Ka (Comrade) Andie asked herself: “Shall I stay here or go home to Manila?” The question arose after experiencing a series of severe attacks and bombings by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in areas where her unit operated. Ka Andie was injured in one of these attacks. As before, her answer remains the same: “If others can cope with it, so can I.”
Ka Andie is part of the regional propaganda and publication collective in the Visayas. She was a former professional from the National Capital Region who decided and continues to work in the countryside. Since then, whenever Ka Andie was faced with making a difficult decision the answer is always “If others can cope with it, so can I.”
Having self-doubt is normal, Ka Andie said. “One definitely experiences doubts about one’s self, or doubt about work or about one’s ability. Pride will not keep you alive especially when pride prevents you from opening up to the collective. It is important to open up to the collective to find the proper solution to the issues at hand, even in terms of security.”
But more than the decision of individuals to stay in the countryside or in the people’s army, Ka Andie identified the key elements for the revolutionary movement to prevail despite the violent attacks of the regime of Marcos Jr. through the brutal AFP, the Philippine National Police and the NTF- ELCAC. And Ka Andie shared these key elements with Liberation Philippines.
1. Leadership of the Party in confronting the enemy
It is inevitable that some comrades will experience trauma and demoralization due to the intensity of enemy attacks. Experiencing bombings is no joke. At the same time, when the enemy operation is thoroughgoing and concentrated, extreme hunger sets in. Sometimes, we share coconuts for a week, or young leaves of sweet potatoes, or sweet potato instead of rice and the dish is sweet potato tops.
But no matter the hardships experienced by the comrades, these are quickly overcome if the Party leads the people’s army and the masses well. In our experience, this was decisive in enabling revolutionaries to resolutely face the attacks of the reactionary state. The Party maintains revolutionary optimism among the comrades, the army and the masses.
The Party takes the lead in continuously assessing, identifying weaknesses and strengths in the work, in responding to situations faced, and deriving lessons for new plans and standard operational procedures or SOPs. Thus, destructive attacks are prevented.
The enemy does not attack all the time. When the environment is “quiet”, we can launch a crash course, for example, the Basic Party Course (BKP). Educational and political work continue. But in the barrios, it does not become “quiet” because the reactionary military is involved in the counterrevolutionary program, the Retooled Community Support Program or RCSP. Thus, there is a need to adjust the mode of action.
We do political work among the people’s army and the masses weekly. There are discussion groups (DGs) that are different from educational work. In the DGs, we discuss the national situation, updates on the mass movement, experiences of other countries when they were at war like in Vietnam. Videos—foreign experiences and urban actions posted on social media—are a big help in raising the troops’ morale. Here they see the actions of other sectors that also inspire the NPA’s advances in armed struggle.
Vulnerabilities of enemy equipment such as drones, Hermes, Tucano and FA50 are also being studied. Even the difference in the sound of airplanes, helicopters and drones is also studied by the masses so that they are not easily startled.
The enemy’s mantra that guerrilla fronts no longer exist is fake news. After the bombing, we were even able to celebrate the anniversary of the Party. There was a large army formation. We were able to eat spaghetti and, most important, we paid tribute to the martyrs of the revolution.
Under the leadership of the Party, the various aspects of resistance become more solid. The determination of the forces and the masses are strengthened. Without the leadership of the Party, resistance is weakened.
2. The partnership of the people’s army and the masses
There are times it seems like we are playing patintero (a children’s game of tag) with the enemy forces. There was even an incident where many enemy columns collided with our position.
The masses then become an integral part of the maneuver of our army units and of other comrades. The masses come to the rescue of the comrades. With their help, the people’s army is able to maneuver and break through many enemy columns. Because they know every corner of the forest, the marks from trees and plants, even the rocks and space between trees that can be used to slip through. They know the forest well.
Cooperation between the masses and the army is truly important. The army’s skill in military work and the masses’ natural knowledge of the terrain is a powerful combination for advancing the armed struggle. This has been proven time and again. In such situations, I entrust my life completely to the masses and the people’s army. That’s a lesson in humility.
You really cannot compare the knowledge of the petty bourgeois to the knowledge of the masses, of the peasants. it is important to help each other. There is much more to learn. Most of the petty bourgeois people we know are not practical if placed in the masses’ situation. The petty bourgeois is good at laying out the work system, administration. So, a combination of each other’s skills is needed. It’s just that, you won’t see this if you are arrogant towards the masses.
3. Support of the masses
Comrades can still depend on the masses when they have nothing left to eat. When their movement in the village is constrained because of the presence of enemy soldiers, there is an understanding between the masses and the comrades that the comrades could get food from the fields of the masses. The masses also help in planting and storing food, this is part of the practice of the war economy in the countryside.
The masses are also on war footing every day. There is relief in guarding and scouting duties — whether male or female.
But truth be told, such relation is the result of a deep link between the masses and the revolutionary movement. After all, they are not different. The masses and the people’s army and comrades are one. Every family, sometimes even an entire clan, has a comrade or member of the people’s army in the area, not just one or two.
The successes in the agrarian revolution launched by the Party, the New People’s Army, and the revolutionary mass organizations are one of the reasons why the revolutionary movement is deeply rooted in the ranks of the masses. Therefore, it is not surprising that the masses in the barrios automatically support the NPA and the comrades.
As long as the New People’s Army is on their side, the fighting spirit of the masses continues.
4. Third rectification movement
For me, this is the height of the humility of the revolutionary movement led by the Party—criticizing one’s own mistakes, even in public.
We have also committed some of the errors mentioned in the rectification movement—like having a favorite place to go to or to hang out. These are the villages we are used to and feel at home in.
If this is the case only a limited number of people are mobilized compared to a bigger number if more villages are reached when making the rounds of the area. The pond becomes narrow and other areas are neglected. This is one reason for the easy surveillance by the enemy especially if a spy is planted in the barrio, people who can penetrate the base and spy on the movement of the people’s army and comrades. We should really be mobile to make the rounds of different areas where the masses are. The enemy cannot attack all areas at a given time so it is not impossible to circumvent them.
We also committed the error of conservatism. For example, the reluctance to attack the enemy because we immediately think of its counterattack.
These were already observed even before the Third Rectification Movement was formally launched. A rectification movement was first launched in the region in 2016, but it was not sustained so the losses continued. In 2018, almost at the same time as the 50th anniversary of the Party, there was a resolution to correct the verticalization of the army and improve intensive guerrilla warfare.
The rectification movement is an important measure to identify the strengths and weaknesses in advancing the people’s war. It is an important weapon to repel enemy attacks.
5. Individual rectification and continuation of the revolution
My adjustment in the countryside was not easy. It is difficult for a petty bourgeois to sleep in a hammock, or a makeshift hut when camping, especially if they are used to air conditioning, soft bed, if they are used to a comfortable life in the city.
In the countryside, I learned the true meaning of humility. Always reminding myself that I am not enough. It is also true that in the countryside you are ignorant of many things. I found out that I don’t know much about the world. In the beginning, I didn’t even know how to start a fire. I will go hungry even if I knew how to cook.
From the very start, and especially now, I realized that it is necessary to be a good student—not only in formal studies but also in what is happening in your surroundings so that the response to the situation is the right one and knowing what could be done. Even in matters pertaining to security, loopholes need to be studied.
All that is terrifying becomes less scary if objectified. Just apply dialectical materialism, what we have learned from the Basic Party Course. Not studying, not reading and asking questions why we are here is unacceptable.
My husband, he keeps going back to the question of why he is in the people’s army, how heavy are personal problems when compared to the situation of the masses and how they suffer from the reactionary military. This is where we get our strength to continue.
It is only natural to think of leaving or giving up. But the collective is there to listen to your reservations and see what must be done, what are doable. In our experience, it is the collective that will help process what you are feeling, your doubts, weaknesses. The members of your collective would still be the ones that will help you correct these weaknesses. Once again, humility is needed in such a process – openness in what must be rectified and how to overcome these weaknesses. After the bombings we have experienced, it was still the collective that helped in our psychological and mental recovery.
Part of being open to individual feelings and problems is also being open to ideological struggle, healthy ideological struggle, to bring out what is wrong and correct from actions taken or ideas advocated. This could be heavy for others so there is a need to lay down your views to help understand things without being insulting. This is where strong unity will come from and a more steadfast Party will arise to further advance the revolution.
We do all these sacrifices for the masses and the revolution. So we must think of where and how we could support the revolution for it is the right thing to do.
(Original article in Pilipino by Priscilla Guzman, Liberation Philippines, October 14,2024 issue)
