REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE IN THE PHILIPPINES

Also by Leonard Davis

RESIDENTIAL CARE: A Cümmunity Resüuree SEX AND THE SOCIAL WORKER CARING FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL PUPILS THE PHILIPPINES: Peüple, Püverty and Pülities RIVERS OF PAIN, BRIDGES OF HOPE

Revolutionary Struggle in the Philippines

Leonard Davis Reader, Department 01 Applied Social Studies City Polytechnic 01 Hong Kong

Palgrave Macmillan

ISBN 978-1-349-19864-1 ISBN 978-1-349-19862-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-19862-7

© Leonard Davis, 1989 Softcover reprint or the hardcover I st edition 1989 978-0-333-44847-2

All rights reserved. For information, write: Scholarly and Reference Division, St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010

First published in the United States of America in 1989

ISBN 978-0-312-02818-3

Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Davis, Leonard. Revolutionary struggle in the Philippines/Leonard Davis. p. cm Bibliography: p. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-312-02818-3 1. Philippines--Politics and govemment--1986--2. Revolutions­-Philippines. I. Title. DS686.614.D38 1989 959.9'046--dcI9 88--37946

CIP

Ta the Bakun martyrs

Contents

List of Plates and Maps

Preface

List of Abbreviations

Glossary

Map ofthe Philippines

1 A Country in Crisis

2 Revolutionary Roots

3 Revolutionary Power

4 Profiles

5 US Bases in the Philippines

6 Wornen in the Struggle

7 Faith, Politics and the Church

8 The Wider Context

9 Epilogue

Appendices Appendix I A Chronicle of Events in the Philippines:

7 February 1986 to 31 July 1988 Appendix II Appendix III

Bibliography

Index

Vigilante Groups Concessions given to the Military after the Coup Attempts of 1986 and 1987

VB

Vlll

x

xii

XV

XVIIl

1

18

48

70

92

119

156

174

185

189 200

207

209

212

List of Plates and Maps

Plates

1. (a) Terrorised by war; (b) Uncertain of the future 2. (a) Jose Rizal: his last moments; (b) Plaque in Old Paco

Cemetery; (c) Rizal Park: his final resting pi ace 3. (a) Urban poverty: horne for a family of six in Manila; (b) Rural

poverty: cutting sugar cane on the island of Negros 4. (a) Yes to the Constitution, 2 February 1987; (b) Filipinos love

political rallies. Many, however, end in tragedy 5. (a) A villager recalls the horrors of a military attack on his horne;

(b) This child received abullet wound in the encounter; (c) 13-year-old boy murdered by agents of the military (Photo: Anon.)

6. (a) Davao City: stronghold of the vigilantes; (b) Vigilantes act out the violence of the cinema

7. (a) Disputing the illegal detention of a farmer; (b) The peasant tells his story on release

8. (a) Trinidad Tecson, called the Mother of Biak-na-Bato, won farne for her exploits in battles during the revolution; (b) Agueda Esteban, like her husband General Artemio Ricarte, refused to surrender and was exiled in Hong Kong; (c) Maria Lorena . Barros (Photo: Anon.); (d) The New People's Army continuesto recruit many young women into its ranks (Photo: Lito Ocampo).

9. (a) Consolacion Buscayno Arcilla; (b) Arcilla Mallari; (c) Benigna Rivera; (d) Judy Taguiwalo

10. (a) Guerrilla training in Northern Luzon (Photo: Lito Ocampo); (b) US Embassy rally, 1986 (Photo: Lito Ocampo)

11. (a) 12 July 1988: rally of priests and nuns, Mendiola Bridge, Malacaiiang (Photo: Lito Ocampo); (b) 27 June 1988: members of the New People's Army talking with a nun in Negros Occidental (Photo: Lito Ocampo)

12. (a) The author with Rodolfo 'Rudy' Salas, alleged sometime chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines and commander-in-chief of the New People's Army (Photo: Anon.), (b) Carrying on the tradition? Son of Juanito Rivera, who was arrested on 15 November 1987

13. (a) Conservative or radical? To what extent is the church divided?; (b) Large numbers attend mass in the barrios; (c) The Roman Catholic Church has a long history in the Philippines

VIII

List 0/ Plates and Maps IX

14. (a) Original Ten-Point Plan of the National Democratic Front; (b) Aquino has failed to control the security forces

15. (a) National Democratic Front literature has become increasingly professional; (b) Policies have been formulated for most aspects of the new people's democratic republic

16. (a) Political assassinations occur daily; (b) What is his future? Peasant farmer or guerrilla?

Maps

Map of the Philippines Airspace under United States Air Force control

xviii 106

Preface

In the preparation of this book, I have often asked myself a number of questions: What went wrang after Corazon Aquino came to power? Why do Filipinos perpetuate a revolutionary struggle that many thought should have come to an end in February 1986 when Ferdinand Marcos left the country? Wh at do Filipinos seek that is seemingly not possible under Aquino? The answers to these ques­tions are explored in this volume, ta king further some of the facts presented and the ideas developed in my earlier book, The Philippines: People, Poverty and Politics.

Over aperiod of nearly 10 years, I have observed - and been involved in - the plight of people in the Philippines: abject poverty; chranic illness; endemie disease; premature death; unemployment; sub-standard housing; widespread prostitution; the abuse of children; corruption; and militarisation. Coretta King, widow of Martin Luther King, has described institutional violence:

Starving a child is violence. Suppressing a culture is violence. Neglecting school childrcn is violence ... Ignoring medical needs is vio1ence. Contempt for poverty is violence. And the lack of will-power to help humanity is a siek and sinister form of violence.

Powerful patterns of political behaviour are emerging in the Philip­pines, both reflecting outcomes that have oeeurred elsewhere in the world, and perhaps anticipating global trends in any set of eireum­stances where people are no Ion ger prepared to tolerate - at any cost - human rights violations; the obscenity of grass inequality between rich and poor; and the humiliation of foreign domination for economic and political ends.

I have found two publications particularly helpful in the prepara­tion of this book: Makibaka! whieh was praduced by Filippijnen­groep, Holland; and the first issue of Babaylan, by the Centre for Women's Resourees. Both eontained source material by anonymous authors, the former on the history of the struggle, and the latter on pre-colonial Philippine women, praviding background information for Chapters 2 and 6 respeetively. The profile of Maria Lorena Barros in Chapter 6 is based on an anonymous appreciation taken fram the same issue of Babaylan.

Many people have given valuable assistance in the preparation of

x

Preface XI

this book. Several have been quite 'special' - intellectually, or practically or in allowing me to interview them. Most 'contacts' wish to remain anonymous. To live in the Philippines, and to be identified with an 'opposition' group - moderate, progressive or radical - may bring surveillance and arrest. Yet, many people I have come to know risk their lives every day.

I am grateful to Jeremy Callaghan, Registrar ofWaikato University, Hamilton, New Zealand - and formerly of the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong - for his support and critical appraisal of the text. Kitty Kwok of the Department of Applied Social Studies, City Polytechnic of Hong Kong, worked extemely hard to type and re-type several drafts of each chapter, and to meet the final deadline. I would like to acknowledge her help.

Some of the photographs were taken by Lito C. Ocampo - a freelance photojournalist based in Manila, and a member of the National Press Club of the Philippines - whose work appears regularly both nationally and internationally. I am pleased to be able to use his pictures, and he is credited with these. The other photographs, with three exceptions, were taken by the author.

My wife, Maylene - a Filipina - has encouraged me throughout the process of preparation, research and writing, providing numerous Tagalog-English translations, and acting as interpreter during several interviews in the Philippines. In addition, she has answered my innumerable questions relating to Filipino culture, custom and practice, thereby making a particular contribution to the finer points of my understanding. To Maylene, therefore, I offer a sincere thank­you.

LEONARD DAVIS

List of Abbreviations

ABB ABCP AFP AI AMIHAN AMRSP

AMT

ASEAN ATOM AWARE

AWIT BAYAN BEPZ BHB BMA BRC BSDU BUDC CAFGU CARP CBCP CHDF CIA CNL COMRADE

CPAR CPP CSG CTs C3I

DOD EO

Alex Boncayao Brigade Anti-Bases Coalition of the Philippines Armed Forces of the Philippines Amnesty International National Federation of Peasant Women Association of Major Religious Superiors of the

Philippines Aguman ding Malding Talapagobra - General

Workers' Union Association of South-east Asian Nations August Twenty-One Movement Alliance of Women for Action towards

Reconciliation Association of Women in Theology Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Bataan Export Processing Zone Bagong Hukbong Bayan Bangsa Moro Army Barrio Revolutionary Committee Barrio Self-Defence Unit Barrio United Defence Corps Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Programme Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines Civilian Horne Defence Force Central Intelligence Agency Christi ans for National Liberation Council of Military Reforms Advisors in the

Defence Establishment Congress for People's Agrarian Reform Communist Party of the Philippines Constabulary Security Graup Communist Terrorists Command, Contral, Communications and

Intelligence Department of Defence Executive Order

xii

GABRIELA

HB HMB Huk Hukbalahap TB IMTAS JUSMAG KAMAY KASAMA Katipunan

KBL KM KMP KMU KOMUT KPMP LIC MAKTBAKA

MAKTBAKA

MBA MNLF MSP NAFLU NAJFD

NAKASAKA NDF NFPC NOW-RP

NPA NRC NJC OIC PADS

List of Abbreviation\' X 111

General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership and Action.

House Bill Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon Infantry Battalion Intensive Military Training Areas Joint United States Military Advisory Group Kapisanan ng mga Madre sa Maynila Katipunan ng mga Samahan Manggagawa Kataastaasan at Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng

mga Anak ng Bayan Kilusang Bayong Lipunan Kabataang Makabayan Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas Kilusang Mayo Uno Koronadal Movement for Unity and Tranquility Kalipunang Pambansa ng mga Magasaka sa Pilipinas Low Intensity Conflict Malayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan - a

pioneer, women's national liberation movement. Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan - a

member organisation of the National Democratic Front.

Military Bases Agreement Moro National Liberation Front Makabayang Samahan Pankalusugan National Federation of Labour Unions Nationalist Alliance for Justice, Freedom and

Democracy Nagkahiusang Katawhan Alang sa Kalinaw National Democratic Front Nuclear Free Philippines Coalition National Association of Wornen Religious in the

Philippines New People's Army National Revolutionary Council National Security Council Organisation of Islamic Conference Philippines Air Defence system

XIV

PAL PBMA PC PKM PKM PKP PMA PMP PnB POC PRG Rand R RCSU RSU SAC SAMAKA SB SEALS SLBM SOF SRF SYP TFDP UFO UP USAF USAFFE USAID

USIS WACL WATCH WO MB

WPD

List o[ Abbreviations

Philippine Air Lines Philippines Benevolent Missionaries Association Philippine Constabulary Pambansang Kaisahan ng mga Magbubukid Pambansang Katipunan ng mga Magbubukid Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas Philippine Military Academy Pagkakaisa ng Magbubukid sa Pilipinas Partido ng Bayan Peace and Order Council Provisional Revolutionary Government Rest and Recreation Regional Constabulary Security Unit Regional Security Unit Strategie Air Command Samahan ng Mag-aaral at Kabataang Kababaihan Senate Bill Sea, Air and Land Services Submarine-Iaunched Ballistic Missile Special Operations Forces Ship Repair Facility Sandatahang Yunit Propaganda Task Force Detainees of the Philippines United Farmers' Organisation University of the Philippines United States Air Force United States Armed Forces in the Far East United States Agency for International

Development United States Information Service World Anti-Communist League Women's Alliance for True Change Women Giving Life to a New Order (originally

Women for the Ouster of Marcos and Boycott) Western Police District

Glossary

abaca Aguman ding Malding

Talapagobra alJerez Alsa Masa armado babaylan Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Bagong Hukbong Bayan barangay

barangay tanod

barrio bola camote carabao cavan cofradia dalaga datu don cella hacienda Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng

Bayan 19lesia ni Kristo Ilaga ilustrados indio Ka Kabataang Makabayan Kalipunang Pambansa ng mga

Magasaka sa Pilipinas Kataastaasan at

Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan

xv

hemp General Workers' Union

lieutenant Masses Uprising armed man priestess New Nationalist Alliance New People's Army sm all community, smaller than a

barrio ; formerly, a type of boat

volunteer groups engaged in civic work, originally not armed

village machete sweet potato water buffalo sack religious lay brotherhood maiden chieftain maiden sugar plantation National Liberation Army; also People's Liberation Army Church of Christ Rats native intelligentsia native, not yet Filipino Brother , Sister Patriotic Youth National Society of Peasants in

the Philippines Highest and Most Respectable

Society of the Sons of the People

XVI Glossary

Katipuneros Kilusang Mayo Uno Kilusang Bagong Lipunan Kilusang Magbubukid sa

Pilipinas La Liga Filipina Makabayang Samahan

Pangkalusugan Malayang Kilusan ng Bagong

Kababaihan mestizos mujer indigena Nagkahiusang Katawhan Alang

sa Kalinaw nipa

nunal Pagkakaisa ng Magbubukid sa

Pilipinas Pambansang Kaisahan ng mga

Magbubukid Pambansang Katipunan ng mga

Magbubukid panuinge, or pangginggi Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas Partido ng Bayan polo sacada Sandatahang Yunit Propaganda sitio Tadtad Tigre, EI

Members of Katipunan May First Movement New Society Movement Movement of Filipino Farmers

The Philippine League Patriotic Health Association

Free Movement of New Women

those of mixed blood native woman Uni ted People for Peace

types of grass used in making huts

mole United Farmers of the

Philippines National Union of Pe asants

National Association of Peasants

old card game Philippine Communist Party People's Party labour pool sugar-cane worker Armed Propaganda Unit housing si te Chop-chop The Tiger

'0 0 0 the coffins of Lando and Leonor stand as powerful reminders: the real cutting edge of our struggle against the dark forces of fascism lies in respect - nay, reverence - for the rights of the least of uso

The communists in our country today are like the blacks of South Africa, the Jews of Hitlerised Europe, the Christians of Imperial Romeo To own them as brothers, human beings and fellow Filipinos is to open ourselves to a red smear from organised forces cunningly, gradually separating us from the basic humanity that is the only basis of peace in a savagely torn world 0 0 0

Now is the time to remember how, in their lonely struggle, it was the Left that taught us the price of militant resistance in our time because they died first and in greater numbers in the struggle against Marcos 000

Who cannot yet stop weeping at the high price of being fully human in our country?'

Philippine Enquirer 19 Novemher 1986

XVII

Sylvia L. Mayuga

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