Interview with Che Prof. Gerry B. de Cadiz Eastern Visayas State University Tacloban City, P H I L I P P I N E S
Interview with Che Prof. Gerry B. de Cadiz1 Eastern Visayas State University, Tacloban City, 06500 – P H I L I P P I N E S
“When I see that Filipinos are happy in their lives, that they could have the things they want, that no politicians take advantage of the weak, and that children could face a very good future, then I may feel that my cause is already irrelevant. But while the land tilled by my parents for so long is still being kept by landlords and the image of my dying lover lingers in my mind, then I cannot betray the cause of my own existence. I will continue the struggle ‘til the bitter end.”
Keywords: Filipino, Philippines, Che Guevarra, communism, independence, justice
“HOW DO YOU FIND LEADING YOUR COMRADES?” Che hesitated before responding. “A little bit awkward.” As we were entering a fast-food outlet, he surreptitiously looked around him. It could be an instinctive gesture of being unused to be in public places. Or maybe, the nervousness is due to the discomfort of being interviewed by a former “barkada” (buddy).
1
Prof. Gerry B. de Cadiz is the Director of Institutional Planning and Development and a Faculty of Educational Programs Management in Eastern Visayas State University, Tacloban City, Philippines. He is an active member of international learned organizations, a prolific scholar with paper presentations in global fora and a high-impact researcher with publications in social sciences, management and education research networks. E-mail:
[email protected]
It was by chance that I met him a week ago in downtown, browsing through a pack of DVDs peddled in the sidewalk. When I remember that I have to report about the insurgency movement by interviewing people who are deemed to be civic-conscious and politically-active, I readily arranged for an interview. At first, he was noncommittal and simply asked for my mobile phone number. It was a day later that I received his call, saying that he could met me in a public place in the city. “Ger, natapod baya ako ha imo.” (Ger, I do trust you.”), a statement that recalls our being well-acquainted in school, at the same time a tacit warning to me not to divulge his identity to authorities. Rogelio “Che” Duran was an unassuming student, a little below superior in his academics and silent most of the time. But such philosophical posture and youthful meekness suddenly turns into an aggressive stance when the discussion falls on politics and the general conditions of the country. In fact, he got his nickname for his penchant of emulating the outlook and attire of the worldfamous Latin revolutionary—Che Guevara. “The difficulty lies in leading a bunch of green recruits,” he quipped as we were sitting down. This is the affirmation to his words earlier on the phone to my inquiry about his whereabouts after graduation and the present activities he is engaged into. As Area Commander (AC) of the New People’s Army, his jurisdiction includes all the insurgent group’s squads and its political machineries in various municipalities of the province. That statement, despite being uttered in an even voice, betrays the psychological strain of leading a group that government forces hounds relentlessly. The New People's Army (NPA) is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. It was formed on March 29, 1969. The Maoist NPA conducts its armed guerrilla struggle based on the strategical line of 'protracted people's war'.
“Everyone is under pressure not to succumb to the constant pressure of being pursued by the Army on one hand while being ostracised most of the time by the people on the other hand.” “It’s always an effort to justify our cause to those who does not understand what we were fighting for,” he added. The NPA's roots can be traced from the Hukbalahap, the armed wing of the earlier proSoviet Philippine Communist Party. The Huks first mobilized and fought against the Japanese Empire's occupation of the Philippines during World War II. Under the leadership of Luis Taruc and Communist Party General Secretary Jose Lava, the Hukbalahap continued waging guerrilla warfare against the United States and the first independent governments before largely surrendering to President Ramon Magsaysay in 1954. By the early 1960s the communist Huk campaign was waning. After the Sino-Soviet split, communist parties around the world fractured into proUSSR and Maoist groups. The upstart CPP broke from the older Soviet-line Partido Komunistang Pilipinas-1930 on December 26, 1968. Three months later, on March 29, 1969, the CPP reformed the vanguard party's old militia, the Huks, and renamed them the New People's Army, on the anniversary of the date that the guerrilla resistance against Imperial Japan was formed in 1942. The formation was created when José María Sison met with a former Huk, Bernabe Buscayno, also known as "Commander Dante" (Wikipilinas, 2014). The NPA follows Maoism, claiming to fight for that ideology's concept of "New Democracy." Starting out with 60 fighters and 34 rifles, the NPA quickly spread throughout the Philippines during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. After the declaration of martial law on September 21, 1972 thousands of students joined the ranks. President Marcos lifted martial law on January 17, 1981. At its peak in the early 1980s there were over 25,000 fighters.
However, leaders from the CPP were jailed in the middle of the 1970s, including Jose Maria Sison. The remaining leadership of the NPA continued guerrilla warfare but began committing human rights violations, extortion, kidnappings and urban insurrection. This deviated from the NPA's original political line of guerrilla warfare and mass work in the countryside. The NPA has been classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. Unsure of myself if it’s the right question, I asked, “What were those things which made you decide to join the rebel group?” “It was the idealism I got from my love of reading history. But as I became involved in political activities, I developed a sense of purpose in my advocacies.” In college, he was very active in the League of Filipino Students, becoming a President of the Supreme Student Government in his junior level. His position before graduating was that of being an Editor-in-Chief of the campus publication, concurrently acting as Regional Coordinator of the College Editors’ Guild of the Philippines—which nearly led him to be expelled from the University when he wrote an article exposing an anomalous affair of the school head with a pretty coed. In a melancholic voice, he explained further, “But what really forced me to join the NPA is an incident that broke my heart. It was right after graduation when we were attending a “tiklos or balik-uma” with my friends in our barrio when there came a surprise raid by a company of government troopers.
Fresh and still psyche-up from their basic training, the soldiers
indiscriminately fired on and caused the death of nine civilians, injuries of a dozen more and destruction of our little village.” The media reported that on November 21, 2005, elements of the 19th IB open fired at a group of farmers and killed nine peasants including an eight-month pregnant mother at Brgy. San Agustin, Palo, Leyte. The farmers were gathered for a “balik-uma” or re-cultivating a land
awarded to them by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) as its farmers-beneficiaries. These farmers were affiliated with the DAR-accredited San Agustin Farmers-Beneficiaries Cooperative (or SAFABENCO), Alang-alang Small Farmers Association (ASFA) and Bayan Muna party-list. The soldiers alleged that these farmers were armed as they were members of the New People’s Army (NPA) on which they based the charges of “illegal position of firearms” which was recently dismissed by the MTC. It could be remembered that there was a widespread public outrage over the incident, not only from the local community but also from the national and international front. Many responded by sending solidarity statements as well as material and financial support to the victims (SamarNews.com by Katungod-SB-Karapatan, November 20, 2006). He slightly opened his lapel and showed a bullet wound on his left shoulder. “I got it when I tried to cover my childhood sweetheart from being hit. The other slug that whizzed through my neck cost the life of my friend when it hit her brow.” Teary-eyed now, Che turned his gaze for a long-time on the passers-by. I noticed that his fair face turned reddish when a car bearing SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) troops of the Philippine National Police made a slow turn towards our direction but swerved towards the next lane. I could swear that the facial change was not an apprehension of being caught but rather that of a deep hatred towards government forces. To break our silence, I called the waitress and ordered. Then I turned to him, “What it’s like being a young guerrilla?” “It’s a sacrifice living as a rebel. It’s suffering. The fear of an armed encounter is always there. But since all of us understood that we are at war and we are fighting for a just cause, we need to endure.”
“A lot of my comrades were like brothers and sisters to me. In my command, most of us are college graduates and had undergone the basic military training in ROTC. They joined the communist movement for different reasons. But just like me, they also experienced being abused and oppressed. Even though we are guided by an ideology, most of the time, we simply fought to obtain justice for our families.” I broached a challenging question regarding the issue of notoriety on the part of the rebel’s operations. These include ambushes of AFP personnel, assassinations, extortions and other criminalities. “We have to protect our communities from the menace of abusive politicians who uses the government’s armed forces to quell any grievance against them. This is primarily our reason of existence. We have to use arms to get even with military strength, and these are all legitimate revolutionary encounters.” “The charge of ambush, extortion and other accusations were just black propaganda intended to malign our reputation and make us look bad on the eyes of the people. There were cases that military personnel, disguised as NPA cadres, would wantonly commit criminalities so that we will be out of favour with the population.” “Of course, we are not angels. We have limitations, peculiarities and undesirable colors. You have to understand that some men with guns in poverty, who have minimal training and a weak infrastructure, will inevitably, take advantage of those they claim to protect. That’s why as AC, my toughest role is to instil discipline among the cadre and inspire responsibility of their functions and see to it that everyone under my charge will follow the code of conduct in warfare.”
Still in his early-thirties, this young man is full of idealism and energy coupled with a very tragic reason to fuel his determination. Looking at him with a smile, I asked, “Is there a chance that you’ll go back to the fold of mainstream society?” In a smile that I remember when we were working on our thesis, he replied, “When I see that Filipinos are happy in their lives, that they could have the things they want, that no politicians take advantage of the weak, and that children could face a very good future, then I may feel that my cause is already irrelevant.” “But while the land tilled by my parents for so long is still being kept by landlords and the image of my dying lover lingers in my mind, then I cannot betray the cause of my own existence. I will continue the struggle ‘til the bitter end.”
