NDFP's Luis Jalandoni dies at 90
Luis "Ka Louie" Jalandoni, an exiled senior adviser to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), has passed away. He was 90.
This was confirmed by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines on June 7 via a statement.
"Ka Louie passed away peacefully at around 9:05 in the morning in Utrecht, the Netherlands (03:05 p.m. Philippine time) on June 7, 2025. He was 90 years old," CPP wrote, adding that Ka Louie was surrounded by his comrades, Ka Coni, his wife, and family in his final moments.
"We express our condolences to Ka Louie’s family, whose love, strength, and support accompanied him through decades of service to the Filipino people’s revolutionary cause," CPP added.
A peace negotiator
Jalandoni was born on February 26, 1935, into a wealthy family of landlords and sugar plantation owners in Negros Island. Despite having a privileged life, he was immersed in the lives and struggles of sugar workers.
He became a Catholic priest and joined the “Church to the Barrios” program, where he worked in far-flung communities and witnessed the harsh realities of poverty, injustice, and government abuse. These experiences strengthened his commitment to social change.
On February 17, 1972, Jalandoni helped found the Christians for National Liberation, a group of progressive church workers who opposed the Ferdinand Marcos Sr. dictatorship. He and his wife, Ka Coni, were elected to its first leadership team. A month later, he joined the Communist Party of the Philippines. By 1973, CNL became one of the founding groups of the NDFP.
When martial law was declared, Jalandoni went into hiding. In 1973, he and Ka Coni were arrested and detained in Fort Bonifacio, where he spent almost a year in a small, dark cell. They were released in 1974 after strong pressure from religious and human rights groups and later returned to organizing work.
Due to threats against their lives, Ka Louie and Ka Coni went into exile in 1976 and were granted political asylum in the Netherlands—the first Filipinos to receive it. There, he helped establish the NDFP’s International Office in Utrecht and worked to gather global support for the Philippine struggle for freedom and justice.
In 1989, he was appointed chief negotiator for the NDFP in peace talks with the Philippine government.
During Rodrigo Duterte's administration in 2022, the Anti-Terrorism Council designated Jalandoni as a terrorist.
