The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) pays tribute to long-time activist and internationalist Luisito “Butch” Pongos on his passing on August 24, 2026. Butch was a beloved human rights worker, a migrants’ rights advocate, and a staunch anti-imperialist. He fought for the rights and welfare of Filipino migrants in Japan as part of the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants and helped establish various Filipino migrant organizations, where he was active for a long time.
Butch became part of the Bayan national secretariat in the early 2000s, specifically at the height of the US invasion of Iraq, and worked closely with our dear Rita Baua, who also passed away in 2022. He helped coordinate the anti-war campaign, working closely with the office of then Vice President Teofisto Guingona, who took an unprecedented stand as a government official against the US war on Iraq. He was an important liaison to the Iraqi community here in the Philippines. Butch was a quiet, reliable, and resourceful kasama who cheerfully and deftly undertook complicated and sensitive tasks. Later on, after his stint with the Bayan national secretariat, Butch would be Bayan’s representative in Japan as part of the Bayan Japan International Desk.
During his time back in Japan, Butch linked up Bayan with the different progressive, anti-imperialist, and anti-US-bases groups as part of the regional efforts to fight US military intervention in the region. He would mobilize Filipino compatriots to join the mass protests by activists in Japan and relate their efforts to the continuing struggle of the Filipino people against US imperialism. He made sure that the various movements abroad would continue to support the Filipino people’s struggle through their support of the efforts of Bayan.
Butch showed genuine dedication, unwavering patience and boundless optimism in taking on the difficult work of building the national democratic mass movement among Filipino compatriots abroad. This he undertook while living precariously in Japan under restrictive conditions. As an internationalist, he was always conscious of linking the Filipino people’s struggle for national liberation with the worldwide struggle to defeat imperialism and to usher in a bright socialist future for mankind.
We offer our heartfelt thanks and most militant salute to Butch for a life lived in the service of the Filipino people and the cause of national and social liberation. Butch will be fondly remembered as we carry on the unfinished struggle for national and social liberation.
Long live the memory of Butch Pongos!
Long live the Filipino people’s struggle for national and social liberation!
Long live international solidarity!