Marco Valbuena | Chief Information Officer | Communist Party of the Philippines August 18, 2021
All revolutionary forces pay their highest tribute to Comrade Parts Bagani, valiant Red fighter of the New People’s Army and Red Artist of the People. In violation of the laws of war, fascist monsters murdered Ka Parts in cold-blood in Polomolok, South Cotabato last Monday. He was unarmed and was in no position to fight. He was 54.
Ka Parts was with his wife Pamela Peñaranda who was arrested by police and soldiers and is now detained in Polomolok.
We express profound sympathies to Ka Parts’ beloved wife and children, relatives, comrades and friends. We are outraged at the barbarity committed by the criminal agents of the US-Duterte fascist regime. We condemn in the strongest terms and hold the 5th Special Forces Battalion and the Philippine National Police for their crime of extrajudically killing Ka Parts.
When the fascists rained bullets on him, Ka Parts only had his handy pencils, brushes, paint and paper. These were his tools to create the pointed masterpieces that tore the false images of the reactionaries and sharpened the people’s consciousness.
Ka Parts devoted his entire life and artistic talent to the Filipino people and their revolutionary struggle against imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism. With his rifle on hand, whether at military work or mass work, he created images which reflect the people’s yearning for freedom from oppression, exploitation, hunger and poverty and for national and social liberation.
Ka Parts was an exemplary fighter of the NPA and a revolutionary cultural worker, a painter and illustrator. While focused on armed struggle, he also actively participated in the field of cultural revolution. He said that he chose the name “Parts” derived from the contraction of “Pulang Artista ng Sambayanan” or Red Artist of the People.
Ka Parts was of pettybourgeoisie origin, but his heart and mind belonged to masses oppressed and scorned. Ka Parts had a special love for the Lumad masses, which is why he took the name “Bagani” (a Lumad warrior) as his pledge to serve as their warrior. He created numerous art pieces which gave life and color to revolutionary publications, books and other literature that roused and endeared the masses.
Like other revolutionary artists, Ka Parts portrayed on paper and canvas the sufferings of the oppressed and exploited masses and vignettes of the their Red fighters, images of their fervent service to the masses, and valor in the field of war. His imagery and colors gave inspiration to struggle for liberation.
He became known for the distinct style and subjects of his artworks, where the masses and their warriors were always the centerpiece. The exhibit of his artworks in UP Diliman in 2007 drew praises from people, artists and critics.
Like all Red fighters, Ka Parts was humble and was never conceited nor arrogant. He was good company and was easy to get along with even by people whom he just met. He did not keep his talent to himself but rather shared it with anyone who wanted to learn to paint, illustrate and sculpt. He was inquisitive and desirous to learn from the experiences of others.
While known for his work as a revolutionary artist, Ka Parts was primarily a fighter and a military cadre of the NPA. He had rich experiences in war, from advances and retreats, from leading tactical offensives and studying the art of warfare. He knitted his brows to come up with plans to further raise the capacity of the NPA and Red fighters in waging armed struggle.
He used his talent in illustration to draw plans for tactical offensives. He made immeasurable contributions to advancing the armed revolution in the Southern Mindanao Region and other parts of Mindanao.
Ka Parts’ life will forever serve as an inspiration to the Filipino people, to Red fighters and to revolutionary artists in all fields of art who are one with the workers and peasants in their aspiration and struggle to reshape society and the entire world, to erase oppression and exploitation and sculpt a new system of progress and freedom.
