economy is mainly dependent on agriculture and there is no modern industry. The small amount of processing the so-called industrial sector does cannot absorb the growing potential labor force. This semi-feudal nature of the economy is the root of the problems of the urban poor.
The foreign monopoly capitalism, indigenous feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism are the three fundamental problems that make the Filipino people miserable and create a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. The foreign monopolies, comprador bourgeoisie, and landlords are the main exploiters of the natural resources and the large reserves of labor force made up of the unemployed and the underemployed.
Only in the struggle for national liberation and democracy with a socialist perspective can the urban poor and the Filipino people achieve solutions to the severe economic and social crisis. And since the urban poor are made up of a large number of poor farmers and farm workers in the countryside, and those without sufficient employment in the city, the urban poor have a crucial contribution and benefit in advancing the national democratic movement.
Widespread unemployment and livelihoods, low wages, and falling real incomes are the urgent problems of the urban poor. These are exacerbated by the rapid fall in the value of the Philippine peso, soaring prices of common goods, especially food, and levied taxes. The severe poverty and impoverishment burdened by the urban poor is also aggravated by the government’s criminal neglect of basic services for the people.
The proletariat, semi-proletariat, the rest of the urban poor people have a common urgent demand. It is crucial for the urban poor to fight for jobs and livelihoods, and fair wages and incomes. The urban poor also fight for their right to adequate housing, basic social services, and other democratic rights they should be enjoying.
The urban poor recognizes the leadership of the working class as the most productive and the most progressive force. They uphold the basic alliance of workers and peasants, and links with other progressive and democratic sectors to advance the national and democratic struggle against imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism, and to establish socialism.