Conclusion: The Agrarian Revolution at the Grassroots: New Power
Revolutionary Worker #953, April 19, 1998
I was standing by a stream that ran by our
campsite. Just a few yards away, Lino, a member of this unit of the
New People's Army (NPA), was slashing bamboo.
The arc of his bolo (a bolo is like a machete) was swift and
sure. In no time, there was a pile of uniformly
cut bamboo. Bamboo is a basic construction material in the
countryside. Lino, the bamboo now in hand,
shouted over to me, "We can build very quickly." Further up the
stream from Lino, two other members of the
unit were storing slabs of beef in faster running water. A cow had
been donated to this NPA unit by a small landlord...one
form that "revolutionary taxation" takes in the countryside.
Revolutionary Organization in the Barrios
I had been in the middle of a conversation
with Frank. He is a leading comrade from this region and has been
involved in the revolutionary struggle since
his student days. In 1971 he went off to join the armed struggle in the
countryside. He knows this region, its social
conditions and terrain, like the palm of his hand.
I wanted to learn more about how the NPA organizes
at the barrio (village) level, building revolutionary mass
organizations and organs of people's political
power. He explained "three basic principles" of mass work. "The
organizing must be solid--all sectors must
support the armed struggle. The organizing must be guided by a class
approach--who are the poor and lower-middle
peasants, who are the farmworkers. And the antifeudal struggle
[against landlord-peasant exploitation] must
be the key link in mass mobilization."
Frank talked about the kind of "step-by-step
organizing" carried out by the NPA, and this is underground work,
when it expands into new areas.
After entering a barrio, the NPA sets up a
liaison group of advanced contacts in the barrio. This liaison group
assists in making analysis and carrying out
social investigation, and security and political tasks are given to it.
Here I will give a very rough sketch of what
generally follows, and the situation is not exactly the same in every
area. A barrio organizing group made up of
politically advanced peasants eventually takes the place of the liaison
group. It initiates economic activities, setting
up mutual aid teams to help with production. Special organizing
groups aimed at different sectors--various
classes of peasants, farmworkers, non-agricultural workers, the
women, the youth, and so forth--begin to get
established. In these groups, people deepen their understanding of
their particular form of exploitation and
oppression, how the revolution seeks to solve their problems, and their
role in and contribution to the revolution.
The organized peasants assist the NPA in various ways--providing
information about the enemy and giving material
support.
A barrio organizing committee, with popular
support and political authority, is now beginning to take root. At this
point, as Frank described the process, the
NPA can begin to implement land reform. A branch of the communist
party is b uilt. Local self-defense forces
are organized. Eventually, a kind of revolutionary village committee is
established. Elected by village members or
by representatives of mass organizations, it acts as an organ of popular
political power. Subcommittees of the groups
I am describing deal with education, production, health, culture,
settling disputes among the people, and other
concerns.
I had already learned about the policies of
land reform [see Part 2 of this series--ed.], and I was getting a feel
for
how new popular forms of power come into being.
But what about the social aspects of the agrarian revolution?
How do the NPA and the mass organizations
of peasants address the special needs and problems of women?
How does the revolution deal with health issues
in the countryside?
The Woman Question in the Countryside
"Women suffer from distinct forms of oppression
stemming from patriarchy that has been aggravated and
deepened by feudalism, colonialism, capitalism,
and imperialism. Women bear various forms of hardship,
degradation, and discrimination, apart from
the oppression and exploitation they suffer as part of society's work
force.... Only by taking up the cause of the
emancipation of women--motivating, encouraging, and supporting our
women as they unshackle themselves from the
bondage of the home, tradition, and current prejudices--can the
revolution unleash the mighty force of women
in the task of liberating our nation and society." I am quoting from a
section of the program of the National Democratic
Front (NDF), the underground united front of the revolution.
The semifeudal oppression of women is a continuing
reality in the Philippine countryside. For example, there is still
the situation where peasant debts to landlords
might be paid off through the labor or servitude of daughters.
I had an extended discussion with Isabel, who
has major leadership responsibility for this guerrilla front. She told
me about some of the methods and experiences
of the revolution in relation to the woman question.
When the NPA organizes in the barrio, a separate
organization for women is created. They discuss the problems
faced by women in society. A special "mass
course" of study is given to the women. "We explain that women
make up half the population and have an important
role to play in the struggle. We explain that the problems of
women are the problems of male domination
and semicolonialism and semifeudalism. And we explain that women
must join the struggle and join in production."
Isabel talked about the problems of patriarchy
and the obstacles to women participating in the struggle: "The
women discuss lack of decision-making in the
household, dependency, and the woman only being in the house.
The husband knows that these issues are being
discussed, and the husbands and wives are encouraged to discuss
this among themselves. The men also receive
the special mass course given to women--so they can learn about
women's role in the struggle."
Peasant life makes enormous demands on the
family. And the current economic crisis in the Philippines puts even
greater strains on daily life and survival.
In the region I was visiting, it is customary for everyone in the household
to work, including children starting at an
early age. There is a traditional family division of labor--in terms of
who
does the planting, fetching water and firewood,
feeding animals, cutting grass, cleaning. Women still bear the great
portion of household and child-rearing responsibilities,
although they also plant tuber crops and vegetables and
help maintain the fields (in north Luzon,
the women also plow). If a family has three children, usually only one
of
them can go to school past the sixth grade.
This is a situation that cannot, Isabel said,
be radically transformed until after power is seized. But the peasant
mass organizations and the NPA conduct campaigns
in literacy and use of basic mathematics. And, as Isabel
stated pointedly with regard to the family
division of labor, "Men can also help cook." The NPA also encourages
women to join the mutual aid teams.
What about relationship issues that husbands
and wives might have, or physical abuse? Isabel responded, "These
problems are discussed in the special organizing
groups. But a woman might also ask the NPA to help out with a
political or personal problem. An NPA fighter
will talk with the couple, then the couple will discuss it more and
make criticism. There will be supervision
to see if there is improvement. If there is none, the process is repeated."
Isabel made it clear that wife-beating must
be dealt with firmly--it is an issue that is discussed in the organizing
groups.
I was told that after completing the special
mass courses, some of the women will go on to more advanced study
involving Philippine Society and Revolution--the
fundamental text of the struggle. From among the most
politically advanced and conscious women,
some may be invited to join the Communist Party and will take
responsibility for helping manage the barrio
organizing group and the subgroups below it.
Tess, a young NPA fighter who organizes among
the peasant youth, told me about methods of political education.
"We give lectures. We use outlines and notes,
and sometimes we even use blackboards." NPA fighters are able to
carry their teaching tools in their backpacks.
Health and the NPA Medics
I was told that next to the land question,
health is the most basic problem the revolution must address. In this area,
there are no organized government health services
to speak of. Some "civic action" programs do get set up,
especially when military operations are going
on. The government does this to clean up its image and to control
people.
Because of the hot sun and rain, there is a
lot of tuberculosis in the region I was visiting. Malaria and
gastrointestinal diseases are also common.
I was fascinated to learn that Luis, the officer-leader
of this NPA squad, had also trained as an NPA medic. He
provided some background: "We used to rely
on allies in the towns and cities for medical work. But now the
medical staff serving the fighters and the
masses has grown and more peasants are getting trained."
There are several levels of medical training--from
the basic to the more advanced (which includes some
sophisticated surgical techniques). Luis said
that training takes in acupuncture techniques and herbal therapies as
well as elementary dental skills. The NPA
medical infrastructure now has capabilities in pediatrics, obstetrics,
prosthetics (artificial limbs), and even some
microsurgery.
In the more consolidated guerrilla areas, NPA
teams mobilize people in the barrios, and peasant women are often
very active, to organize themselves for basic,
preventive health care. They give training in hygiene and nutrition.
These kinds of activities have succeeded,
for instance, in lowering the incidence of malaria in some areas. But as
the NPA fighters will be the first to tell
you, so much more cries out to be done.
Internationalism and an Internationalist Goodbye
I had been in the guerrilla front for a week.
In this short amount of time I had learned and experienced so much,
and made close friends. Now, sadly, it was
time to leave.
I was struck by the internationalist spirit
of the comrades and fighters whom I met. They wanted me to learn from
their struggle. But they also wanted to hear
about and learn from the struggle in the United States. I remember
asking Isabel if the peasants are taught about
internationalism. A look of astonishment crossed her face: "But of
course...the peasants must know it is an international
war and that we must support the struggles of the people in
other countries."
My last night at the camp became "solidarity
night." We sat by the fire. We joked. We sang. Several members of
the squad performed a medley of NPA songs,
which we taped--"a gift to your comrades." My traveling
companion told the story of the heroic stand
of the Shining Path prisoners at the Frontón compound in Peru in
1986. We made farewell speeches. We sang the
Internationale in English and Tagalog.
The next morning a small contingent of us began
our journey out of the guerrilla front.