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Page 1: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

PEO

PLE'

S W

AR

IN T

HE

PHIL

IPPI

NES

50 i

Page 2: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

PEO

PLE'

S W

AR

IN T

HE

PHIL

IPPI

NES

Publ

ishe

d by

the

Kat

ipun

an n

g m

ga D

emok

rati

kong

Fili

pino

(K

DP)

— U

nion

of

Dem

ocra

tic F

ilipi

nos

—A

ugus

t, 19

74

Page 3: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

But

tho

ug

h m

en d

ie,

pa

trio

ts r

age

fore

ver

and

they

sh

all

ove

rwh

elm

under

an

y ty

ran

t.

DE

DIC

AT

ION

To

th

e m

emo

ry

of

tho

se p

atr

iots

a

nd

fig

hte

rsw

ho

h

ave

p

lace

d

the

revo

luti

on

a

nd

th

e p

eop

leabo

ve a

ll e

lse

and h

ave

giv

en

thei

r li

ves

so t

ha

t th

eP

hil

ippin

es s

ha

ll b

e fr

ee a

nd

ind

epen

den

t.

Cop

ies

avai

labl

e th

roug

hP

AN

DA

YAN

P.O

. Box

247

07,

Oak

land

, C

alifo

rnia

94

623

CO

NT

EN

TS

Cha

pter

I

PE

OP

LE

'S W

AR

: TH

E F

ILIP

INO

PE

OP

LE

'S

5A

NS

WE

R T

O M

AR

TIA

L L

AW

1. U

.S.-

Mar

cos

Dic

tato

rsh

ip2

. B

asic

Pro

ble

ms

of

the

Fil

ipin

o P

eop

le3

. N

atio

nal

Dem

ocr

atic

R

evo

luti

on

4.

Peo

ple

's W

ar

Cha

pter

II

TH

E N

EW

PE

OP

LE

'S A

RM

Y

13

1.

Intr

od

uct

ion

2.

An

Inte

rvie

w W

ith

An

NP

A C

adre

3.

On t

he

Fo

urt

h A

nn

iver

sary

of

the

NP

A—

A

Poe

m o

f St

rugg

le4

. "T

he

NP

A I

s O

ur

Arm

y"

Cha

pter

III

TH

E "

NE

W S

OC

IET

Y'S

" 2

7S

HA

M L

AN

D R

EF

OR

M1.

Lan

d R

efo

rm —

A C

riti

cal

An

aly

sis

By

the

Pin

agla

bana

n R

esea

rch

Com

mit

tee

(PIR

CO

M)

Cha

pter

IV

DO

CU

ME

NT

S O

F T

HE

3

3N

AT

ION

AL

DE

MO

CR

AT

IC R

EV

OL

UT

ION

1.

Pre

amb

le a

nd

Bas

ic R

ule

s o

f th

e N

PA

2.

Rev

olu

tio

nar

y G

uid

e to

Lan

d R

efo

rm3

. T

en-P

oin

t P

rog

ram

of

the

Nat

ion

al D

emo

crat

ic F

ron

t

Page 4: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

1

Peop

le's

War

in

the

Phili

ppin

es

SO

UT

HE

RN

P

HIL

IPP

INE

S -

R

evol

utio

nary

fig

hter

gi

ves

med

ical

a

id t

o a

wom

an

civi

lian

wou

nded

in

th

e cr

ossf

ire b

etw

een

gove

rnm

ent

troop

s an

dLi

bera

tion

Figh

ters

du

ring

the

Jo/o

City

bom

bing

las

t Fe

brua

ry,

1974

. Th

eF

ilip

ino

peo

ple

are

alre

ady

enga

ged

in a

rmed

stru

ggle

aga

inst

the

gov

ernm

ent

troo

ps in

ove

r 34

pro

vinc

es.

Cha

pter

IP

EO

PL

E'S

WA

R:

TH

E F

ILIP

INO

PE

OP

LE

'SA

NSW

ER

TO

MA

RT

IAL

LA

W

1. U

.S.-

Mar

cos

Dic

tato

rsh

ip

The

Phi

lippi

nes

toda

y su

ffer

s un

der

the

repr

essi

on o

f a

mar

tial

law

re

gim

e w

hich

w

as

impo

sed

on

Sept

embe

r 22

19

72

byPr

esid

ent

Ferd

inan

d E

. Mar

cos.

With

the

dec

lara

tion

cam

e m

ilita

ryce

nsor

ship

of

the

pres

s, r

adio

and

tel

evis

ion;

a b

an o

n st

rike

s an

dde

mon

stra

tion

s;

the

clos

ing

dow

n of

the

leg

isla

ture

and

sup

rem

eco

urt;

in

shor

t, th

e ab

olit

ion

of a

ll th

e ba

sic

dem

ocra

tic

righ

ts o

fth

e Fi

lipin

o pe

ople

.A

ste

adily

wor

seni

ng e

cono

mic

and

pol

itica

l si

tuat

ion

and

the

subs

eque

nt r

ise

of m

ass

disc

onte

nt a

nd p

rote

st w

ere

the

cond

ition

sw

hich

led

up

to t

he d

ecla

ratio

n of

mar

tial

law

. B

y th

e 19

70's

the

cost

of

livin

g ha

d go

ne u

p 25

% s

ince

196

3. W

ith th

e de

valu

atio

n of

the

peso

the

pri

ces

of a

ll pr

ime

com

mod

itie

s ro

se n

earl

y 40

%. T

heco

sts

of f

ood,

tra

nspo

rtat

ion,

edu

cati

on,

med

ical

car

e an

d ho

usin

gag

ain

spir

aled

whe

n M

arco

s ag

reed

to

an i

ncre

ase

in th

e co

st o

f oi

lbe

caus

e of

pre

ssur

e by

U.S

. oi

l co

mpa

nies

. A

nd t

o ad

d in

sult

toin

jury

, M

arco

s sp

ent

huge

sum

s of

gov

ernm

ent

mon

ey f

or b

ribe

s in

his

re-e

lect

ion

cam

paig

n of

19

69.

It

was

in

this

at

mos

pher

e th

at p

opul

ar p

rote

st i

nten

sifi

ed i

nw

hat

cam

e to

be

kno

wn

as t

he "

firs

t qu

arte

r st

orm

" of

19

70.

The

re w

ere

mas

s de

mon

stra

tion

s at

Mal

acan

ang

Pres

iden

tial P

alac

ean

d th

e U

.S.

emba

ssy,

peo

ple'

s m

arch

es a

nd a

nti-

impe

rial

ist r

allie

san

d th

e dr

amat

ic

defe

ctio

n to

th

e N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y of

L

t.V

icto

r C

orpu

s, a

n in

stru

ctor

at

the

Phil

ippi

ne M

ilit

ary

Aca

dem

y.T

he

grow

ing

natio

nalis

t se

ntim

ent

in t

he

coun

try

prom

pted

Mar

cos

into

mor

e an

d m

ore

repr

essi

ve m

easu

res.

In

a ''R

eich

stag

fire

" ty

pe i

ncid

ent

Mar

cos

susp

ende

d th

e w

rit

of h

abea

s co

rpus

in

Aug

ust

of 1

971

afte

r th

e m

yste

riou

s bo

mbi

ng o

f a

Lib

eral

Par

tyra

lly

at

Plaz

a M

iran

da i

n M

anila

. M

arco

s al

lege

d th

at

"law

less

elem

ents

" su

ppor

ted

by

an

unna

med

"f

orei

gn

pow

er"

wer

eco

nspi

ring

to

ov

erth

row

hi

s re

gim

e an

d pr

ocee

ded

to

arre

sthu

ndre

ds o

f hi

s na

tiona

list

criti

cs.

Out

rage

d ci

tizen

s im

med

iate

ly p

rote

sted

the

sus

pens

ion

of t

hew

rit

and

the

thre

at

of

mar

tial

law

whi

ch s

eem

ed i

mm

inen

t. A

broa

d-ba

sed,

an

ti-f

asci

st

coal

itio

n ca

lled

fort

h de

mon

stra

tion

s

Page 5: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

num

beri

ng o

ver

50,0

00

peop

le.

The

cri

sis

deep

ened

in

mid

19

72w

hen

floo

ds a

nd g

over

nmen

t ne

glec

t br

ough

t tr

emen

dous

dam

age

to C

entr

al L

uzon

. T

hen

on A

ugus

t 22

the

Supr

eme

Cou

rt r

uled

to

set

an

end

to

U.S

. pa

rity

ri

ghts

. M

arco

s co

ncoc

ted

a bo

gus

assa

sina

tion

atte

mpt

on

his

Def

ense

Sec

reta

ry,

Enr

ile, a

nd b

lam

ing

the

"com

mun

ists

" an

d th

e N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y,

he

decl

ared

mar

tial

law

.M

artia

l L

aw

was

de

clar

ed

with

th

e cl

ose

"adv

ice"

of

th

eA

mer

ican

am

bass

ador

and

act

ive

supp

ort

of t

he U

.S. g

over

nmen

t.T

he U

.S.

is i

nter

este

d in

"st

abil

ity"

in

the

Phili

ppin

es i

n or

der

topr

otec

t bo

th i

ts v

ast

econ

omic

int

eres

ts,

as w

ell

as,

its s

trat

egic

mil

itar

y ba

ses

in r

elat

ions

hip

to

the

rest

of

Asi

a. F

or t

he

U.S

.im

peri

alis

ts t

he M

arco

s di

ctat

orsh

ip

is a

goo

d th

ing.

How

ever

, for

the

Fil

ipin

o pe

ople

, th

e m

uch

hera

lded

"N

ew S

ocie

ty"

of M

arco

sha

s pr

oven

to

be n

othi

ng m

ore

than

an

exte

nsio

n an

d ag

grav

atio

nof

the

ills

of

the

old

soci

ety.

Und

er m

artia

l la

w th

e Fi

lipin

o pe

ople

have

witn

esse

d m

ore

gove

rnm

ent

corr

upti

on,

only

now

tra

nsfe

red

dire

ctly

in

to

the

hand

s of

the

ar

my

and

mil

itar

y po

lice

; ev

erw

orse

ning

in

flat

ion;

se

vere

fo

od

shor

tage

s of

ri

ce

and

othe

rst

aple

s;

mos

t bl

atan

t pe

netr

atio

n of

Ph

ilip

pine

ec

onom

y by

fore

ign

busi

ness

int

eres

ts;

cont

inue

d la

nd g

rabb

ing

and

wid

espr

ead

geno

cide

in

Min

dina

o, i

n ge

nera

l, in

crea

sed

hard

ship

and

suf

feri

ng.

The

mou

ntin

g re

sist

ance

mov

emen

t to

end

the

se i

nequ

itie

s in

Phil

ippi

ne l

ife

may

hav

e be

en f

orce

d un

derg

roun

d by

the

m

artia

lla

w,

but

the

revo

luti

on

can

not

be s

tiff l

ed a

nd t

he

mov

emen

tco

ntin

ues

to e

xpan

d ev

en u

nder

the

fasc

ist

cond

itio

ns i

mpo

sed

byth

e U

.S.

Mar

cos

dict

ator

ship

.

2. B

asic

Pro

blem

s of

the

Filip

ino

Peop

le

Rev

olut

iona

ry

idea

s ar

e no

t im

port

ed; t

hey

grow

dir

ectly

out

of

the

hars

h re

alit

ies

of P

hilip

pine

soc

iety

. B

ecau

se o

f th

is,

Mar

cos

cann

ot s

uppr

ess

the

grow

th o

f re

volu

tion

ary

cons

ciou

snes

s am

ong

the

Fili

pino

mas

ses.

It

has

emer

ged

and

reem

erge

d th

roug

hout

the

man

y ye

ars

of U

.S.

impe

rial

ist

rule

and

Spa

nish

rul

e be

fore

tha

t.T

oday

, al

l th

e nu

mer

ous

inju

stic

es a

nd b

ruta

lity

exp

erie

nced

by

the

Fili

pino

peo

ple

can

be tr

aced

bac

k to

thr

ee b

asic

pro

blem

s:IM

PER

IAL

ISM

: U

.S.

impe

rial

ism

con

tinu

es t

o co

ntro

l (i

e. h

ave

deci

ding

in

flue

nce

in)

all

aspe

cts

of

Phil

ippi

ne

nati

onal

lif

e:ec

onom

y,

polit

ics,

cu

ltur

e, m

ilita

ry a

ffai

rs

and

fore

ign

rela

tion

s.A

t le

ast

twen

ty

activ

e m

ilit

ary

base

s se

rve

as t

he a

rmed

for

cepr

otec

ting

th

e m

ulti

-bil

lion

dol

lar

Am

eric

an i

nves

tmen

ts w

hich

amou

nt

to

wel

l ov

er

50%

of

the

tota

l bu

sine

ss a

sset

s of

th

eco

untr

y.

In a

ddit

ion,

Am

eric

an c

apita

l is

conc

entr

ated

in

the

mos

tst

rate

gic

sect

ors

of t

he e

cono

my

such

as

fina

nce,

im

port

/exp

ort,

6

fuel

, et

c..

It i

s es

timat

ed t

hat

for

ever

y on

e U

.S. d

olla

r in

vest

ed i

nth

e Ph

ilipp

ines

, fiv

e do

llars

in

prof

its

are

take

n ou

t of

the

cou

ntry

!T

his

amou

nts

to o

ne o

f th

e hi

ghes

t ra

tes

of p

rofi

t re

turn

of

any

U.S

. ov

erse

as i

nves

tmen

t ar

ea.

Thi

s is

the

bas

ic c

ause

for

why

the

Phili

ppin

es c

an b

e so

pot

enti

ally

ric

h w

hile

yet

rem

aini

ng s

o po

oran

d ba

ckw

ard.

T

his

expl

oita

tive

re

lati

onsh

ip

is

bols

tere

d by

uneq

ual

trea

ties

an

d ag

reem

ents

w

hich

gu

aran

tee

that

th

ePh

ilip

pine

s w

ill b

e m

aint

aine

d in

a s

emi-

colo

nial

sta

tus

in r

elat

ion

to t

he U

nite

d St

ates

.FE

UD

AL

ISM

: T

he

cont

rol

of

U.S

. im

peri

alis

m

has

also

prev

ente

d th

e gr

owth

of

a

nati

onal

cap

italis

m a

nd

perp

etua

ted

feud

al r

elat

ions

of

prod

ucti

on i

n th

e Ph

ilip

pine

cou

ntry

side

. T

hecl

ose

allia

nce

betw

een

the

land

lord

cl

ass

and

U.S

. im

peri

alis

mas

sure

s th

e co

ntin

ued

subs

ervi

ence

of

Phil

ippi

ne a

gric

ultu

re to

the

need

s of

the

im

peri

alis

ts f

or r

aw m

ater

ial

expo

rt c

rops

, as

wel

l as,

a ne

ver

endi

ng

supp

ly

of

chea

p la

bor

from

th

e im

pove

rish

edFi

lipin

o pe

asan

try

who

ar

e fo

rced

to

w

ork

in

impe

rial

ist

plan

tati

ons

and

fact

orie

s fo

r ex

trem

ely

low

wag

es,

usua

lly l

ess

than

$1

a da

y.O

ver

70%

of

the

Fili

pino

peo

ple

are

peas

ants

. The

vas

t maj

orit

yar

e po

or a

nd l

andl

ess

tena

nts

livin

g un

der

extr

eme

hard

ship

and

stru

gglin

g to

bar

e su

bsis

tenc

e. O

ver

the

year

s th

e pe

rcen

tage

of

land

less

te

nant

s ha

s gr

own

stea

dily

lar

ger,

unt

il to

day,

in

man

ypr

ovin

ces,

up

to

60

% o

wn

no

land

w

hats

oeve

r.

Whe

reas

, th

ela

ndlo

rd

clas

s, w

ho

com

pose

s le

ss t

han

1% o

f th

e po

pula

tion

,co

ntro

ls

over

50

% o

f th

e ag

ricu

ltura

l la

nds.

Fro

m t

he l

abor

ing

mas

ses,

the

se p

aras

ites

extr

act

exor

bita

nt r

ents

as

high

as

70%

of

the

harv

est.

The

y ti

ghte

n th

e no

ose

arou

nd

the

neck

of

the

peas

antr

y th

roug

h th

e pr

actic

e of

usu

ry —

lend

ing

mon

ey to

the

irte

nant

s fo

r se

ed a

nd f

erti

lize

r at

exc

essi

vely

hig

h in

tere

st r

ates

. In

addi

tion,

th

e pe

asan

try

is c

onti

nous

ly t

erro

rize

d an

d ab

used

by

the

reac

tiona

ry

priv

ate

arm

ies

of

the

land

lord

as

wel

l as

th

ego

vern

men

t ar

my.

Sinc

e th

e la

ndlo

rds

are

not

inte

rest

ed

in

deve

lopi

ng a

nin

depe

nden

t na

tiona

l ec

onom

y, t

hey

do n

ot i

ntro

duce

sci

ence

and

tech

nolo

gy i

nto

agri

cult

ure.

Thi

s cu

rses

the

Fili

pino

pea

sant

ry t

o a

life

of l

abor

usi

ng b

ack-

brea

king

and

pri

mit

ive

met

hods

, w

hile

at

the

sam

e tim

e,

it ke

eps

agri

cultu

ral

prod

ucti

on

extr

emel

y lo

w.

How

ever

, th

is

cond

itio

n is

inh

eren

t in

the

ve

ry n

atur

e of

th

ese

mi-

feud

al c

hara

cter

of

the

Phil

ippi

nes,

and

bef

ore

the

mas

ses o

fpe

asan

ts c

an c

oope

rativ

ely

set

out

to f

ind

easi

er w

ays

to c

onqu

erna

ture

, th

ey m

ust

firs

t co

nque

r th

eir

land

lord

s w

ho s

tand

in

the

way

of

such

pro

gres

s.B

UR

EA

UC

RA

T C

API

TA

LIS

M:

U.S

. im

peri

alis

m, b

y th

e en

d of

Wor

ld W

ar I

I, c

ould

not

mai

ntai

n di

rect

ly t

he c

olon

ial a

nd f

euda

lch

arac

ter

of P

hilip

pine

soc

iety

in

the

fac

e of

the

ove

rwhe

lmin

g

Page 6: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

nati

onal

an

d de

moc

rati

c as

pira

tions

of

the

Filip

ino

peop

le.

Inor

der

to

do

so i

ndir

ectl

y, r

equi

red

the

crea

tion

of

a cl

ass

ofbu

reau

crat

cap

italis

ts.

The

se b

urea

ucra

ts,

draw

n m

ostly

fro

m t

hela

ndlo

rd a

nd c

ompr

ador

cl

ass,

mak

e th

eir

fort

unes

in

"pol

itic

s".

The

y se

rve

as t

he t

op

polit

ical

rep

rese

ntat

ives

an

d m

anag

ers

for

impe

rial

ist

and

land

lord

int

eres

ts,

whi

le d

isgu

isin

g th

emse

lves

as

"ele

cted

rep

rese

ntat

ives

of

the

Filip

ino

peop

le".

In

this

sen

se t

hey

repr

esen

t th

e fi

rst

reac

tion

ary

line

of d

efen

se i

n m

aint

aini

ng

the

sem

i-co

loni

al,

sem

i-fe

udal

sys

tem

and

the

y ar

e th

e ce

ntra

l po

litic

alfo

rce

in s

ellin

g ou

t th

e na

tion

and

the

peo

ple

to t

he

impe

rial

ists

.In

re

turn

fo

r su

ch

"val

uabl

e se

rvic

es"

they

ar

e w

ell

com

pens

ated

fra

ud

and

corr

uptio

n ar

e at

th

e ve

ry

hear

t of

bure

aucr

at c

apita

lism

. A

t el

ectio

n ti

me

they

sel

l th

emse

lves

to

the

high

est

bidd

er

amon

g th

e di

ffer

ent

cont

endi

ng

impe

rial

ist

and

com

prad

or

inte

rest

s. T

here

is

neve

r a

law

pas

sed,

a

conc

essi

ongr

ante

d,

a co

ntra

ct s

igne

d, a

cou

rt

rulin

g ha

nded

do

wn,

et

c. i

nw

hich

a

sign

ific

ant

port

ion

of t

he "

take

" is

not

set

asi

de f

or t

hebu

reau

crat

cap

italis

ts.

In a

ddit

ion,

the

thi

eves

' co

de o

f et

hics

is to

take

ful

l ad

vant

age

of t

heir

"te

rm i

n of

fice

" to

dir

ectly

gra

b la

nds,

logg

ing

or

min

ing

conc

essi

ons;

m

aneu

ver

into

im

port

/exp

ort,

bank

ing

or i

nsur

ance

op

erat

ions

; or

bra

nch

out

into

"il

legi

tim

ate"

activ

ities

suc

h as

sm

uggl

ing,

gam

blin

g or

pro

stit

utio

n.B

urea

ucra

t ca

pita

lists

will

go

to a

ny l

engt

h to

kee

p th

e so

urce

sof

gra

ft a

nd c

orru

ptio

n in

the

ir o

wn

hand

s or

tha

t of

the

ir c

lique

.B

ecau

se o

f th

is b

urea

ucra

t ca

pita

lism

is

the

basi

s fo

r lo

cal

fasc

ism

.T

he b

est

exam

ple

of a

bur

eauc

rat

capi

talis

t is

the

pres

ent

dict

ator

Mar

cos

who

, du

ring

hi

s te

rm

of o

ffic

e,

has

man

aged

to

m

ake

him

self

on

e of

th

e ri

ches

t m

en i

n A

sia

whi

le u

nlea

shin

g fa

scis

tte

rror

upo

n th

e im

pove

resh

ed F

ilipi

no m

asse

s.B

urea

ucra

t ca

pita

lism

is

not

th

e "c

orru

ptio

n of

a

polit

ical

syst

em";

it

is a

pol

itica

l sy

stem

in

and

of

its

elf

by w

hich

th

eP

hili

ppin

es is

mai

ntai

ned

as a

cor

rupt

and

pup

pet

repu

blic

.T

he

fili

pino

pe

ople

, es

peci

ally

du

ring

the

pa

st d

ecad

e,

have

com

e to

re

cogn

ize

U.S

. im

peri

alis

m,

feud

alis

m

and

bure

aucr

atca

pita

lism

as

thei

r th

ree

mai

n en

emie

s ob

stru

ctin

g th

e pa

th t

owar

dge

nuin

e in

depe

nden

ce a

nd d

emoc

racy

. Su

ch g

row

ing

revo

luti

onar

yco

nsci

ousn

ess

can

not

be

held

ba

ck

in

the

face

of

rapi

dly

dete

rior

atin

g so

cial

con

ditio

ns a

nd t

he i

nten

sifi

ed h

ards

hips

und

erth

e pr

esen

t U

.S.-

Mar

cos

dict

ator

ship

.

3, N

atio

nal

Dem

ocra

tic

Rev

olut

ion

One

of

the

initi

al s

teps

in

the

deve

lopm

ent

of t

he r

evol

utio

nary

mov

emen

t in

th

e Ph

ilip

pine

s w

as

to

capt

ure

the

atte

ntio

n,en

thus

iasm

an

d de

term

inat

ion

of t

he

coun

try'

s yo

uth

and

link

them

clo

sely

to

the

prob

lem

s an

d st

rugg

les

of t

he b

road

er m

asse

sof

wor

kers

and

pea

sant

s. D

urin

g th

e 19

60's

this

was

acc

ompl

ishe

dth

roug

h th

e em

erge

nce

of t

he n

atio

nal

dem

ocra

tic m

ovem

ent.

Inits

ea

rly

stag

es,

it w

as

prin

cipa

lly

a pr

opag

anda

an

d cu

ltur

alm

ovem

ent

carr

ied

out

by

such

m

ass

orga

niza

tion

s lik

e th

eK

abat

aang

Mak

abay

ann

—KM

(N

atio

nali

st Y

outh

).T

he m

ovem

ent

bega

n to

cry

stal

ize

and

popu

lari

ze m

any

of t

hem

ajor

an

ti-im

peri

alis

t an

d de

moc

rati

c de

man

ds o

f th

e Fi

lipi

nope

ople

. It

cal

led

for

an e

nd t

o al

l un

equa

l m

ilit

ary

and

econ

omic

trea

ties

wit

h th

e U

.S.

(ie.

the

Lau

rel

Lan

gley

agr

eem

ent)

and

put

forw

ard

the

dem

and

for

the

nati

onal

izat

ion

of

all

impe

rial

ist

owne

d in

dust

ries

and

pla

ntat

ions

. T

ied

to t

his

wer

e de

man

ds fo

r a

land

re

form

pr

ogra

m

that

wou

ld g

uara

ntee

the

di

stri

buti

on o

fla

nds

to

land

less

ten

ants

, dr

astic

red

uctio

n in

ren

ts,

the

righ

t of

peas

ants

to

fo

rm

coop

erat

ives

and

agr

icul

tura

l w

orke

rs'

unio

ns,

etc. T

here

was

a n

otic

eabl

e ch

ange

in th

e po

litic

al a

tmos

pher

e of

the

coun

try,

as

br

oade

r an

d br

oade

r se

ctor

s of

Phi

lipp

ine

soci

ety

bega

n to

ta

ke

up

thes

e de

man

ds,

voic

e th

em,

form

m

ilit

ant

orga

niza

tion

s an

d pa

rtic

ipat

e in

mas

s pr

otes

ts.

Frig

hten

ed b

y th

ispo

litic

al

awak

enin

g,

the

impe

rial

ists

an

d Fi

lipi

no

ruli

ng c

lass

step

ped

up t

heir

fas

cist

rep

ress

ion.

Dem

onst

rati

ons

wer

e br

utal

lydi

sper

sed,

kill

ing

and

mai

min

g pe

ople

; ar

bitr

ary

mas

s ar

rest

s w

ere

carr

ied

out;

and

activ

e st

eps

wer

e ta

ken

to

hara

ss a

nd s

upre

sspa

trio

tic

mas

s or

gani

zatio

ns.

But

w

ith

each

ne

w

atta

ck,

the

revo

luti

onar

y m

ovem

ent

cont

inue

d to

gr

ow

and

win

th

esy

mpa

thie

s of

mor

e an

d m

ore

of t

he F

ilip

ino

mas

ses.

By

1969

th

e na

tiona

l de

moc

rati

c m

ovem

ent h

ad m

atur

ed. W

ith

the

rect

ific

atio

n an

d re

-est

ablis

hmen

t of

the

Com

mun

ist

Part

y of

the

Phili

ppin

es

in

1968

a

mor

e co

mpr

ehen

sive

pro

gram

an

dst

rate

gy f

or t

he N

atio

nal

Dem

ocra

tic

revo

luti

on w

as p

ut f

orw

ard.

Thi

s pr

ogra

m

is o

utlin

ed

in t

he

book

,

Phi

lippi

ne S

ocie

ty

and

Rev

olut

ion

— P

SR

wri

tten

by

th

e Pa

rty'

s ch

airm

an,

Am

ado

Gue

rrer

o; t

he P

SR s

oon

beca

me

the

mos

t w

idel

y re

ad a

nd s

tudi

edbo

ok i

n th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

.T

he p

rogr

am i

dent

ifie

s th

e pr

inci

pal

obje

ctiv

e of

the

rev

olut

ion

to

liber

ate

the

Fili

pino

pe

ople

fr

om

fore

ign

expl

oita

tion

and

dom

esti

c fe

udal

opp

ress

ion;

dri

ve o

ut t

he i

mpe

rial

ists

; car

ry o

utag

rari

an

revo

luti

on

in

the

coun

trys

ide,

and

fo

rm

a co

alit

ion

gove

nmen

t th

at w

ould

be

repr

esen

tati

ve o

f al

l the

pat

riot

ic c

lass

esin

Phi

lipp

ine

soci

ety.

The

N

atio

nal

Dem

ocra

tic

revo

luti

on w

ill e

mbr

ace

all p

atri

otic

clas

ses

oppo

sed

to

impe

rial

ism

wit

h pr

inci

pally

th

e al

lianc

e of

wor

kers

and

pea

sant

s at

its

cor

e. T

he u

rban

pet

ty b

ourg

eosi

e (i

e.in

telli

gent

sia,

st

uden

ts,

prof

essi

onal

s,

craf

tsm

en,

and

smal

lbu

sine

ssm

en)

will

be

a

reli

able

re

volu

tion

ary

forc

e an

d th

e

Page 7: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

nati

onal

bou

rgeo

isie

(ie

. Fi

lipin

o ca

pita

lists

who

wan

t na

tiona

list

indu

stri

aliz

atio

n"

but

are

man

ipul

ated

an

d ou

t-m

anuv

ered

by

impe

rial

ist

inte

rest

s) w

ill b

e a

less

rel

iabl

e, b

ut i

mpo

rtan

t al

ly o

fth

e na

tion

al d

emoc

rati

c rev

olut

ion.

The

le

adin

g cl

ass

forc

e in

the

peo

ple'

s de

moc

rati

c re

volu

tion

will

be

the

Fili

pino

wor

king

cla

ss a

nd i

ts r

evol

utio

nary

par

ty,

the

Com

mun

ist

Part

y of

the

Phi

lippi

nes.

Tod

ay t

he w

orke

rs a

re t

hem

ost

conc

entr

ated

, or

gani

zed

and

disc

iplin

ed c

lass

in

Phil

ippi

neso

ciet

y; t

hey

oper

ate

the

coun

try'

s in

dust

ries

and

tran

spor

t; la

bor

in t

he h

uge

impe

rial

ist-

owne

d pl

anta

tion

s an

d pr

oces

sing

fac

tori

es.

Whi

le

expe

rien

cing

th

e m

ost

dire

ct

and

brut

al

impe

rial

ist

expl

oita

tion

, ye

t th

ey o

wn

noth

ing

in th

eir

own

coun

try!

Bec

ause

of t

his,

as

a cl

ass,

they

hav

e th

e be

st u

nder

stan

ding

of

the

need

s of

the

who

le n

atio

n to

lib

erat

e its

elf

from

im

peri

alis

m. A

t th

e sa

me

tim

e, t

he

Filip

ino

wor

king

cla

ss h

as c

lose

and

ext

ensi

ve t

ies

with

the

peas

antr

y.

Mos

t Fi

lipin

o w

orke

rs c

ome

from

pea

sant

fam

ilie

s,th

ey a

re k

eenl

y aw

are

of f

euda

l op

pres

sion

and

can

exe

rt m

uch

revo

lutio

nary

in

flue

nce

in th

eir

hom

e ba

rrio

s.A

t th

e sa

me

time

the

peas

antr

y w

ill b

e th

e m

ain

forc

e in

the

nati

onal

de

moc

rati

c re

volu

tion.

The

y ar

e th

e la

rges

t se

ctor

of

Phili

ppin

e so

ciet

y an

d w

itho

ut t

heir

pow

erfu

l sup

port

the

re c

an b

eno

su

cces

s in

rev

olut

ion.

The

mai

n pr

oble

m f

acin

g th

e Fi

lipin

ope

asan

try

is t

he

ques

tion

of

land

. C

onse

quen

tly

by

lead

ing

ape

asan

t w

ar

to

free

th

e m

asse

s fr

om

feud

al o

ppre

ssio

n,

the

Phili

ppin

e re

volu

tion

will

be

fulfi

lling

its

mai

n de

moc

ratic

ta

sk.

Thi

s is

als

o th

e pr

inci

pal

way

in

whi

ch t

he F

ilipi

no w

orki

ng c

lass

build

s a

stro

ng a

llian

ce w

ith t

he p

easa

ntry

and

can

mob

ilize

the

mto

* al

so

acco

mpl

ish

succ

essf

ully

the

cen

tral

tas

k of

dri

ving

out

of

the

coun

try

the

impe

rial

ists

and

thei

r lo

cal

pupp

ets.

4. P

eopl

e's W

ar

On

Mar

ch 2

9,19

69 t

he N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y (N

PA) w

as f

orm

ed,

unde

r th

e gu

idan

ce a

nd l

eade

rshi

p of

the

Com

mun

ist P

arty

of

the

Phili

ppin

es.

Wit

h th

e N

PA's

esta

blis

hmen

t a

new

and

hig

her

stag

eof

Peo

ple'

s W

ar b

egan

to

unfo

ld in

the

Phili

ppin

es.

Peo

ple'

s W

ar is

the

popu

lar

term

to

desc

ribe

the

bas

ic s

trat

egy

and

tact

ics

that

will

gui

de t

he n

atio

nal

dem

ocra

tic r

evol

utio

n to

vict

ory.

It

mea

ns p

rinc

ipal

ly t

hat

the

peop

le m

ust

be d

eter

min

edto

w

age

an a

rmed

st

rugg

le i

n or

der

to d

efea

t th

e ar

mie

s of

th

eim

peri

alis

ts

and

thei

r pu

ppet

s,

win

po

litic

al

pow

er

and

then

defe

nd t

heir

vic

tory

with

arm

s. T

his

is th

e co

rner

ston

e of

Peo

ple'

sW

ar a

nd i

t st

ems

from

the

und

erst

andi

ng th

at th

ere

has

neve

r be

enan

ex

ampl

e in

the

hi

stor

y of

man

kind

whe

re e

xplo

iting

cla

sses

have

vo

lunt

aril

y su

rren

dere

d th

eir

ill-g

otte

n w

ealth

an

d po

wer

10

wit

hout

a v

icio

us f

ight

.T

he c

once

pt o

f Pe

ople

's W

ar re

cogn

izes

the

nee

d fo

r a

Peo

ple'

sA

rmy

to

lead

the

ar

med

str

uggl

e an

d se

ize

poli

tica

l po

wer

; it

reco

gniz

es t

he l

eadi

ng ro

le o

f th

e w

orki

ng c

lass

and

its

Par

ty,

the

Com

mun

ist

Part

y; a

nd i

t re

cogn

izes

the

nee

d to

bu

ild

a st

rong

Uni

ted

Fron

t of

all

patr

iotic

cla

sses

in

orde

r to

sup

port

the

arm

edst

rugg

le.

Sin

ce i

ts f

orm

atio

n, t

he N

PA

has

pai

d cl

ose

atte

ntio

n to

th

eta

ctic

s of

Peo

ple'

s W

ar. R

ecog

nizi

ng t

hat

in t

he i

niti

al s

tage

s th

epe

ople

's ar

my

will

be

rela

tivel

y w

eak

whi

le t

he

impe

rial

ist

and

pupp

et

arm

ies

will

be

wel

l-eq

uipp

ed a

nd i

n gr

eate

r nu

mbe

rs,

the

NPA

w

ill c

once

ntra

te i

ts a

ttac

ks i

n th

e co

untr

ysid

e w

here

th

eim

peri

alis

ts

and

thei

r pu

ppet

s ha

ve t

heir

w

eake

st

poli

tica

l an

dm

ilita

ry

links

; bu

ild

up t

he p

eopl

e's

revo

luti

onar

y po

wer

th

ere

firs

t an

d "s

urro

und

the

citie

s fr

om t

he c

ount

rysi

de".

Beg

inni

ng

in

the

mou

ntai

nous

and

bac

kwar

d ar

eas,

su

ch

asIs

abel

a an

d C

agay

an

Val

ley,

the

N

PA

firs

t co

ncen

trat

es

onbu

ildin

g up

a m

ass

base

am

ong

the

poor

pea

sant

s th

roug

h as

sist

ing

them

or

gani

ze a

nd s

trug

gle

to l

ower

the

ir r

ents

and

im

prov

e th

eliv

ing

cond

ition

s. T

his

is c

oupl

ed w

ith

prop

agan

da a

nd e

duca

tion

wor

k to

exp

lain

to

the

peas

antr

y th

e th

ree

basi

c en

emie

s of

th

eFi

lipin

o pe

ople

— im

peri

alis

m, f

euda

lism

, bu

reau

crat

cap

ital

ism

—an

d th

e ne

ed t

o w

age

natio

nal

dem

ocra

tic

revo

luti

on.

Wit

h th

epe

ople

's s

uppo

rt a

s a

foun

dati

on, t

he N

PA a

ttack

s th

e re

acti

onar

yar

med

fo

rces

w

here

th

ey

are

the

wea

kest

, ca

ptur

es

wea

pons

,co

nfus

es

them

an

d ke

eps

them

alw

ays

in f

ear

and

on t

he

run.

Whe

neve

r th

e la

ndlo

rd o

r go

vern

men

t arm

ies

atta

ck a

nd a

buse

th

epe

ople

or

try

to

dest

roy

thei

r m

ass

orga

niza

tion

s, t

he

NPA

will

find

so

me

way

to

reta

liate

and

pun

ish

them

— in

thi

s w

ay

the

mas

ses

begi

n to

tru

st

and

rely

on

the

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy;

th

eysa

y,"t

he l

andl

ord

has

his

arm

ies,

and

now

we

have

our

s."

If

the

peop

le's

arm

y is

to

expa

nd a

nd b

ecom

e in

vinc

ible

, it

mus

t le

ad

the

revo

lutio

nary

pe

asan

t m

ovem

ent

for

land

an

dde

moc

ratic

ri

ghts

. A

s it

prov

es i

tsel

f, t

he N

PA w

ill b

e em

brac

edan

d pr

otec

ted

by t

he F

ilipi

no p

easa

nt m

asse

s an

d th

ousa

nds

ofpe

asan

t yo

uth

will

joi

n its

ran

ks n

o m

atte

r ho

w

diff

icul

t an

dbr

utal

the

enem

ies

supp

ress

ion

cam

paig

ns m

ay b

ecom

e!A

s th

e Pe

ople

's W

ar r

each

es h

ighe

r st

ages

it

will

tak

e on

th

ecl

ear

char

acte

r of

a c

ivil

war

as

larg

er a

nd l

arge

r ar

eas

will

bec

ome

"lib

erat

ed"

from

im

peri

alis

t an

d la

ndlo

rd

cont

rol

and

adm

in-

iste

red

dire

ctly

by

th

e N

atio

nal

Dem

ocra

tic

Fro

nt

and

the

revo

lutio

nary

m

ass

orga

niza

tions

. T

hese

are

as w

ill b

e pr

otec

ted

byth

e N

PA a

nd t

he p

eopl

e's

mili

tias.

Thi

s is

the

st

rate

gy

of P

eopl

e's

War

and

nat

iona

l de

moc

rati

cre

volu

tion.

In

th

e pa

st

deca

de

it ha

s ta

ken

deep

roo

t in

th

ePh

ilipp

ines

and

is

stea

dily

adv

anci

ng in

spi

te o

f th

e fa

scis

m o

f th

e

11

Page 8: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

U.S

.-M

arco

s di

ctat

orsh

ip.

Wit

h ea

ch

new

vi

ctor

y it

st

reng

then

sco

nfid

ence

th

at

the

Fil

ipin

o pe

ople

wil

l su

rely

fre

e th

emse

lves

,on

ce

and

for

all,

fro

m

the

evils

of

im

peri

alis

m,

feud

alis

m a

ndbu

reau

crat

ca

pita

lism

th

roug

h pr

otra

cted

st

rugg

le,

rely

ing

on t

hem

asse

s of

peo

ple

and

the

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy

unde

r th

e le

ader

ship

of t

he C

omm

unis

t P

arty

!T

o th

e qu

esti

on,

"Wha

t is

the

an

swer

to

m

arti

al

law

?"

the

Fil

ipin

o m

asse

s sh

ou

t, "

Peo

ple

's W

ar!

. .

. Peo

ple'

s W

ar!"

12

Cha

pter

II

TH

E N

EW

PE

OP

LE

'S A

RM

Y

1. I

ntr

od

uct

ion

The

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy

is t

he m

ajor

fig

htin

g fo

rce

carr

ying

out

the

Phi

lipp

ine

revo

luti

on.

It

is

mai

nly

an

arm

y of

pe

asan

ts,

incl

udin

g w

ithi

n it

s ra

nk

s w

orke

rs a

nd y

ou

th f

rom

the

urb

an p

etty

bour

geoi

sis.

T

he

arm

y is

gu

ided

by

w

orki

ng

clas

s id

eolo

gy,

poli

tics

, an

d or

gani

zati

on,

whi

ch

is

exer

cize

d th

roug

h th

ele

ader

ship

of

the

C

omm

unis

t P

arty

of

the

Phi

lipp

ines

. T

he N

PA

embo

dies

w

ithi

n it

self

al

l th

e es

sent

ial

aspe

cts

that

wil

l in

sure

revo

luti

onar

y vi

ctor

y -

the

arm

ed

stru

ggle

, th

e un

ited

fr

ont

and

the

lead

ersh

ip

of

the

wor

king

cl

ass.

A

s su

ch,

the

NP

A i

s th

epr

inci

pal

and

mos

t ad

vanc

ed n

atio

nal

dem

ocra

tic

orga

niza

tion

.S

ince

its

for

mat

ion

in 1

969,

th

e N

PA

has

incr

ease

d it

s st

reng

thfr

om

oper

atio

ns

in

only

fo

ur

prov

ince

s to

at

le

ast

thir

ty-f

ou

rpr

ovin

ces

at

pres

ent.

S

ince

mar

tial

la

w,

its

nu

mb

ers

and

area

of

oper

atio

ns h

ave

incr

ease

d ra

pidl

y. I

n ce

rtai

n pr

ovin

ces

the

NP

A is

now

ca

pabl

e of

lau

nchi

ng p

lato

on-s

ized

, co

mpa

ny-s

ized

and

eve

nba

ttal

ion-

size

d ac

tion

s.

It

has

figh

ting

uni

ts

in C

agay

an V

alle

y,Il

ocos

an

d M

ount

ain

prov

ince

s; i

n C

entr

al

Lu

zon

; in

the

B

icol

regi

on o

f S

outh

ern

Lu

zon

; in

Eas

tern

Vis

ayas

suc

h as

on

the

isla

ndof

Sam

ar;

and

Wes

tern

Vis

ayas

in P

anay

and

Neg

ros.

Sig

nifi

cant

ly,

the

NP

A i

s no

w a

lso

begi

nnin

g op

erat

ions

in

Min

dina

o.C

ontr

ary

to

the

clai

ms

of

the

US

-Mar

cos

dic

tato

rsh

ip,

the

popu

lar

resi

stan

ce

of

the

Fil

ipin

o pe

ople

is

in

crea

sing

. N

PA

guer

rill

a ba

ses

and

guer

rill

a zo

nes

are

bein

g de

velo

ped

wit

hout

let

up. I

n re

cent

yea

rs g

over

nmen

t un

its

rang

ing

in s

ize

from

sin

gle

squa

ds t

o tw

o w

hole

com

pani

es h

ave

been

wip

ed p

ut i

n sp

ecif

icbat

tles

w

ith

the

NP

A.

In

addi

tion

to

re

gula

r (f

ull-

tim

e)

arm

edun

its

of t

he

NP

A,

"see

d u

nit

s" s

uch

as a

rmed

pro

paga

nda

team

san

d pa

rt-t

ime

guer

rill

a un

its

have

bee

n fo

rmed

in

orde

r to

inc

reas

eth

e fi

ghti

ng c

apac

ity

and

rese

rve

stre

ngth

of

the

peop

le's

arm

y.T

he

NP

A

now

dr

aws

supp

ort

from

a

mas

s ba

se n

umbe

ring

seve

ral

hund

red

tho

usa

nd

peop

le i

n d

iffe

ren

t p

arts

of

the

cou

ntr

y.

In a

reas

whe

re t

he N

PA

has

est

abli

shed

bas

es,

revo

luti

onar

y la

ndre

form

is

car

ried

ou

t an

d re

volu

tion

ary

mas

s or

gani

zati

ons

and

peo

ple

's m

ilit

ias

are

form

ed.

The

NP

A s

oldi

ers

assi

st t

he p

eopl

e in

13

Page 9: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

agri

cult

ural

pro

duct

ion,

att

end

to t

heir

med

ical

and

edu

cati

onal

need

s an

d es

tabl

ish

loca

l pe

ople

's g

over

nmen

ts in

lib

erat

ed a

reas

.A

llian

ces

and

coop

erat

ion

is a

lso

bein

g de

velo

ped

betw

een

the

NPA

and

oth

er a

nti-

fasc

ist a

rmed

for

ces

whi

ch h

ave

spru

ng u

p in

diff

eren

t pa

rts

of t

he c

ount

ry s

ince

the

dec

lara

tion

of

mar

tial

law

.T

his

incl

udes

the

Ban

gsa

Mor

o A

rmy

and

Mus

lim R

evol

utio

nary

Forc

es

figh

ting

for

self

-det

erm

inat

ion

in

Min

dina

o. T

he

NPA

firm

ly

supp

orts

the

ca

ll of

the

Pre

para

tory

Com

mis

sion

for

th

eN

atio

nal

Dem

ocra

tic

Fro

nt w

hich

see

ks to

uni

te a

ll p

ossi

ble

forc

esto

ov

erth

row

the

U

.S.-

Mar

cos

cliq

ue a

nd e

stab

lish

a de

moc

rati

cco

alit

ion

gove

rnm

ent.

(See

cha

pter

fou

r:

10

Poi

nt

Pro

gram

of

Nat

iona

l Dem

ocra

tic

Fro

nt)

Thi

s se

ctio

n co

ntai

ns t

wo

inte

rvie

ws

wit

h N

PA f

ight

ers.

The

sein

terv

iew

s gi

ve a

sen

se o

f th

e da

y-to

-day

pol

itic

al a

ctiv

ities

of

the

NPA

an

d th

e ki

nd

of

care

ful

orga

nizi

ng a

nd p

ropa

gand

a w

ork

requ

ired

in

orde

r to

for

ge

stro

ng t

ies

betw

een

the

NP

A a

nd t

hepe

ople

and

win

thei

r ge

nuin

e su

ppor

t.

An

Inte

rvie

wW

ith A

n

NP

A

Cad

re

Cen

tral

L

uzon

ha

s be

en

a tr

adit

onal

st

rong

hold

of

revo

lutio

nary

re

sist

ance

to

fore

ign

dom

inat

ion

and

is t

oday

an

area

w

here

th

e N

ew

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy

is p

arti

cula

rly

stro

ng.

The

follo

win

g is

an

inte

rvie

w b

etw

een

a co

rres

pond

ent

of L

iber

atio

n,an

und

ergr

ound

new

spap

er,

and

Com

rade

Tom

b, a

pol

itic

al

offic

erof

a

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy

squa

d in

Pam

pang

a, C

entr

al L

uzon

. Th

ein

terv

iew

was

firs

t pu

blis

hed

on M

arch

30,

197

4.

14

LIB

ER

AT

ION

: To

sta

rt w

ith

a ge

nera

l qu

esti

on,

wha

t is

the

N

PA

and

wha

t do

es i

t do

?K

ASA

MA

NG

TO

NY

O:

The

N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y is

the

m

ain

orga

niza

tion

of

the

Com

mun

ist P

arty

of

the

Phi

lipp

ines

for

wag

ing

arm

ed

stru

ggle

, w

hich

is

the

prin

cipa

l fo

rm

of

stru

ggle

at

th

epr

esen

t st

age

of t

he P

hili

ppin

e re

volu

tion

. R

evol

utio

n is

mai

nly

capt

urin

g an

d de

fend

ing

polit

ical

pow

er,

and

this

can

not

be d

one

wit

hout

ar

med

st

rugg

le.

The

N

PA

is

the

arm

w

ith

whi

ch

the

peop

le

and

the

Par

ty

wie

ld t

he

gun.

Tha

t is

why

we

call

it a

peop

le's

arm

y.T

his

does

no

t m

ean,

how

ever

, th

at a

ll w

e do

is

fig

ht i

n th

eba

ttle

fiel

d.

Bes

ides

bei

ng a

fig

htin

g fo

rce,

ea

ch

NP

A u

nit

also

enga

ges

in p

ropa

gand

a an

d pr

oduc

tion

wor

k. T

he N

PA

hel

ps t

hepe

ople

, pa

rtic

ular

ly

the

peas

ants

in

the

coun

trys

ide,

bui

ld

thei

row

n de

moc

rati

call

y ch

osen

loc

al g

over

nmen

ts.

Ano

ther

im

port

ant

task

of

the

NP

A is

to m

obil

ize

the

peas

ants

to

impl

emen

t a

revo

luti

onar

y la

nd

refo

rm

prog

ram

ai

med

at

ulti

mat

ely

abol

ishi

ng fe

udal

ism

.Q

UE

ST

ION

: Yo

u m

enti

oned

lo

cal g

over

nmen

ts.

How

are

the

sese

t up

her

e in

Pam

pang

a?A

NSW

ER

: W

hen

we

spea

k of

lo

cal

gove

rnm

ents

, w

e m

ean

peop

le's

gov

ernm

ent

on t

he

barr

io

leve

l. O

f co

urse

th

e B

arri

oC

ounc

il st

ill

exis

ts

in

mos

t ba

rrio

s,

but

it is

es

sent

ially

an

inst

rum

ent

of t

he r

ulin

g cl

asse

s, e

spec

ially

the

lan

dlor

ds.

It d

oes

not

serv

e th

e re

al i

nter

ests

of

the

barr

io p

eopl

e. T

hat

is w

hy o

urpo

licy

is

to

brea

k its

po

litic

al

infl

uenc

e in

the

ba

rrio

, an

d if

poss

ible

, to

win

ove

r m

embe

rs w

ho a

re n

ot d

ieha

rds.

The

re a

re t

wo

way

s of

org

aniz

ing

a ba

rrio

and

set

ting

up

a lo

cal

gove

rnm

ent.

A

cadr

e m

ay

firs

t fo

rm

a B

arri

o O

rgan

izin

g C

om-

mit

tee

(BO

C) f

rom

am

ong

the

poor

pea

sant

s an

d ot

her

prog

ress

ive

indi

vidu

als.

W

hen

this

de

velo

ps

and

its

poli

tica

l in

flue

nce

ises

tabl

ishe

d in

the

bar

rio,

th

is b

ecom

es t

he B

arri

o R

evol

utio

nary

Com

mitt

ee

(BR

C).

Or,

we

may

sta

rt b

y fo

rmin

g m

ass

orga

niza

-ti

ons

of

peas

ants

, yo

uth

and

wom

en.

Whe

n th

ese

deve

lop

and

beco

me

effe

ctiv

e in

mob

iliz

ing

the

barr

io p

eopl

e an

d he

lpin

g th

emso

lve

thei

r pr

oble

ms,

the

ir l

eade

rs f

orm

the

BR

C.

Org

aniz

atio

nally

, th

e ai

m i

s to

se

t up

the

BR

C a

s a

genu

ine

loca

l go

vern

men

t to

ta

ke

the

plac

e of

the

re

acti

onar

y B

arri

oC

ounc

il.H

ere

in

Cen

tral

L

uzon

we

now

la

y st

ress

on

fo

rmin

g m

ass

orga

niza

tions

fi

rst,

tow

ards

bu

ildi

ng t

he B

RC

, al

thou

gh

in s

ome

inst

ance

s w

e or

gani

ze B

RC

s at

the

sam

e ti

me

that

mas

s or

gani

za-

tion

s ar

e se

t up

.In

ei

ther

ca

se,

the

real

te

st

is

how

ef

fect

ive

thes

e m

ass

orga

niza

tion

s an

d B

OC

s ar

e in

mob

iliz

ing

the

peop

le t

o ef

fect

ivel

y

15

Page 10: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

solv

e th

eir

prob

lem

s. T

his

is t

he

mai

n fu

ncti

on o

f lo

cal

gove

rn-

men

t, is

n't

it?

Onl

y w

hen

the

BO

C o

r th

e pe

ople

's o

rgan

izat

ions

hav

e pr

oven

them

selv

es i

s th

e B

RC

est

abli

shed

.Q

UE

STIO

N:

Wha

t ar

e th

e pr

inci

pal

prob

lem

s of

th

e pe

ople

here

in

Pam

pang

a?A

NSW

ER

: W

hen

we

talk

of

peop

le's

pro

blem

s in

Pam

pang

a,an

d in

th

e re

st

of

Cen

tral

L

uzon

, w

e sh

ould

st

art

wit

h th

eex

trem

ely

low

w

ages

of

th

e ag

ricu

ltur

al w

orke

rs i

n th

e su

gar

haci

enda

s an

d th

e la

ndle

ss

tena

nt

farm

ers

who

cu

ltiv

ate

the

rice

land

s of

big

lan

dlor

ds.

Man

y su

garc

ane

wor

kers

get

as

low

as

4 pe

sos

a da

y. B

esid

es t

helo

w

wag

es,

wor

king

co

ndit

ions

ar

e ha

rsh

and

wor

k is

on

lyse

ason

al.

Wor

kers

livi

ng i

n th

e su

gar

haci

enda

s ar

e no

t al

low

ed t

ous

e th

e la

nd f

or o

ther

cro

ps t

o au

gmen

t th

eir

mea

ger

inco

me.

On

the

othe

r ha

nd,

the

land

less

ten

ants

w

ho

wor

k in

th

eri

cela

nds

are

subj

ecte

d to

fe

udal

ex

ploi

tati

on s

uffe

red

by p

oor

peas

ants

els

ewhe

re.

Cro

p sh

arin

g he

re i

s us

uall

y 50

-50,

or

70-3

0 if

the

tena

nt s

houd

lers

all

the

expe

nses

for

pla

ntin

g an

d ha

rves

ting

.In

so

me

plac

es

here

, th

ere

is t

he

"buw

isan

" sy

stem

, w

here

th

ete

nant

pay

s 15

to 2

0 ca

vans

of

rice

per

hec

tare

cul

tiva

ted.

In a

reas

whe

re t

he "

buw

isan

" is

use

d, o

ur a

im i

n th

e or

gani

zed

barr

ios

is t

he

redu

ctio

n of

la

nd r

ent

to

a m

axim

um o

f on

ly 6

cava

ns p

er h

ecta

re.

Whe

re th

e pe

rcen

tage

met

hod

of c

rop

shar

ing

prev

ails

, we

aim

at

a m

axim

um o

f 15

per

cent

of

the

harv

est

for

the

land

lord

.T

here

is

also

usu

ry,

unpa

id m

enia

l se

rvic

es a

nd t

he

thou

sand

and

one

way

s th

e la

ndlo

rds

chea

t an

d ex

ploi

t th

e la

ndle

sspe

asan

ts.

(Gov

ernm

ent-

init

iate

d pr

ogra

ms

like

Sam

ahan

g N

ayon

and

Mas

agan

a 99

hav

e be

en b

ig f

ailu

res

and

have

not

hel

ped

the

peas

ants

any

. In

stea

d, t

hrou

gh t

hese

gov

ernm

ent

prog

ram

s, p

ro-

duce

rs

of f

arm

im

plem

ents

and

ch

emic

als,

as

wel

l as

ow

ners

of

rura

l ba

nks,

hav

e am

asse

d m

ore

wea

lth

at t

he e

xpen

se o

f fa

rmer

san

d pe

asan

ts w

ho h

ave

sunk

dee

per

in d

ebt.

— E

dito

r)O

nly

a th

orou

gh-g

oing

agr

aria

n re

volu

tion

ca

n li

quid

ate

the

age-

old

expl

oita

tion

an

d op

pres

sion

su

ffer

ed

by

our

brot

her

peas

ants

.Q

UE

STIO

N:

Wha

t do

you

mea

n by

agr

aria

n re

volu

tion?

AN

SWE

R:

Thi

s is

the

revo

luti

onar

y la

nd r

efor

m p

rogr

am o

f th

eN

PA.

To

be m

ore

prec

ise,

the

NPA

pro

paga

tes

the

prog

ram

and

orga

nize

s th

e pe

asan

ts,

and

the

peas

ants

the

mse

lves

, thr

ough

the

irco

llect

ive

revo

luti

onar

y ac

tion,

im

plem

ent

it.

The

min

imum

dem

and

of o

ur p

rogr

am i

s th

e re

duct

ion

of l

and

rent

and

abo

liti

on o

f us

ury.

Its

max

imum

dem

and

is th

e co

nfis

ca-

tion

of

the

land

s of

big

opp

ress

ive

land

lord

s an

d th

e re

dist

ribu

tion

of t

hese

to

the

land

less

pea

sant

s. (

Ful

l te

xt o

f th

e R

evol

utio

nary

16

Gui

de f

or L

and

Ref

orm

incl

uded

in

this

pam

phle

t. —

Edi

tor)

QU

EST

ION

: Y

ou m

enti

oned

th

e ag

ricu

ltura

l w

orke

rs w

ho g

etlo

w w

ages

. How

can

the

ir c

ondi

tion

be

impr

oved

?A

NSW

'ER

: R

ight

now

, in

Pam

pang

a w

e ar

e de

voti

ng a

lot

of

effo

rt

to

orga

nizi

ng t

he t

he s

ugar

cane

wor

kers

so

that

th

ey c

anef

fect

ivel

y de

man

d hi

gher

wag

es. T

he l

owes

t pa

id i

n th

is a

rea

get

4pe

sos

a da

y. S

ome

get

6 pe

sos

a da

y, w

hich

is

the

lega

l mim

inum

wag

e fo

r ag

ricu

ltura

l w

orke

rs,

but

still

in

adeq

uate

fo

r ev

ensu

bsis

tenc

e liv

ing.

Our

im

med

iate

dem

and

in t

he l

arge

hac

iend

as is

for

a 12

pes

o da

ily w

age.

Wor

kers

in s

ome

haci

enda

s w

e or

gani

zed

are

alre

ady

rece

ivin

g th

is.

QU

EST

ION

: W

hat

is y

our

polic

y w

ith

resp

ect

to

land

lord

s?H

ow a

bout

tho

se l

andl

ords

who

are

will

ing

to c

oope

rate

wit

h yo

u?A

NSW

ER

: W

e m

ake

a di

stin

ctio

n be

twee

n la

ndlo

rds

who

are

real

ly

oppr

essi

ve a

nd l

andl

ords

who

are

mod

erat

e or

enl

ight

ened

.In

an

area

whe

re t

here

are

hac

iend

as w

ith

eigh

t or

ten

lan

dlor

ds,

for

exam

ple,

we

do n

ot g

o ag

ains

t al

l th

e la

ndlo

rds

at o

nce.

Fir

st,

we

anal

yze

each

la

ndlo

rd

and

the

cond

itio

ns

of h

is w

orke

rs o

rte

nant

s. W

e pi

ck t

he m

ost

oppr

essi

ve l

andl

ord

who

se t

enan

ts a

reth

e m

ost

expl

oite

d.

He

beco

mes

ou

r pr

imar

y ta

rget

fo

r th

ean

ti-f

euda

l st

rugg

le i

n th

e ar

ea.

Whe

n he

giv

es in

to

the

dem

ands

of

the

poor

pea

sant

s or

agr

icul

tura

l w

orke

rs i

n hi

s ha

cien

da, t

he o

ther

land

lord

s w

ill c

erta

inly

hea

r of

thi

s, a

nd t

hey

will

kno

w i

t w

as t

heN

PA t

hat

or

gani

zed

the

peas

ants

an

d ru

ral

wor

kers

. W

hen

this

happ

ens,

m

ost

of t

he

land

lord

s w

ill b

e m

ore

easi

ly c

onvi

nced

to

impr

ove

the

cond

itio

ns o

f th

eir

tena

nts

or l

abor

ers.

Her

e in

Pam

pang

a, a

nd t

he r

est

of C

entr

al L

uzon

, the

pea

sant

san

d fa

rm w

orke

rs h

ave

a lo

ng t

radi

tion

of

stru

ggle

aga

inst

feu

dal

oppr

essi

on,

and

the

land

lord

s al

so k

now

thi

s. I

n m

any

case

s, t

hela

ndlo

rds

gran

t th

e te

nant

s' d

eman

ds b

efor

e th

e co

nfli

ct r

each

esth

e sh

ootin

g st

age.

In

som

e in

stan

ces,

how

ever

, op

pres

sive

lan

d-lo

rds

play

tou

gh a

nd u

se t

heir

pri

vate

arm

ies

or c

all i

n PC

sol

dier

s,in

whi

ch c

ase

the

NPA

reso

rts

to s

uch

mil

itar

y m

eans

as

ambu

shes

.In

gen

eral

we

rely

mor

e on

pol

itica

l w

ork

and

the

unit

y of

the

peas

ants

to

obta

in g

ains

in

the

anti

-feu

dal s

trug

gle.

QU

EST

ION

: H

ow

abou

t U

.S.

impe

rial

ism

how

do

yo

uex

plai

n its

wor

king

s to

the

bar

rio

peop

le?

AN

SWE

R:

The

peo

ple

here

can

eas

ily s

ee t

he

natu

re o

f U

.S.

impe

rial

ism

an

d th

e w

ay i

t do

min

ates

ou

r ec

onom

y be

caus

e th

esu

gar

indu

stry

is

ver

y m

uch

a pa

rt o

f C

entr

al L

uzon

. The

peo

ple

unde

rsta

nd

that

the

pr

ices

and

"qu

otas

" of

sug

ar w

e ex

port

are

dict

ated

by

the

impe

rial

ists

. R

ight

now

, for

ins

tanc

e, th

e do

mes

tic

pric

e of

su

gar

is v

ery

high

and

th

ere

is a

nat

ionw

ide

arti

fici

alsh

orta

ge

desp

ite

the

fact

tha

t w

e gr

ow a

lot

of

suga

rcan

e. T

hepe

ople

und

erst

and

that

thi

s an

omal

y is

cau

sed

by U

.S. i

mpe

rial

-

17

Page 11: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

ism

, w

hich

is

im

port

ing

mos

t of

our

raw

sug

ar a

nd r

esel

ling

it a

sre

fine

d su

gar

or o

ther

pro

duct

s at

hig

h w

orld

pri

ces.

QU

EST

ION

: H

ow

do

you

wag

e ar

med

st

rugg

le

in

Cen

tral

Luz

on?

AN

SW

ER

: O

ur s

tyle

of

figh

ting

her

e is

sim

ilar

to t

hat

of

NP

Aun

its

in

othe

r re

gion

s.

Bec

ause

th

e en

emy

is s

tron

ger

than

us

mil

itar

ily,

w

e av

oid

deci

sive

cl

ashe

s an

d pi

tche

d ba

ttle

s. W

eco

ncen

trat

e on

att

acki

ng r

elat

ivel

y w

eak

and

isol

ated

uni

ts o

f th

een

emy.

The

in

itia

tive

is

in o

ur h

ands

bec

ause

we

dete

rmin

e w

hen

and

whe

re

to

laun

ch

tact

ical

off

ensi

ves

agai

nst

the

enem

y.

It i

s th

eN

PA t

hat

am

bush

es t

he g

over

nmen

t tr

oops

and

not

the

oth

er w

ayar

ound

.O

ther

fa

ctor

s w

hich

gi

ve u

s th

e in

itia

tive

are

our

fa

mil

iari

tyw

ith

the

terr

ain

— si

nce

mos

t of

our

Red

fig

hter

s ha

ve l

ived

her

eal

l th

eir

lives

— a

nd t

he s

tron

g su

ppor

t w

e en

joy

from

the

ba

rrio

peop

le.

Fro

m e

xper

ienc

e, w

e ca

n sa

y th

at t

he a

nalo

gy b

etw

een

the

fish

in

the

w

ater

and

the

gu

erri

lla

amon

g th

e m

asse

s is

ent

irel

ytr

ue.

The

go

vern

men

t al

so

know

s th

is,

that

is

why

its

so-

calle

dan

ti-d

issi

dent

ca

mpa

ign

cons

ists

m

ainl

y of

tr

ying

to

sc

are

the

barr

io p

eopl

e aw

ay

from

the

N

PA

by

mea

ns o

f m

urde

r, t

ort

ure

,ro

bber

y, a

rson

and

oth

er s

uch

terr

or t

acti

cs.

Our

ba

sic

unit

is

the

sq

uad.

W

hen

laun

chin

g am

bush

es

and

othe

r op

erat

ions

, th

ree

squa

ds u

sual

ly j

oin

up t

o fo

rm a

pla

toon

.D

urin

g bi

g op

erat

ions

aga

inst

th

e en

emy,

we

conc

entr

ate

seve

ral

plat

oons

to

hit

at t

he e

nem

y.B

esid

es t

he N

PA

regu

lars

for

med

int

o sq

uads

, w

e ha

ve g

uerr

illas

acti

ve

in

this

reg

ion.

T

hey

also

ca

rry

out

ambu

shes

an

d ra

ids,

som

etim

es i

n co

ordi

nati

on w

ith

NPA

. reg

ular

s.E

ach

wel

l-or

gani

zed

barr

io a

lso

has

a pe

ople

's m

ilit

ia,

whi

ch i

sfo

rmed

an

d gu

ided

by

th

e N

PA

uni

t op

erat

ing

near

by.

The

mem

bers

of

the

mil

itia

com

e fr

om t

he b

arri

o an

d th

ey f

unct

ion

asth

e ba

rrio

's d

efen

se f

orce

s.M

ilit

ary

wor

k is

al

way

s co

ordi

nate

d w

ith

our

polit

ical

en

dor

gani

zati

onal

w

ork.

In

gen

eral

we

disp

erse

to

car

ry o

n po

liti

cal

wor

k am

ong

the

mas

ses

in t

he c

ount

rysi

de a

nd w

e co

ncen

trat

e ou

rfo

rces

to

stag

e am

bush

es

agai

nst

the

AF

P t

roop

s w

hich

com

e to

harm

the

bar

rio

folk

or

purs

ue u

s.Q

UE

STIO

N:

How

ab

out

the

BSD

Us

— w

hat

is y

our

poli

cyto

war

d th

em?

AN

SW

ER

: A

t fi

rst,

we

wen

t al

l out

to

figh

t th

e B

SDU

s (B

arri

oSe

lf D

efen

se U

nit)

. B

ut l

ater

we

shif

ted

our

polic

y w

hen

we

foun

dou

t th

at n

ot a

ll t

he B

SD

U o

r m

embe

rs w

ere

die-

hard

s an

d ag

ains

tus

. In

fac

t, so

me

actu

ally

def

ecte

d to

our

sid

e an

d br

ough

t w

ithth

em t

heir

wea

pons

.T

he f

orm

atio

n of

BSD

Us

also

mea

ns t

hat

mor

e ar

ms

find

the

ir

18

way

int

o th

e ha

nds

of t

he p

eopl

e, s

ince

BSD

Us

are

issu

ed a

rms.

In

som

e ca

ses,

we

even

ask

som

e ad

vanc

ed e

lem

ents

in

the

barr

ios

tojo

in t

he B

SD

Us

in o

rder

to

pass

on

thei

r ar

ms

to u

s.T

here

ha

ve

been

in

stan

ces

whe

n B

SDU

m

embe

rs

gave

us

amm

unit

ion

and

valu

able

info

rmat

ion

on A

FP

and

BSD

U p

lans

.M

ost

like

ly, o

nly

abou

t 10

per

cent

of

all B

SDU

mem

bers

in t

his

regi

on a

re d

ieha

rd p

ro-g

over

nem

nt a

nd a

ctiv

ely

help

the

dic

tato

r-sh

ip.

The

res

t ar

e ne

utra

l or

the

y ac

tivel

y sy

mpa

thiz

e w

ith

our

caus

e an

d he

lp u

s.E

ven

duri

ng e

ncou

nter

s so

me

BS

DU

mem

bers

man

age

to h

elp.

An

inci

dent

w

hich

hap

pene

d ab

out

a ye

ar

ago

is r

evea

ling

. A

four

-man

N

PA u

nit

was

sur

roun

ded

by s

ome

200

BS

DU

and

PC

men

in

a ca

ne f

ield

. T

he f

ield

was

set

on

fire

to

forc

e ou

t th

e R

edFi

ghte

rs.

The

NP

A u

nit

shif

ted

posi

tion

and

man

aged

to

com

mu-

nica

te w

ith

som

e sy

mpa

thet

ic B

SDU

mem

bers

wit

h th

e su

rrou

nd-

ing

forc

e.

The

N

PA F

ight

ers

exch

ange

d si

gnal

s w

ith

the

BS

DU

men

. A

nd w

hen

they

fin

ally

bro

ke o

ut o

f th

e fi

eld,

the

BS

DU

men

mer

ely

fire

d th

eir

guns

in

the

air,

all

owin

g th

e R

ed f

ight

ers

tow

ithd

raw

unh

arm

ed.

QU

EST

ION

: W

e ha

ve h

eard

a lo

t ab

out

peop

le's

jus

tice

. H

ow i

sth

is d

ispe

nsed

?A

NS

WE

R:

In

gene

ral,

it is

the

bar

rio

peop

le w

ho

dete

rmin

ew

ho

thei

r en

emie

s ar

e, w

hat

crim

es t

hese

hav

e co

mm

itte

d,

and

wha

t pu

nish

men

t is

to

be g

iven

to

thes

e ba

d el

emen

ts.

The

NP

A,

in m

ost

case

s, o

nly

help

s to

cap

ture

the

crim

inal

s and

met

e ou

t th

e,pu

nish

men

t de

man

ded

by t

he b

arri

o pe

ople

.T

he

barr

io

folk

kn

ow e

xact

ly w

ho t

he

crim

inal

s ar

e —

the

yha

ve l

ists

of

the

PC a

gent

s an

d in

form

ers,

the

cat

tle

rust

lers

and

thie

ves,

th

e la

ndlo

rds'

spi

es,

and

othe

r ba

d el

emen

ts.

The

y al

sokn

ow t

he p

unis

hmen

t th

ese

crim

inal

s des

erve

.In

so

me

inst

ance

s, t

he b

arri

o pe

ople

the

mse

lves

cap

ture

and

puni

sh t

hese

bad

ele

men

ts.

Las

t ye

ar, f

or e

xam

ple,

the

mil

itia

of

aP

ampa

nga

barr

io

trap

ped

and

capt

ured

se

ven

"Mon

kees

" w

how

ere

guil

ty o

f m

urde

r an

d ra

pe,

puni

shed

the

m,

and

gave

th

eir

M-1

6 ri

fles

to

the

NP

A.

QU

ES

TIO

N:

How

abo

ut t

he w

omen

in

the

barr

ios

— w

hat

role

do t

hey

play

in

the

arm

ed s

trug

gle?

AN

SW

ER

: The

wom

en i

n th

e ba

rrio

s he

lp a

lot

. The

y do

cou

rier

wor

k an

d he

lp i

n lo

gist

ics

and

prod

ucti

on w

ork

in p

lant

ing

and

harv

esti

ng.

The

ir

role

be

com

es c

ruci

al e

spec

ially

du

ring

in

tens

e m

ilit

ary

supp

ress

ion

in t

he b

arri

os. D

urin

g su

ch s

itua

tion

s, t

he m

enfo

lk a

reus

uall

y or

dere

d no

t to

le

ave

the

hous

e. I

t is

the

wom

en w

ho g

oou

t to

ob

serv

e th

e m

ovem

ents

of

the

PC

sol

dier

s an

d co

llec

tva

luab

le i

nfor

mat

ion.

The

y al

so c

arry

on

the

wor

k in

the

fi

elds

whe

n th

e m

en c

anno

t go

out

.

19

Page 12: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

In s

ome

inst

ance

s, t

hey

also

par

tici

pate

in

the

figh

ting

, as

whe

na

wom

an p

arti

san

play

ed a

vita

l ro

le i

n th

e su

rpri

se a

ttac

k on

tw

om

arin

es o

n bo

ard

a tr

ain

in P

ampa

nga.

The

wom

an s

ingl

ehan

dedl

ysh

ot d

ead

two

mar

ine

pass

enge

rs a

nd t

ook

two

rifl

es a

nd a

pis

tol,

whi

le h

er m

ale

cam

pani

on

expl

aine

d to

the

oth

er p

asse

nger

s th

epu

rpos

e of

the

ir a

ct.

Bar

rio

wom

en

are

also

act

ive

in t

he

NP

A's

med

ical

cor

ps,

asdo

ctor

s an

d nu

rses

.W

omen

in

man

y ba

rrio

s or

gani

zed

by t

he N

PA

hav

e th

eir

own

mas

s or

gani

zati

ons

to d

eal

wit

h pr

oble

ms

spec

ial t

o th

eir

sect

or.

ON

TH

E F

OU

RT

H A

NN

IVE

RSA

R

Y O

FTH

E N

EW

PE

OP

LE'S

AR

MY

the

fasc

ists

hav

e w

hite

was

hed

the

wal

ls,

thin

king

the

y co

uld

eras

e th

e sc

raw

l spe

llin

g do

omfo

r U

.S.

impe

rial

ist

and

thei

r pu

ppet

s.T

hey

have

set

up

CL

EA

N s

ignb

oard

s,lin

ed t

he s

tree

ts w

ith

flow

erpo

ts,

and

hour

ly p

lay

mar

ches

, dec

laim

jing

les

that

cou

ld f

irm

up

the

turf

on w

hich

dic

tato

r M

arco

s st

ands

.

Bu

t, k

asam

a, f

eel

the

whi

te h

eat

of s

ilen

cein

fac

tori

es a

nd f

ield

s, i

n sl

ums

and

alle

yway

s.Th

e op

pres

sed

no l

onge

r sp

eak

in p

ubli

c sq

uare

s.In

thi

rty-

four

pro

vinc

es t

oday

, th

e N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

yth

unde

ns o

ut t

heir

cal

l to

arm

s.

And

lis

ten,

kas

ama

. . .

The

wre

tche

d of

the

ear

th s

ing

out:

"We

have

dar

ed t

o st

rugg

le, a

nd w

in w

e w

ill"

Tho

se w

ho b

eat

us d

own

have

mer

cena

ries

who

are

soo

n de

cim

ated

, ha

ving

onl

yth

eir

guns

, ge

nera

ls a

nd p

aid-

for

live

s.O

urs

is a

n ar

my

that

mul

tipl

ies

in a

mbu

shes

and

ope

n en

coun

ters

,fo

r th

e gr

eed

of t

he r

ulin

g cl

ass

has

plow

ed

up t

he l

and

and

turn

ed u

pth

e vi

olat

ed a

nd h

ungr

y an

d th

e de

sper

ate,

who

hav

e sp

rout

ed g

uns

and

'PSR

' an

d re

solu

te w

ills

and

brou

ght

fort

h re

volu

tion

arie

s an

dan

arm

y th

at g

row

s on

and

on

and

on

!"

Ber

nage

B.

de l

a Sie

rra

20

NP

A

Com

man

der

Will

y w

as o

ne o

f th

e fir

st s

oldi

ers

of t

he N

ewP

eopl

e's

Arm

y to

ope

rate

in

the

Bic

ol r

egio

n in

Sou

ther

n L

uzon

whe

re t

he i

nflu

ence

of

the

Com

mun

ist

Pary

and

the

NP

A i

s to

day

grow

ing

quit

e st

rong

. H

e an

d ot

her

barr

io f

olk

tell

the

foll

owin

gst

ory

to a

jour

nali

st o

f th

e un

derg

roun

d cu

ltur

al j

ourn

al,

Dar

e to

Stru

ggle

, D

are

to

Win

, ab

out

how

th

e N

PA

st

arte

d an

d gr

ew i

nC

amar

ines

Sur

. Th

e st

ory

first

app

eare

d on

May

20,

197

3.

1971

, is

the

ye

ar B

enjie

, C

he a

nd W

illy

bega

n to

org

aniz

e th

eN

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y in

the

Bic

ol r

egio

n. M

any

peop

le a

t fi

rst

took

them

to

be a

rmed

KM

(N

atio

nali

st Y

outh

). O

f th

eir

arm

s th

ere

was

then

not

hing

but

a s

ingl

e .3

8.A

fter

re

conn

oite

ring

th

e w

hole

day

th

roug

h th

e m

ount

ains

,th

ey c

ame

to a

sol

itar

y hu

t at

op a

hil

l in

Buh

i, C

amar

ines

Sur

. The

old

coup

le i

n th

e hu

t w

ere

frig

hten

ed, s

eein

g th

at t

he m

en w

ere

arm

ed,

but

they

all

owed

the

m i

nsid

e, g

ave

them

foo

d an

d sp

read

am

at f

or t

hem

."H

ow m

any

peop

le li

ve i

n th

is h

ut?

" as

ked

Ben

jie.

The

cou

ple

exch

ange

d gl

ance

s. "

Just

the

tw

o of

us.

"B

ut t

he v

isito

rs h

ad s

een

a dr

ess

in t

he y

ard

and

gues

sed

that

ada

ught

er l

ived

wit

h th

em.

As

they

co

nver

sed

thro

ugh

the

nigh

t, t

he o

ld c

oupl

e sl

owly

bega

n to

ga

in c

onfi

denc

e in

B

enjie

an

d hi

s co

mpa

nion

s. T

hey

com

plai

ned

of t

heir

har

dshi

p in

til

ling

the

lan

d an

d w

orki

ng in

the

abac

a pl

anta

tion

fo

r th

eir

land

lord

. T

he g

roup

lis

tene

d as

the

yco

nfid

ed a

ll th

eir

prob

lem

s, b

ig a

nd s

mal

l.B

efor

e th

e m

en l

eft

the

next

mor

ning

, Cel

ia N

aldo

cam

e ou

t of

21

Page 13: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

hidi

ng.

The

y as

ked

the

grou

p to

vi

sit

them

aga

in.

The

cou

ple

aske

d, "

Are

you

tho

se w

hom

they

cal

l the

KM

?""N

o, t

hey

call

us th

e N

ew P

eopl

e's A

rmy.

"O

f th

e th

ree

NPA

who

cam

e to

Cel

ia N

aldo

's h

ut, o

nly

Will

y ha

ssu

rviv

ed

up

'til

to

day.

"C

ontr

ary

to

the

rom

anti

c ou

tloo

k, t

hew

ork

of t

he N

PA i

s no

t al

l ad

vent

ure.

It i

s al

way

s di

ffic

ult

in t

hebe

ginn

ing.

T

here

are

tim

es w

hen

you

eat

noth

ing

but

cam

ote,

whe

n yo

u m

ust

wal

k ni

ght

and

day.

And

alt

houg

h th

e m

asse

skn

ow

they

are

opp

ress

ed,

you

mus

t fi

rst

win

the

ir t

rust

bef

ore

they

bel

ieve

wha

t yo

u sa

y."

It a

ll be

gan

in C

amar

ines

Sur

, Chr

istm

as,

1970

."I

w

as o

n va

cati

on t

hen.

I i

nvit

ed B

enjie

one

eve

ning

for

adr

inki

ng s

essi

on.

'I've

sto

pped

dri

nkin

g,'

decl

ined

Ben

jie.

'Tha

t'sun

beli

evab

le!,

' I

excl

aim

ed i

n su

rpri

se. '

Don

't te

ll m

e yo

u've

als

ost

oppe

d ga

mbl

ing.

' T

hat's

tr

ue,'

he

repl

ied

and

he a

sked

m

ew

heth

er I

was

goi

ng b

ack

to m

y jo

b in

Man

ila. '

Sure

, I

wil

l.' A

gain

to m

y su

rpri

se, B

enjie

tol

d m

e th

at h

e w

asn'

t go

ing

to r

etur

n to

his

job.

I h

ad k

now

n th

at h

e w

as m

akin

g go

od m

oney

as

pres

iden

t of

the

unio

n.

'I r

efus

e to

co

ntin

ue s

ervi

ng t

he

capi

talis

ts,'

Ben

jieex

plai

ned.

"B

enjie

and

Will

y w

ent

to s

ee a

noth

er f

rien

d an

d th

ey t

alke

d al

lni

ght.

The

ne

xt

mor

ning

, W

illy

also

dec

ided

no

t to

re

turn

to

Man

ila.

"We

spok

e fi

rst

to t

he p

easa

nts

wor

king

in

Jaco

b's

haci

enda

.So

on

Aft

erw

ards

w

e ca

lled

a m

eetin

g.

'Wha

t fo

r?'

they

won

dere

d."

"We

expl

aine

d th

at

we

wan

ted

to

lear

n m

ore

abou

t th

eco

ndit

ions

in

the

haci

enda

so

that

we

may

fin

d w

ays

to f

ight

bac

kth

e la

ndlo

rd's

abu

ses.

The

y st

ill h

ad m

any

ques

tion

s. '

Who

are

you?

' 'W

ill t

he P

C (

Phil

ippi

ne C

onst

abul

ary)

get

us?

' 'H

ow c

an w

ebe

uni

ted?

' ""W

e ex

plai

ned

that

so

long

as

we

stru

ggle

toge

ther

, w

e ca

n ha

veth

e st

reng

th

to

figh

t th

e op

pres

sors

. W

e ci

ted

an

exam

ple.

In

deal

ing

wit

h th

e ca

raba

o ru

stle

rs,

all t

hat

one

shou

ld d

o is

sho

utan

d ev

eryo

ne e

lse

shou

ld

com

e ou

t of

th

eir

hom

es.

The

thi

efw

ould

hav

e no

pla

ce to

go.

'Why

are

you

hel

ping

us?

', th

ey a

sked

. 'Y

ou h

ad g

ood

jobs

in

Man

ila.

You

will

onl

y fi

nd h

unge

r he

re. A

re y

ou b

eing

pai

d fo

r th

ew

ork

you'

re d

oing

for

us?

'B

enjie

ans

wer

ed t

heir

que

stio

ns.

'We

do n

ot e

xpec

t to

be

paid

for

our

wor

k.

You

r pr

oble

ms

are

ours

, to

o,

and

we

shou

ld a

llst

rugg

le to

geth

er t

o so

lve

them

.''T

hey

say

that

you

are

com

mun

ists

, ba

d m

en w

ith l

ong

bear

ds.

Is th

is t

rue?

''T

hey

are

just

bad

-mou

thin

g us

. W

e ar

e he

re t

o he

lp y

ou f

ight

the

real

vill

ains

.'

22

'You

sho

uld

then

sta

y w

ith

us.' "

From

Ja

nuar

y to

M

ay,

Will

y, B

enjie

an

d C

he e

nter

ed m

any

othe

r ba

rrio

s;

Tig

aon,

Sa

gnay

, B

uhi.

The

y or

gani

zed

the

min

oriti

es

in t

he

mou

ntai

ns,

the

Agt

as w

ho w

ere

scor

ned

and

mal

trea

ted

in t

he t

owns

. W

hen

the

peop

le's

arm

y le

aves

a b

arri

o,th

e m

asse

s al

way

s ha

ve s

omet

hing

for

the

m t

o br

ing

alon

g, a

litt

erof

ric

e, s

ome

ciga

rette

s."I

n th

e to

wns

, th

e id

lers

say

, 'W

hen

the

actu

al f

ight

ing

star

ts,

thos

e K

M p

eopl

e w

ould

jus

t le

ave

us.'

But

in

the

bar

rios

, th

em

asse

s em

brac

e th

e pe

ople

's ar

my.

Tru

e, i

t is

dif

ficu

lt t

o ar

ouse

the

peas

ants

, im

mer

sed

as t

hey

are

in f

euda

l ou

tloo

k an

d w

ays,

but

once

aro

used

, it

is e

asy

to m

obil

ize

them

. W

here

as it

is

easy

to

arou

se

the

pett

y bo

urge

oisi

e in

the

tow

ns,

but

it is

dif

ficu

lt to

mak

e th

em

act."

"One

da

y,

a Pa

rty

com

rade

fro

m

anot

her

regi

on a

rriv

ed.

He

brou

ght

som

e T

hom

pson

m

achi

ne

guns

. H

e sy

stem

atiz

ed

our

stud

y an

d he

lped

us

orga

nize

as

an N

PAun

it.

It w

as t

hen

that

we

esta

blis

hed

a di

rect

lin

k w

ith

the

Par

ty."

"I n

ever

kne

w h

ow t

o ha

ndle

a g

un,"

sa

id W

illy.

"O

ur

othe

rco

mra

des

did

not

know

ei

ther

. W

e le

arne

d fr

om

the

enem

y."

The

mas

ses

wer

e no

t cl

ear

abou

t th

e re

latio

n of

the

peo

ple'

sar

my

to t

he P

arty

. Whe

n th

ey h

eard

Che

sho

ut a

t a

dem

onst

rati

onon

Jun

e 12

"L

ong

Liv

e th

eCom

mun

ist

Part

y of

the

Ph

ilipp

ines

!"T

hey

aske

d, "

Wha

t is

this

Par

ty?"

"The

ri

ch c

lass

es h

ave

thei

r pa

rtie

s,"

Will

ies

and

his

com

rade

sex

plai

ned,

"t

he

Nac

iona

lista

an

d Li

bera

l Pa

rtie

s. B

ut t

hey

have

done

not

hing

to

alle

viat

e th

e ha

rdsh

ip o

f th

e m

asse

s."

"But

is

n't

Com

mun

ism

ba

d?

Wou

ld

Mao

Tse

tung

be

ou

rpr

esid

ent,

too

?""

'T

hat

isn'

t so

,' w

e an

swer

ed.

And

we

expl

aine

d th

at C

hina

befo

re t

he R

evol

utio

n w

as l

ike

the

Phili

ppin

es t

oday

, an

d w

e ar

ele

arni

ng

from

th

eir

revo

luti

onar

y ex

peri

ence

in

so

lvin

g th

eir

prob

lem

s.

Com

mun

ism

mea

ns t

hat

ever

ythi

ng

belo

ngs

to a

ll an

dno

t on

ly t

o th

e ri

ch."

And

the

y sa

id,

"In

that

cas

e, C

omm

unis

m is

real

ly g

ood.

"G

radu

ally

Will

y's

grou

p en

light

ened

the

mas

ses

on t

he N

PA

. At

the

star

t so

me

wer

e af

raid

. W

hen

one

of t

he b

arri

os l

earn

ed t

hat

the

"arm

ed K

M"

wer

e ar

rivi

ng,

the

peop

le p

ut o

ut t

heir

lig

hts

atsi

x in

the

even

ing

and

reti

red.

The

n th

ey s

aw th

at e

ven

in p

lant

ing

cam

ote,

the

peop

le's

arm

yw

orke

d ha

rd.

The

gov

ernm

ent

says

tha

t th

e N

PA i

s ba

d,

thei

rso

ldie

rs h

ave

long

bea

rds.

The

y ar

e "M

a-m

aos"

who

spe

nd t

heir

tim

e ga

mbl

ing

and

rapi

ng.

But

the

mas

ses

saw

tha

t th

e pe

ople

'sar

my

is a

dis

cipl

ined

arm

y."T

he P

C d

oes

noth

ing

but

boas

t,"sa

id o

ne b

arri

o re

side

nt,

"but

they

ca

n do

not

hing

ab

out

cara

bao

rust

lers

. T

hey

even

ste

al o

ur

23

Page 14: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

chic

kens

! D

urin

g an

ope

rati

on,

they

wea

r ea

ring

s on

the

ir n

oses

to

terr

oriz

e us

. It

is th

ey w

ho a

re e

vil

"T

he

peop

le's

ar

my

is

not

only

har

d w

orki

ng.

Abo

ve a

ll, t

hem

asse

s ad

mir

e it

s st

rict

dis

cipl

ine.

In

the

peop

le's

arm

y, r

espe

ct f

orw

omen

has

alw

ays

been

one

of

the

firs

t le

sson

s.T

he p

eopl

e's

arm

y sh

owed

the

mas

ses

that

the

ir d

uty

lay

not

only

in

mili

tary

ope

rati

ons

but

also

in

the

econ

omic

and

pol

itica

las

pect

s of

the

str

uggl

e. I

n th

e m

any

barr

ios

that

wel

com

ed

the

NPA

, th

ey

expl

aine

d th

e ne

cess

ity

of

agra

rian

re

volu

tion,

orga

nize

d th

e w

omen

, es

tabl

ishe

d or

gans

of

po

litic

al

pow

erth

roug

h th

e B

arri

o O

rgan

izin

g C

omm

itte

es,

and

grad

ually

elim

inat

ed c

arab

ao r

ustl

ing

and

rape

.A

m

othe

r w

eeps

bec

ause

her

so

n ha

s be

en

impr

ison

ed.

The

othe

r m

othe

rs w

ould

say

, "Y

ou s

houl

d no

t w

eep.

You

r so

n is

inpr

ison

bec

ause

he

chos

e to

fig

ht f

or t

he p

oor.

"W

here

ver

the

peop

le's

arm

y go

es, t

he m

asse

s fo

llow

the

m.

The

yw

elco

me

them

wit

h op

en a

rms

and

wee

p w

hen

they

lea

ve. O

n th

est

reet

s, a

n ol

d pe

asan

t w

ould

mee

t th

em, t

ell

them

abo

ut h

is w

oes

wit

h ca

raba

o ru

stle

rs.

"Com

e an

d he

lp u

s. T

here

is

food

at

hom

e.W

hen

the

PC c

omes

, th

ere'

s a

plac

e w

here

we

can

hide

you

,"

hew

ould

say

.A

t th

e m

eetin

gs b

etw

een

the

peop

le's

arm

y an

d th

e m

asse

s,ev

eryo

ne i

s th

ere,

chi

ldre

n, e

lder

s, w

omen

. Aft

er t

he m

eeti

ng t

hey

conf

ide

all

thei

r pr

oble

ms,

inc

ludi

ng th

eir

pers

onal

pro

blem

s. T

hem

asse

s sa

y, "

Not

hing

is

impo

ssib

le f

or t

he p

eopl

e's

arm

y. W

hat i

sim

poss

ible

for

the

m i

s to

bet

ray

the

poor

."T

he p

eopl

e's

arm

y te

ache

s th

e m

asse

s th

at t

he r

eal

hero

es a

ndfi

ghte

rs

are

the

mas

ses

them

selv

es.

Alt

houg

h th

e pe

ople

's ar

my

help

s th

em

in

all

aspe

cts

of

life

in t

he

barr

io —

in

educ

atio

n,he

alth

, pr

oduc

tion

, an

d de

fens

e —

they

als

o te

ach

the

mas

ses

tore

ly o

n th

emse

lves

. "Y

ou m

ust

have

you

r ow

n m

ilitia

. W

e w

ho a

rein

the

re

gula

r ar

my

are

the

righ

t ha

nd,

so t

o sp

eak,

and

you

rm

ilitia

is

the

left

hand

. It

is

not

poss

ible

to s

trug

gle

wit

h on

ly o

neha

nd."

The

fi

rst

maj

or

enco

unte

r be

twee

n th

e N

PA

and

the

PCoc

curr

ed o

n A

ugus

t 25,

197

1. T

he n

ews

had

expl

oded

: th

e N

PA is

in B

icol

!O

n th

e af

tern

oon

of A

ugus

t 25

, a

PC u

nit

visi

ted

the

solit

ary

hut

on t

he h

ill i

n B

uhi,

the

hom

e of

Cel

ia N

aldo

and

her

par

ents

.E

ight

NPA

s an

d so

me

peop

le w

ere

ther

e. W

hen

they

saw

the

PCth

ey f

led.

Tan

gkad

, as

the

old

peop

le c

alle

d C

he, j

umpe

d ou

t of

the

win

dow

. A

n ol

d PC

sol

dier

saw

him

and

-ou

t of

cow

ardl

y fe

ar,

sque

ezed

him

self

am

ong

the

kala

basa

vin

es.

;?"F

redd

ie w

as o

ne o

f th

e m

ost

cour

ageo

us f

ight

ers,

" co

ntin

ued

Will

y.

He

used

to

be a

PC

ran

ger.

He

was

on

vaca

tion

in

Bic

olw

hen

Ben

jie a

nd W

illy

conv

ince

d hi

m to

qui

t th

e PC

. Whe

neve

r he

wou

ld t

ell

the

peas

ants

abo

ut t

he m

isch

iefs

and

cri

mes

of

the

PC,

he w

ould

say

, "I

kno

w a

ll th

ese

for

I w

as o

ne o

f th

em."

Will

y co

ntin

ued,

"F

redd

ie w

as t

he f

irst

to

fire

and

the

fir

st t

oru

n ou

t of

am

mun

itio

n. I

n ra

ge h

e fl

ung

his

gun

at t

he P

C. T

hen

he w

as h

it."

The

PC

rei

nfor

cem

ent

arri

ved,

and

C

he a

nd

his

com

pani

ons

wer

e fo

rced

to

leav

e. F

rom

afa

r th

ey c

ould

stil

l see

the

PC s

oldi

ers

still

tea

ring

at

Fred

die'

s lif

eles

s bo

dy w

ith

thei

r bu

llet

s.I

"Fre

ddie

is

the

firs

t he

ro o

f th

e pe

ople

's ar

my

in B

icol

," s

aid

Will

y.I

T

he N

PA

had

lon

g go

ne b

ut t

he P

C re

mai

ned

in th

e hu

t. C

elia

,no

t kn

owin

g an

ythi

ng,

had

just

ar

rive

d fr

om c

amot

e-ga

ther

ing.

Eve

n be

fore

she

cou

ld

open

her

mou

th t

o ex

plai

n th

at w

hat

she

carr

ied

wer

e no

thin

g bu

t ca

mot

es,

the

PC s

oldi

ers

pepp

ered

her

wit

h bu

llets

."C

elia

has

alw

ays

help

ed t

he p

eopl

e's

arm

y. S

he w

as a

goo

d an

d.

tirel

ess

com

rade

. T

he c

ause

of

the

peop

le's

arm

y w

as c

lear

to

her.

""A

fter

Fr

eddi

e an

d C

elia

, m

any

othe

r co

mra

des

sacr

ific

ed t

heir

lives

. K

a Ip

e, B

ojie

, Je

rry,

an

d ot

hers

. B

ut t

he m

asse

s w

ere

not

dish

eart

ened

. T

heir

fi

rm

belie

f in

th

e pe

ople

's ar

my

was

stre

ngth

ened

. T

hey

knew

th

at

sacr

ific

e is

not

so

met

hing

to

befe

ared

, bu

t ra

ther

tha

t it

is

som

ethi

ng to

be

emul

ated

.""T

hey

say:

Th

ey a

ll d

ied

for

us.'

"T

he

mas

ses

are

rapi

dly

deve

lopi

ng

thei

r re

volu

tion

ary

cons

ciou

snes

s.

The

y kn

ow t

hat

Ben

jie a

nd o

ther

co

mra

des

died

not

only

be

caus

e th

ey

defe

nded

th

e m

asse

s, o

r be

caus

e th

eyst

rugg

led

and

foug

ht.

The

pri

mar

y du

ty o

f th

e pe

ople

's a

rmy

is to

dest

roy

the

enem

y; d

efen

se i

s se

cond

ary.

The

mas

ses

know

why

our

com

rade

s ha

ve s

acri

fice

d th

eir

lives

.A

nd t

he m

asse

s kn

ow,

too,

why

tho

se o

n th

e si

de o

f th

e en

emy

mus

t be

des

troy

ed.

For

ex

ampl

e,

Tol

enti

no,

was

the

m

ost

hate

d bu

lly

who

the

mas

ses

calle

d Pi

dong

. H

e w

as t

he f

irst

to

be

liqu

idat

ed b

y th

epe

ople

's ar

my

in B

icol

.W

illy

and

his

com

rade

s di

sgui

sed

them

selv

es a

s PC

sol

dier

s an

dw

ere

able

to

ente

r Ja

cob'

s ha

cien

da.

The

y w

aite

d fo

r Pi

dong

for

| fiv

e ho

urs. A

t ei

ght in

th

e ev

enin

g, P

idon

g ar

rive

d.C

he a

ppro

ache

d hi

m.

With

a r

eady

sal

ute,

Pid

ong

whi

mpe

red,

I "S

ir, t

his

is T

olen

tino

, si

r.""A

re t

here

NP

A s

oldi

ers

here

, Tol

enti

no?"

"Yes

sir

, tha

nk g

oodn

ess

you

cam

e on

tim

e."

Sudd

enly

Pid

ong

reco

gniz

ed C

he.

Bef

ore

he c

ould

yel

p, h

e w

asim

med

iate

ly

tied

up.

The

y br

ough

t hi

m t

o th

e st

reet

and

af

ter

conf

essi

ng

his

crim

es

agai

nst

the

mas

ses,

th

e pe

ople

's

arm

yex

ecut

ed h

im.

Sinc

e th

en,

the

land

lord

re

aliz

ed t

he s

tren

gth

of t

he

peop

le's

24

25

Page 15: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

arm

y an

d th

e or

gani

zed

peas

ants

. T

he

peop

le

dem

ande

d an

addi

tion

of

two

peso

s to

the

ir d

aily

wag

e. J

acob

ref

used

. W

ork

atth

e ha

cien

da

was

sto

pped

fo

r tw

o m

on

ths

in o

rder

to

star

ve

the

peas

ants

and

for

ce t

hem

to

give

up

thei

r d

eman

d.

The

peo

ple'

s ar

my

disc

usse

d th

e si

tuat

ion

wit

h th

e pe

asan

ts.

"Yo

u'v

e be

en t

oili

ng t

his

land

for

yea

rs.

Yet

, yo

u d

on

't ow

n a

piec

e of

it.

Mea

nwhi

le, a

ll t

he l

andl

ord

does

is

wai

t fo

r th

e ha

rves

t.Is

th

is

the

sam

e m

iser

able

li

fe

you

are

goin

g to

gi

ve

yo

ur

chil

dren

?"W

ith

the

help

of

the

peop

le's

arm

y,

the

peas

ants

div

ided

am

ong

them

selv

es

Jaco

b's

510

he

ctar

es

of l

and.

The

pea

sant

s w

ho h

adlo

st t

heir

lan

d ca

me

back

, an

d th

e la

ndlo

rd w

as h

elpl

ess.

The

y st

ill

give

him

his

sha

re,

but

now

it

is h

e w

ho m

ust

ask.

Now

he

is a

frai

dto

run

to

the

PC

. W

hen

the

PC

vis

its h

im,

his

ton

gu

e tw

ists

and

he

mum

bles

, "T

hey

are

n't

here

, Si

r, t

he N

PA

s ar

e no

t her

e."

The

mas

ses

in t

he

barr

ios

used

to

say:

"T

he

rich

ow

n th

e se

as,

the

land

an

d th

e m

ou

nta

ins

whi

le

all

we

can

ho

pe

to

have

is

heav

en."

Now

, th

ey s

ay:

"The

ric

h ow

n th

e la

nd b

ut t

he h

arve

st i

s o

urs

."F

rom

th

e ti

me

Ben

jie'

s gr

oup

cam

e to

C

elia

Nal

do's

hut

, th

epe

ople

's

arm

y ha

s co

ntin

ued

to g

row

in

the

Bic

ol r

egio

n re

achi

ngas

far

as

Sor

sogo

n an

d A

lbay

. W

hat

is t

he

mea

sure

of

days

and

nigh

ts

of

eati

ng

noth

ing

but

swee

t p

ota

toes

, of

tr

ecki

ngco

ntin

uous

ly u

nd

er h

ot o

r co

ld w

eath

er?

The

inc

reas

e of

arm

s an

dba

rrio

s w

on o

ver.

Wha

t is

the

mea

sure

of

the

dea

th o

f F

redd

ie a

ndB

enji

e an

d o

ther

rev

olut

iona

ry

figh

ters

? It

is

the

gr

owth

of

the

New

Peo

ples

Arm

y an

d th

e lo

ve o

f th

e m

asse

s."T

he

mas

ses

love

the

peo

ple'

s ar

my

," s

aid

Wil

ly.

"Th

ey t

hin

k of

noth

ing

bu

t th

e ar

my

."T

o th

e m

en i

n th

e N

PA

, sa

crif

ice

and

depr

ivat

ion

are

nece

ssar

yto

be

abl

e to

ser

ve t

he m

asse

s. S

acri

fice

an

d de

priv

atio

n m

ust

beex

pect

ed

in

the

long

an

d p

rotr

acte

d

stru

ggle

fo

r n

atio

nal

dem

ocra

cy.

To

the

mas

ses

in B

icol

to

day

, al

l th

ese

are

grad

uall

ybe

com

ing

clea

r.

Whi

le t

hey

may

m

ou

rn f

or B

enji

e an

d T

angk

ad,

they

kno

w

that

in

oth

er p

lace

s, i

n o

ther

bar

rios

, in

Isa

bela

and

else

whe

re,

ther

e ar

e ot

her

prol

etar

ian

hero

es w

ho d

ie,

for

who

mo

ther

pe

asan

ts

mo

urn

. E

very

thin

g fo

r a

sing

le

caus

e. W

hile

th

em

asse

s in

Bic

ol o

rgan

ize

thei

r ow

n m

ilit

ia,

secr

etly

sto

re u

p fo

odfo

r th

e p

eop

le's

ar

my

, w

hile

th

ey e

stab

lish

un

ity

wit

h th

e A

gta

s(a

min

orit

y tr

ibe)

, st

ud

y th

e m

eani

ng o

f ag

rari

an r

evol

utio

n an

dgu

erri

lla

base

s,

they

kn

ow

that

in

o

ther

pl

aces

, o

ther

re

gion

s,pe

asan

ts a

re s

trug

glin

g li

ke

them

selv

es.

Tog

ethe

r w

ith

the

wor

kers

and

oth

er p

rogr

essi

ve

sect

ors

all

over

the

cou

ntr

y,

the

peas

ants

in

the

Bic

ol r

egio

n st

and

firm

ly u

nite

dw

ith

the

forc

e of

the

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy,

und

er t

he g

uida

nce

ofth

e C

omm

unis

t P

arty

of

the

Phi

lipp

ines

.

26

Cha

pter

III

TH

E "

NE

W S

OC

IET

Y'S

" SH

AM

LA

ND

RE

FO

RM

A

key

aspe

ct

of M

arco

s'

"new

soc

iety

" ha

s be

en h

is p

rogr

am

for

land

refo

rm

whi

ch

he

has

used

as

a

prop

agan

da

tool

to

pr

ocla

im

the

acco

mpl

ishm

ents

of

his

mar

tial

law

reg

ime.

The

fol

low

ing

are

exce

rpts

fr

oman

ext

ensi

ve

and

deta

iled

stu

dy o

f th

is b

ogus

lan

d re

form

pr

ogra

m w

hich

was

unde

rtak

en

by t

he P

inag

laba

nan

Res

earc

h C

omm

itte

e (P

IRC

OM

) —

a st

andi

ngco

mm

itte

e of

th

e P

repa

rato

ry

Com

mis

sion

fo

r th

e N

atio

nal

Dem

ocra

tic

Fro

nt

The

unde

rgro

und

resi

stan

ce m

ovem

ent

has

unde

rtak

en

a nu

mbe

r of

rese

arch

pro

ject

s of

thi

s na

ture

. T

his

part

icul

ar s

tudy

w

as o

rigi

nall

y pu

blis

hed

in M

arch

29,

197

4. 1. L

and

Ref

orm

—- A

Cri

tica

l A

naly

sis

The

dow

ntro

dden

Fil

ipin

o te

nant

, sa

ys P

resi

dent

Mar

cos,

has

fin

ally

bee

nli

bera

ted

from

cen

turi

es o

f op

pres

sion

. Wel

l-pu

blic

ized

pat

abas

sho

w w

izen

edol

d fa

rmer

s, e

ach

rece

ivin

g an

off

icia

l lo

okin

g ce

rtif

icat

e w

hich

is s

uppo

sed

tosi

gnif

y th

is

hist

oric

em

anci

pati

on

proc

ess.

If

on

ly

in

the

extr

avag

ance

of

prop

agan

da

clai

ms,

la

nd

refo

rm

shou

ld,

by r

ight

s, b

e th

e m

ost

impo

rtan

tpr

ogra

m j

usti

fyin

g th

e "n

ew s

ocie

ty"

regi

me'

s re

form

ist p

rete

nsio

ns. I

nste

ad,

som

e si

xtee

n m

onth

s af

ter

its

proc

lam

atio

n, l

and

refo

rm r

emai

ns ju

st t

hat —

an e

xtra

vaga

nt y

et e

mpt

y pr

opag

anda

cla

im.

On

pape

r, i

t lo

oks

as if

Pre

side

ntia

l D

ecre

e N

o. 2

7, t

he "

lega

l" b

asis

of

the

"New

Soc

iety

" la

nd r

efor

m p

rogr

am,

cons

titu

tes

an i

mpr

ovem

ent

over

pri

orla

nd r

efor

m l

egis

lati

on. T

he h

isto

ry o

f la

nd r

efor

m i

n th

e Ph

ilip

pine

s is

on

eof

al

read

y in

adeq

uate

leg

isla

tion

fur

ther

em

ascu

late

d by

ha

lf-h

eart

ed

and

corr

upt

impl

emen

tati

on.

Rep

ubli

c A

ct N

o. 1

199

(195

4) s

ough

t to

lim

it la

ndre

nt t

o 30

% o

f th

e ba

se c

rop

and

to l

ower

int

eres

t ra

tes

on a

gric

ultu

ral l

oans

to 8

% p

er a

nnum

. S

ubse

quen

t ex

peri

ence

s sh

owed

tha

t th

is l

aw w

as ig

nore

dw

ith

impu

nity

. In

man

y ar

eas,

sha

re t

enan

ts t

o th

is d

ay p

ay f

rom

50%

to 6

0%of

the

ir h

arve

st t

o th

eir

land

lord

s. T

he L

and

Ref

orm

Act

of

1955

(R

A14

00)

prov

ided

for

the

exp

ropr

iati

on o

f es

tate

s co

veri

ng 3

00 h

ecta

res,

but

bet

wee

n19

55

and

1962

on

ly 4

1 es

tate

s co

veri

ng 1

9,00

0 h

ecta

res

wer

e bo

ught

, and

at

that

, am

idst

ch

arge

s of

la

ndlo

rd-g

over

nmen

t co

llus

ion

resu

ltin

g in

th

eov

er-p

rici

ng

of

expr

opri

ated

la

nds.

In

19

63,

Pre

side

nt

Mac

apag

al's

muc

h-va

unte

d la

nd r

efor

m p

rogr

am r

ecei

ved

its

lega

l bas

is w

ith

the

pass

age

ofa

new

Lan

d R

efor

m C

ode

(RA

384

4).

Thi

s ti

me

only

far

ms

plan

ted

to r

ice

and

corn

w

ere

incl

uded

in

the

prog

ram

. A

tw

o-ph

ased

pl

an o

f ac

tion

w

asen

visi

oned

wit

h ph

ase

one

invo

lvin

g th

e tr

ansf

er f

rom

sha

re t

enan

cy t

o le

ase

arra

ngem

ents

w

ith

a re

ntal

ra

te

of

25%

of

a

fixe

d no

rmal

cr

op.

The

Dep

artm

ent

of A

grar

ian

Ref

orm

(D

AR

) ha

s es

tim

ated

tha

t 63

8,00

0 or

64%

27

Page 16: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

of t

he e

stim

ated

num

ber

of t

enan

ted

farm

s ha

d be

en s

hift

ed t

o le

aseh

old

by19

72.

How

ever

, a

Bur

eau

of

Agr

icul

tura

l E

cono

mic

s (B

AE

con)

sur

vey

in19

70

show

ed t

hat

61%

of

rice

and

cor

n fa

rms

in f

act

still

rem

aine

d un

der

shar

e te

nanc

y. I

t is

unl

ikel

y th

at t

he k

ind

of s

hift

tha

t th

ese

figu

res

sugg

est

coul

d ha

ve b

een

achi

eved

in

the

two-

year

per

iod

whi

ch s

epar

ates

the

tw

osu

rvey

s. O

ther

stu

dies

mor

eove

r, s

how

tha

t as

muc

h as

4/5

of

refo

rm le

ssee

sha

ve n

o w

ritt

en c

ontr

acts

and

in

fact

rem

ain

subj

ect

to t

he o

nero

us t

erm

s of

shar

e te

nanc

y ar

rang

emen

ts.

The

19

63

Lan

d R

efor

m

Cod

e al

so

calle

d fo

r a

seco

nd

phas

e w

here

byle

ssee

s w

ould

bec

ome

amor

tizi

ng o

wne

rs p

ayin

g fo

r th

eir

farm

s in

25

year

s at

6% a

nnua

l in

tere

st.

But

onl

y a

few

pla

ces

wer

e de

clar

ed l

and

refo

rm a

reas

and

an o

verl

y hi

gh r

eten

tion

rat

e of

75

hect

ares

was

allo

wed

so

that

thi

s ph

ase,

whi

ch b

egan

onl

y in

196

7,

had,

by

1973

, re

sult

ed i

n th

e pu

rcha

se o

f on

ly 7

8es

tate

s (1

7,23

8 h

ecta

res)

.

Min

imal

Eff

ects

of

Mar

cos

Lan

d R

efor

m

Aft

er t

he d

ecla

rati

on o

f m

arti

al l

aw,

the

low

erin

g of

the

ret

enti

on r

ate

tose

ven

hect

ares

, th

e de

clar

atio

n of

the

who

le c

ount

ry a

s a

land

ref

orm

are

a an

dth

e tr

emen

dous

pu

blic

ity

gene

rate

d by

th

e go

vern

men

t at

fir

st m

ade

the

"New

Soc

iety

's"

land

ref

orm

pro

gram

see

n im

pres

sive

. B

y N

ovem

ber

1973

,ho

wev

er,

the

rete

ntio

n ra

te h

ad b

een

effe

ctiv

ely

rais

ed t

o 24

hec

tare

s w

ith

the

prom

ulga

tion

of

Pre

side

ntia

l L

ette

r of

Ins

truc

tion

No.

143

. A

rat

her

lam

eat

tem

pt

was

mad

e to

m

itig

ate

the

effe

cts

of t

he n

ew p

olic

y by

say

ing

that

abse

ntee

lan

dlor

ds w

ith

less

tha

n 24

hec

tare

s w

ould

sti

ll be

inc

lude

d in

lan

dre

form

. B

ut a

gain

, thi

s w

as e

ffec

tive

ly n

ulli

fied

by

the

prov

isio

n th

at a

bsen

tee

land

owne

rs "

...on

acc

ount

of

circ

umst

ance

s be

yond

(th

eir)

con

trol

..."

such

as

mil

itar

y or

gov

ernm

ent

serv

ice

wou

ld b

e ex

empt

. A

n ev

en m

ore

ludi

crou

spr

ovis

ion

exem

pts

land

hold

ings

or

port

ions

the

reof

in

whi

ch t

he l

ando

wne

rm

ay h

ave

stro

ng e

mot

iona

l at

tach

men

ts (

sic)

for

hav

ing

been

the

sit

e of

his

hom

e or

anc

estr

al h

ome

of t

he l

ando

wne

r.P

erha

ps i

nadv

erte

ntly

, LO

I N

o.

143

itse

lf s

how

s ho

w

the

rais

ing

of t

here

tent

ion

rate

to

24 h

ecta

res

will

aff

ect

the

prog

ram

. It

sho

ws

that

95.

4% o

fF

ilip

ino

land

owne

rs o

wn

less

tha

t 12

hec

tare

s; t

hat

"...6

9% o

f ou

r te

nant

farm

ers

are

till

ers

in t

hese

sm

all

land

hold

ings

of

less

tha

n 12

hec

tare

s."

InF

ebru

ary,

19

74,

the

DA

R

circ

ulat

ed

the

resu

lts

of

a su

rvey

of

sm

all

land

owne

rs i

n ni

ne p

rovi

nces

whi

ch s

how

ed t

hat

land

ref

orm

bas

ed o

n a

24he

ctar

e la

nd r

eten

tion

lim

it w

ould

cov

er 5

1% o

f th

e es

tim

ated

te

nant

ed r

ice

and

corn

are

a, 3

.5%

of

land

owne

rs a

nd 3

0% o

f th

e ex

isti

ng t

enan

ts.

To

star

tw

ith,

th

ese

figu

res

cont

radi

ct

thos

e in

clud

ed

in

LO

I 14

3 an

d is

an

othe

rex

ampl

e of

gov

ernm

ent

man

ipul

atio

n of

sta

tistic

s to

jus

tify

its

ina

dequ

acie

s.B

ut

even

if

on

e w

ere

to

assu

me

that

th

e ni

ne

prov

ince

s in

th

e su

rvey

cons

titu

te

a re

pres

enta

tive

sam

ple

refl

ecti

ng th

e ag

rari

an s

itua

tion

nat

iona

lly,

a la

nd r

efor

m p

rogr

am w

hich

aff

ects

onl

y 30

% o

f th

e co

untr

y's

tena

nts

com

esno

whe

re

near

fu

lfil

ling

th

e go

vern

men

t's

clai

m

to

havi

ng u

nder

take

n an

"agr

aria

n re

volu

tion

".O

ther

fac

tors

sho

w t

hat

the

effe

ct

of t

he "

New

S

ocie

ty's

" la

nd r

efor

mpr

ogra

m, e

ven

if i

mpl

emen

ted,

wou

ld b

e m

inim

al. T

o st

art

wit

h, o

nly

rice

and

corn

far

ms

wou

ld b

e af

fect

ed.

The

Wor

ld B

ank

agri

cult

ural

sec

tor

surv

ey o

f19

72

show

ed t

hat

in 1

971,

as

muc

h as

2,4

90,0

00

hect

ares

wer

e pl

ante

d to

suga

rcan

e an

d co

conu

ts.

If

one

adds

to

th

is

the

stea

dily

exp

andi

ng a

rea

28

plan

ted

to

othe

r co

mm

erci

al c

rops

suc

h as

ban

ana,

rub

ber,

aba

ca,

etc.

plu

sth

e th

ousa

nds

of

hect

ares

th

at

have

be

en

hurr

iedl

y tu

rned

in

to"s

ubdi

visi

ons"

, th

e he

ctar

age

affe

cted

by

land

ref

orm

app

ears

rel

ativ

ely

smal

l.S

econ

dly,

lan

d re

form

wil

l aff

ect

only

ten

ante

d ri

ce a

nd c

orn

farm

s w

hich

the

DA

R

plac

es

at

1,76

7,00

0 he

ctar

es,

less

th

an

1/3

the

5,50

5,00

0 he

ctar

espl

ante

d to

ric

e an

d co

rn a

ccor

ding

to W

orld

Ban

k es

tim

ates

.T

he D

AR

-est

imat

ed t

enan

ted

rice

and

cor

n he

ctar

age

is f

urth

er v

itia

ted

byth

e fa

ct t

hat

it

is b

ased

on

1960

cen

sus

figu

res.

Tha

t th

e nu

mbe

r of

ten

ants

in

rice

and

cor

n fa

rms

is g

reat

er t

han

the

esti

mat

ed 1

,000

,000

is

show

n by

the

DA

R's

ow

n fi

eld

repo

rts.

O

bser

vers

in

seve

ral

prov

ince

s al

so

repo

rt

that

land

lord

s, t

hrou

gh

brib

ery,

fl

atte

ry

and

vari

ous

othe

r m

eans

, ha

ve u

sed

the

loca

l Ph

ilip

pine

C

onst

abul

ary

to

evic

t te

nant

s an

d th

ereb

y pl

ace

thei

rla

ndho

ldin

gs

outs

ide

of

land

re

form

. In

stan

ces

of

PC

inte

rfer

ence

ha

vebe

com

e so

com

mon

th

at t

he c

hief

of

the

Bur

eau

of A

grar

ian

Leg

al A

ssis

tanc

eof

the

DA

R h

ad t

o en

ter

into

an

agre

emen

t w

ith

the

AF

P J

udge

Adv

ocat

eG

ener

al r

eass

ertin

g th

e ju

risd

icti

on o

f th

e C

ourt

s of

Agr

aria

n R

elat

ions

ove

rla

nd d

ispu

tes,

esp

ecia

lly t

hose

inv

olvi

ng te

nant

evi

ctio

n. I

n M

arch

197

4, D

AR

Sec.

Con

rado

Est

rella

him

self

iss

ued

a pu

blic

war

ning

aga

inst

ten

ant

evic

tion

,in

the

pro

cess

con

firm

ing

repo

rts

from

the

pro

vinc

es.

A "

Nat

iona

l S

urve

y of

Maj

or

Rel

igio

us

Sup

erio

rs"

cond

ucte

d in

la

te

1973

, fo

r ex

ampl

e sa

id:

"Lan

dow

ners

thr

ough

out

the

coun

try

resi

st t

he i

mpl

emen

tati

on o

f th

e la

ndre

form

pr

ogra

m.

The

re

have

bee

n nu

mer

ous

acco

unts

of

ha

rass

men

t an

dth

reat

s,

outr

ight

evi

ctio

n of

ten

ants

in

man

y fa

rms,

con

vers

ions

of

rice

and

corn

la

nds

to

othe

r cr

ops,

su

bdiv

isio

ns o

r fi

shpo

nds.

..th

roug

hout

al

l 11

regi

ons

of t

he c

ount

ry.

Sub

divi

ding

land

am

ong

heir

s an

d ch

angi

ng t

he s

tatu

sof

te

nant

s to

ag

ricu

ltur

al

wor

kers

is

als

o fa

irly

co

mm

on.

Pol

itic

ians

and

gove

rnm

ent

offi

cial

s ar

e ge

nera

lly

not

in f

avor

of

land

ref

orm

. In

som

e ar

eas

they

ar

e th

e m

ain

obst

acle

s to

th

e im

plem

enta

tion

of

th

e la

nd r

efor

mpr

ogra

m."

It i

s qu

ite

clea

r, t

here

fore

tha

t th

e im

pact

, if

any

of

the

"New

Soc

iety

's"

land

ref

orm

pro

gram

wil

l be

min

imal

giv

en t

hat

: 1)

onl

y ri

ce a

nd c

orn

area

sar

e co

vere

d 2)

of

thes

e, o

nly

tena

nted

ri

ce a

nd c

orn

farm

s ar

e in

clud

ed 3

)id

enti

fica

tion

of

suc

h te

nant

ed

farm

s is

sub

ject

to

land

lord

-PC

col

lusi

on i

nev

icti

ng

tena

nts

and

rem

ovin

g es

tate

s fr

om

incl

usio

n in

lan

d re

form

th

ruva

riou

s m

eans

4)

of

su

ch

iden

tifi

ed,

tena

nted

ri

ce

and

corn

fa

rms,

land

hold

ings

of

24 h

ecta

res

and

belo

w w

ill,

in e

ffec

t, b

e ex

empt

.A

s of

Jan

uary

7,

197

4,

144,

538

ten

ants

w

ere

repo

rted

to

hav

e al

read

yre

ceiv

ed

Lan

d T

rans

fer

Cer

tifi

cate

s (L

TC

) fo

r fa

rm l

ots

tota

llin

g 25

9,34

8he

ctar

es.

The

wel

l-pu

blic

ized

tur

nove

r of

the

se L

TC

s to

ten

ants

con

stit

utes

the

mai

n ac

hiev

emen

ts o

f th

e ne

w s

ocie

ty's

lan

d re

form

pro

gram

to

this

dat

e.It

sho

uld

be p

oint

ed

out

here

th

at n

o on

e te

nant

has

rec

eive

d an

y la

nd f

rom

the

gove

rnm

ent.

The

LT

Cs

are

not

titl

es o

f ow

ners

hip.

The

y co

nsti

tute

, at

best

an

opti

on t

o bu

y a

farm

mad

e av

aila

ble

to t

he t

enan

t re

cipi

ents

. Whe

ther

or n

ot t

hese

ten

ants

end

up

actu

ally

ow

ning

thei

r fa

rms

depe

nds

upon

a l

ot o

ffa

ctor

s, n

one

of w

hich

loo

ks p

arti

cula

rly

prom

isin

g.L

et u

s st

art

wit

h th

e te

nant

him

self

and

his

abi

lity

to

pay

for

his

allo

ted

farm

. T

he g

over

nmen

t fo

rmul

a w

ould

hav

e th

e te

nant

s pa

y fo

r hi

s fa

rm i

n 15

annu

al i

nsta

llm

ents

plu

s 6%

inte

rest

. The

cos

t of

the

lan

d is

to b

e es

tim

ated

at

the

valu

e of

the

ave

rage

ann

ual c

rop

yiel

d ov

er th

e la

st t

hree

yea

rs m

ulti

plie

d2

1/2

tim

es,

the

idea

bei

ng t

hat

the

tena

nt s

houl

d pa

y no

mor

e th

an w

hat

ale

asee

wou

ld n

orm

ally

pay

as

rent

. T

he p

robl

em i

s th

at .

.. s

o m

any

live

so

29

Page 17: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

clos

e to

th

e ed

ge o

f su

bsis

tenc

e th

at t

hey

pref

er t

o re

tain

the

lan

dlor

d as

aso

urce

of

too

ls,

seed

and

bot

h pr

oduc

tion

and

con

sum

ptio

n lo

ans.

Thi

s is

not

to s

ay t

hat

the

land

lord

cla

ss s

erve

s m

ore

as a

ben

efac

tor

than

as

an e

xplo

iter

of t

enan

ts.

But

giv

en t

he

diff

icul

ty o

f ac

quir

ing

cred

it fr

om o

ther

sou

rces

,te

nant

s ar

e of

ten

forc

ed t

o de

pend

on

usur

ious

lan

dlor

ds i

n or

der

to s

urvi

ve.

Ano

ther

fa

ctor

w

hich

put

s th

e ab

ilit

y of

ten

ants

to

pay

for

the

ir f

arm

sin

to

ques

tion

is

the

sm

alln

ess

of

the

farm

si

zes

unde

r la

nd

refo

rm.

The

gove

rnm

ent

itse

lf h

as s

aid

that

the

opt

imum

hec

tara

ge p

er f

arm

fam

ily

is 3

hect

ares

for

irr

igat

ed a

nd

5 he

ctar

es

for

unir

riga

ted

rice

lan

ds.

The

ave

rage

farm

siz

e am

ong

tena

nt r

ecip

ient

s of

lan

d tr

ansf

er c

erti

fica

tes

is 1

.8 h

ecta

res

of b

oth

irri

gate

d an

d un

irri

gate

d ri

ce a

nd c

orn

land

s. F

urth

erm

ore,

sur

vey

offa

rm i

ncom

e in

Nue

va E

cija

in

crop

yea

r 19

72-7

3 sh

ows

that

the

ave

rage

net

inco

me

incl

udin

g of

f-fa

rm

inco

me

per

fam

ily

amon

g sh

are

tena

nts

com

es t

oon

ly 1

,243

pe

sos.

Eve

n if

one

tak

es t

he s

ligh

tly

high

er 1

,522

pes

os i

ncom

e of

less

ees

as a

ba

se,

it is

sti

ll no

t un

reas

onab

le t

o su

ppos

e th

at

it w

ould

be

diff

icul

t fo

r th

ese

farm

ers

to p

ay

the

appr

oxim

atel

y 35

0 pe

sos

per

hect

are

annu

al a

mor

tiza

tion

cal

cula

ted

on t

he b

asis

of

aver

age

rice

and

cor

n yi

elds

at

1972

pr

ices

. A

ltho

ugh

land

re

nt

has

been

de

duct

ed

from

th

ese

inco

me

figu

res,

it

is c

lear

tha

t te

nant

inc

ome

is s

o lyo

w t

hat

thei

r ab

ilit

y to

pay

ann

ual

amor

tiza

tion

s is

, to

say

the

le

ast

ques

tion

able

. T

he s

ame

PN

B s

tudy

whi

chca

me

up w

ith

the

350

peso

s av

erag

e an

nual

am

orti

zati

on t

rans

late

d th

is i

nto

an

aver

age

amor

tiza

tion

in

ki

nd o

f 27

cav

ans

per

hect

are

per

year

. W

hen

com

pare

d to

the

12

cava

n pe

r he

ctar

e av

erag

e le

ase

rent

in

Nue

va E

cija

, fo

rex

ampl

e th

e di

scre

panc

y be

com

es

fair

ly

obvi

ous.

F

inal

ly,

once

PD

27

is

impl

emen

ted,

the

ten

ant's

mea

ger

fina

ncia

l re

sour

ces

are

goin

g to

be

furt

her

erod

ed b

y hi

s ha

ving

to

pay

rece

ntly

inc

reas

ed l

and

taxe

s pl

us m

onth

ly d

ues

and

othe

r co

ntri

buti

ons

to t

he n

ewly

-cre

ated

bar

rio

asso

ciat

ions

.G

iven

the

fin

anci

al w

eakn

ess

of t

he t

enan

t fa

rmer

s, i

nsti

tuti

onal

sup

port

sfr

om t

he g

over

nmen

t obv

ious

ly h

ave

to b

e gr

eatl

y ex

pand

ed.

Thi

s is

nec

essa

ryno

t on

ly s

o as

to

enab

le t

he t

enan

t fa

rmer

to

atta

in a

n in

com

e le

vel

whi

chw

ould

mak

e it

pos

sibl

e fo

r hi

m t

o co

ver

his

amor

tiza

tion

pay

men

ts,

but

also

so

as t

o ra

ise

prod

ucti

vity

. R

esea

rch

in

this

ar

ea

show

s th

at

ther

e is

no

sign

ific

ant

diff

eren

ce

in

prod

ucti

vity

acr

oss

vari

ous

tenu

re g

roup

s.

On

the

cont

rary

so

me

obse

rver

s fe

ar

that

th

e di

srup

tion

of

the

land

lord

-ten

ant

rela

tion

ship

wou

ld r

esul

t in

a s

hort

ter

m d

rop

in g

rain

pro

duct

ion.

The

gov

ernm

ent

is n

ot

unaw

are

of t

his

prob

lem

. It

s la

nd r

efor

m p

ropa

-ga

nda

emph

asiz

es t

he n

eed

to a

ccom

pany

lan

d tr

ansf

er w

ith

impr

oved

cre

dit

faci

liti

es,

chea

per

and

mor

e ea

sily

ava

ilab

le s

eeds

, fe

rtil

izer

and

ins

ecti

cide

san

d m

ore

exte

nsiv

e ag

ricu

ltur

al e

xten

sion

ser

vice

s. T

o pr

ovid

e th

ese

inpu

ts,

the

gove

rnm

ent w

ill h

ave

to i

ncre

ase

its

expe

ndit

ures

in

the

agri

cult

ural

sec

tor

trem

endo

usly

. T

his

wou

ld h

ave

to b

e to

the

tun

e of

1.1

bil

lion

per

yea

r. M

ore

rece

ntly

, D

AR

Sec

. E

stre

lla

said

tha

t th

e la

nd r

efor

m p

rogr

am

wou

ld c

ost

alto

geth

er

som

e 17

bil

lion

pes

os!

The

gov

ernm

ent

clea

rly

does

not

hav

e th

ein

tent

ion

nor

this

kin

d of

mon

ey t

o th

row

int

o la

nd r

efor

m.

If o

ne a

dds

toth

is

the

amou

nt

that

w

ould

hav

e to

be

spen

t fo

r ri

ce a

nd c

orn

area

s no

tco

vere

d by

PD

27

plus

com

mer

cial

cro

p ar

eas,

the

n th

e m

agni

tude

of

the

gove

rnm

ent's

fin

anci

al o

blig

atio

ns u

nder

lan

d re

form

wou

ld s

eem

so

high

tha

tth

e li

keli

hood

of

its

bein

g w

ater

ed d

own

even

fur

ther

is g

reat

.T

he g

over

nmen

t's

abil

ity

to w

ork

out

fina

ncia

l pr

oble

ms

rela

ted

to l

and

refo

rm i

f fu

rthe

r co

mpl

icat

ed b

y th

e ad

vers

e ef

fect

tha

t P

D 2

7 ha

s ha

d on

the

30

coll

ater

al

and

liqu

idit

y po

siti

ons

of

key

inst

itut

ions

in

the

bank

ing

syst

em.

Aft

er t

he p

rocl

amat

ion

of P

D 2

7, o

utst

andi

ng

loan

s to

lan

dlor

ds w

hich

wer

ese

cure

d by

the

ver

y la

nds

they

are

bei

ng d

ispo

sses

sed

of,

have

in

effe

ct b

een

froz

en.

Lan

dlor

ds

who

se

cure

d ba

nk

loan

s w

ith

thei

r te

nant

ed

land

s as

coll

ater

al

are

unde

rsta

ndab

ly ̂

relu

ctan

t to

pay

bac

k th

eir

loan

s. T

hey

now

insi

st

that

le

ndin

g ba

nks

sim

ply

fore

clos

e on

th

eir

colla

tera

l, cr

eati

ng a

nun

tena

ble

situ

atio

n fo

r ru

ral

and

othe

r ba

nks

in t

he p

roce

ss,

for

even

if

the

bank

s le

gally

cou

ld,

they

cle

arly

wou

ld n

ot w

ant

to a

cqui

re l

ands

whi

ch a

rein

clud

ed i

n th

e la

nd r

efor

m p

rogr

am.

Ref

orm

Pla

n C

oddl

es B

ig L

andl

ords

As

one

DA

R

cons

ulta

nt

put

it,

"th

e se

ttle

men

t of

th

e qu

esti

ons

ofco

mpe

nsat

ion

satis

fact

ory

to b

oth

the

land

owne

r an

d th

e ti

ller

is

the

key

toth

e sp

eedy

an

d su

cces

sful

im

plem

enta

tion

of

P

D

27."

T

he

reas

on

the

gove

rnm

ent

has

not

yet

rele

ased

im

plem

enti

ng i

nstr

ucti

ons

on t

his

mat

ter

does

not

se

em

to c

ome

from

any

gre

at c

once

rn o

ver

the

tena

nt's

abi

lity

to

pay,

for

mos

t of

the

gov

ernm

ent

stud

ies

on l

and

refo

rm s

impl

y as

sum

e th

atth

e fo

rmul

a is

wor

kabl

e. M

uch

mor

e co

ncer

n is

exp

ress

ed

over

the

wor

king

out

of

com

pens

atio

n sc

hem

es

that

w

ould

do

"j

usti

ce"

to

land

lord

s.

As

anot

her

DA

R c

onsu

ltan

t pu

t it

, "T

he

mai

n dr

ift

of t

hese

pro

pose

d re

visi

ons

appe

ars

to b

e to

allo

w g

reat

er c

ompe

nsat

ion

for

the

land

owne

rs."

The

gov

ernm

ent's

con

cern

for

the

wel

fare

of

the

land

lord

s is

bes

t se

en i

n a

pres

iden

tial

m

emor

andu

m

to

DA

R

Sec.

E

stre

lla

and

Fin

ance

Sec

. V

irat

a,da

ted

? v.

25,

197

2,

whi

ch i

n ef

fect

mod

ifie

s PD

27.

In

this

mem

oran

dum

,Pr

es.

Mar

cos

calle

d on

bo

th

cabi

net

mem

bers

to

prov

ide

oppo

rtun

ity

for

ex-l

andl

ords

to

u .

.. sw

ap t

heir

est

ates

for

gov

ernm

ent

land

s w

heth

er v

irgi

nor

oth

erw

ise

. . .

," a

nd

" .

.. t

o pr

ovid

e go

vern

men

t as

sist

ance

fo

r th

is i

nev

ery

way

pos

sibl

e in

clud

ing

cred

it a

nd i

nfra

stru

ctur

e de

velo

pmen

t of

lan

dsto

be

swap

ped.

" T

he o

ppor

tuni

ties

for

cor

rupt

ion

and

the

soci

al c

osts

of

this

kind

of

arra

ngem

ent

is i

llus

trat

ed

in t

he

swap

of

som

e 16

,000

hec

tare

s of

gove

rnm

ent

land

in

sou

ther

n Pa

law

an f

or t

he

Nue

va e

stat

e of

one

of

Pres

.M

arco

s' cr

onie

s in

the

Coj

uang

co f

amil

y. I

n ad

diti

on t

o th

e 16

,000

hec

tare

s,th

e go

vern

men

t is

co

mm

itte

d to

sp

end

a re

port

ed

P50

m

illi

on

in

the

infr

astr

uctu

re

proj

ects

in

the

' are

a. W

hat

the

gove

rnm

ent

has

not

take

n in

toco

nsid

erat

ion

is t

he f

act

that

the

im

plem

enta

tion

of

the

Coj

uang

co f

amil

y's

plan

s to

set

up

a su

gar

plan

tati

on i

n th

e B

atar

asa

area

of

sout

h P

alaw

an w

ill

resu

lt in

the

dis

plac

emen

t of

sev

eral

tho

usan

d fa

mil

ies

who

now

liv

e th

ere.

Wha

t is

mos

t ga

llfng

abo

ut t

his

codd

ling

of

land

lord

s is

the

swap

opt

ion

isre

ally

av

aila

ble

only

to

la

ndlo

rds

wit

h po

liti

cal

conn

ecti

ons

and

exte

nsiv

efi

nanc

ial

reso

urce

s.

. . .

The

land

lord

s w

ho a

re b

enef

itin

g fr

om t

his

touc

hing

poli

tica

l so

lici

tude

are

pre

cise

ly t

hose

who

acc

ordi

ng t

o a

1967

su

rvey

, ow

nov

er

a hu

ndre

d he

ctar

es

of

land

, al

so o

wn

a m

ajor

bus

ines

s or

are

maj

orst

ockh

olde

rs

of a

cor

pora

tion

, ow

n tw

o or

mor

e ca

rs,

two

or m

ore

hous

es,

and

take

vac

atio

ns a

broa

d.

Oth

er "

ince

ntiv

es"

offe

red

to t

he l

andl

ords

are

exem

ptio

ns

from

the

cap

ital

gai

ns ta

x on

pro

ceed

s of

am

orti

zati

ons

and

from

inco

me

tax

due

on a

ccru

ing

inte

rest

pai

d as

an

addi

tion

to

the

tota

l co

st o

fth

e la

nd (

PD

No.

57)

.In

th

e fi

nal

anal

ysis

, w

hat

doom

s th

e "N

ew

Soc

iety

's"

land

re

form

prog

ram

to

fa

ilur

e is

its

und

erly

ing

mot

ivat

ion

and

the

fact

tha

t it

is

not

31

Page 18: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

mea

nt t

o ch

ange

the

soc

io-e

cono

mic

str

uctu

re w

hich

pro

duce

d th

e co

ndit

ions

of l

andl

essn

ess

in t

he f

irst

pla

ce.

Insp

ite

of t

he a

lrea

dy s

icke

ning

bar

rage

of

prop

agan

da

abou

t em

anci

pati

ng t

he p

easa

ntry

, ex

isti

ng e

vide

nce

clea

rly

show

that

cou

nter

insu

rgen

cy r

equi

rem

ents

are

am

ong

the

mos

t im

port

ant

fact

ors

behi

nd t

he p

rogr

am.

Of

the

144,

538

reci

pien

ts o

f la

nd t

rans

fer

cert

ific

ates

as

of J

anua

ry

7, 1

974,

as

man

y as

84,

061

com

e fr

om N

ueva

Eci

ja (

33,2

54),

Cam

arin

es

Sur

(10

,351

), T

arla

c (9

,702

),

Iloi

lo

(8,9

05),

Pam

pang

a (7

,379

),Is

abel

a (7

,307

) an

d C

agay

an

(6,1

63),

7

prov

ince

s w

hich

hav

e ha

d a

long

hist

ory

of p

easa

nt

unre

st a

nd w

here

the

re i

s to

day

the

grea

test

inc

iden

ce o

fre

volu

tion

ary

acti

vity

. In

its

fir

st a

nnua

l re

port

dat

ed S

epte

mbe

r 19

73,

the

DA

R P

lann

ing

Serv

ice

itsel

f ad

mit

ted

that

the

sel

ectio

n of

lan

d re

form

pil

otm

unic

ipal

itie

s w

as p

artl

y ba

sed

on "

. . .

the

exis

tenc

e of

pre

vale

nt

soci

alun

rest

."T

he e

mph

asis

on

cou

nter

insu

rgen

cy

goal

s in

lan

d re

form

lea

ds u

s to

the

seco

nd

poin

t. L

and

refo

rm

is n

ot

only

m

eant

to

cha

nge

basi

c so

cial

an

dec

onom

ic

rela

tion

ship

s in

th

e Ph

ilip

pine

s,

it is

gea

red

prec

isel

y to

war

dsst

reng

then

ing

the

exis

ting

soc

ial

orde

r. T

hus

the

conc

ern

for

smal

ler

land

lord

sw

ho,

from

th

e po

int

of v

iew

of

thei

r te

nant

s,

may

be

as o

ppre

ssiv

e an

d as

expl

oita

tive

as

the

olde

r on

es.

Thu

s th

e co

ncer

ted

gove

rnm

ent

effo

rt t

o as

sist

bigg

er l

andl

ords

and

to

faci

lita

te t

he t

rans

fer

of l

andl

ord

capi

tal

to

indu

stry

and/

or

agri

-bus

ines

s.

Thu

s th

e re

fusa

l of

th

e go

vern

men

t to

di

stur

b un

-te

nant

ed

agri

cult

ural

lan

ds

whe

re

the

cond

itio

ns

of t

he s

acad

as

and

othe

rag

ricu

ltur

al w

orke

rs i

s of

ten

muc

h w

orse

tha

n th

at o

f th

e te

nant

s.W

hate

ver

is g

oing

to

be d

one

for

tena

nts,

if

at a

ll, i

s m

eant

pri

mar

ily

for

the

purp

ose

of "

lett

ing

off

stea

m',

in t

he r

ural

soc

ial

volc

ano,

and

to

atte

mpt

to d

eny

the

revo

luti

onar

y m

ovem

ent

of i

ts r

ural

bas

es.

Eve

n if

lan

d re

form

as

pres

entl

y co

ncei

ved

is i

mpl

emen

ted,

the

pro

cess

of

neoc

olon

ial

deve

lopm

ent

whi

ch e

xact

s a

heav

y to

ll on

the

pea

sant

sur

plus

, w

ill r

etur

n th

e ve

ry a

reas

whe

re l

and

refo

rm i

s im

plem

ente

d to

its

pre

sent

and

eve

n w

orse

con

diti

ons

ofpe

asan

t la

ndle

ssne

ss,

pove

rty

and

ende

mic

un

rest

. A

s lo

ng

as t

iny

farm

sop

erat

ing

wit

h pr

imit

ive

tech

nolo

gy,

inad

equa

te

and/

or

usur

ious

cr

edit

sour

ces,

ex

pens

ive

seed

s,

fert

iliz

ers

and

inse

ctic

ides

coe

xist

wit

h la

rge

farm

sw

ith

bett

er t

echn

olog

y an

d th

e ad

vant

ages

tha

t ac

crue

to

the

econ

omic

and

poli

tica

l po

wer

th

en

the

futu

re f

or t

he F

ilip

ino

peas

antr

y ca

n on

ly

beco

me

wor

se t

han

the

pres

ent

beca

use

the

accu

mul

atio

n of

eco

nom

ic p

ower

by

the

ruli

ng c

lass

es a

t th

e ex

pens

e of

the

pea

sant

ry w

ill c

onti

nue.

Nat

iona

l D

emoc

racy

and

Gen

uine

Lan

d R

efor

m

Unl

ess

stat

e po

wer

is

wre

sted

fr

om t

he v

ery

peop

le w

ho a

re e

xplo

itin

g th

epe

asan

try,

it

is

unre

ason

able

to

expe

ct t

hat

any

mea

ning

ful

land

ref

orm

can

ever

be

ac

hiev

ed.

Onl

y re

volu

tion

ary

gove

rnm

ents

ca

n:

1)

cond

uct

land

refo

rm o

n th

e ba

sis

of f

ree

and

equa

l di

stri

buti

on o

f la

nd t

o th

ose

who

wor

kit

2) a

llow

the

pea

sant

ry t

o m

ake

deci

sion

s ab

out

thei

r co

mm

unit

ies

thro

ugh

peas

ant

orga

niza

tion

s an

d vi

llage

ass

embl

ies,

and

mos

t im

port

ant,

3) c

reat

eth

e ki

nd

of

plan

ned

nati

onal

ec

onom

y w

hich

fa

cili

tate

s th

e ac

cele

rate

dde

velo

pmen

t of

pea

sant

agr

icul

ture

. In

the

fin

al a

naly

sis,

the

onl

y fu

ture

for

the

Phi

lipp

ines

pea

sant

ry,

the

only

cha

nce

they

hav

e to

ful

fill

thei

r de

man

dfo

r la

nd a

nd t

he e

radi

cati

on o

f fe

udal

exp

loit

atio

n is

thei

r pa

rtic

ipat

ion

in t

hest

rugg

le t

o ac

hiev

e a

nati

onal

dem

ocra

tic

revo

luti

on.

32

Cha

pter

IV

DO

CU

ME

NT

S O

F T

HE

NA

TIO

NA

L D

EM

OC

RA

TIC

RE

VO

LU

TIO

N

Fol

low

ing

are

sect

ions

tak

en f

rom

th

e ba

sic

docu

men

t of

the

New

Peo

ple'

sA

rmy

whi

ch s

erve

s as

a g

uide

for

its

mem

bers

and

was

dra

wn

up a

nd i

ssue

dby

th

e m

eeti

ng o

f C

omm

ande

rs

and

Fig

hter

s of

the

NP

A o

n M

arch

29,

196

9.an

d ap

prov

ed

by

the

Cen

tral

C

omm

itte

e of

th

e C

omm

unis

t P

arty

of

th

eP

hilip

pine

s on

May

13

, 19

69.

Incl

uded

in

thi

s se

ctio

n is

the

ful

l te

xt o

f th

epr

eam

ble

to

the

Bas

ic R

ules

of

the

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy

and

four

se

lect

ions

from

th

e te

n ba

sic

rule

s. —

Edi

tor

1. P

ream

ble

and

Bas

ic R

ules

of

the

NP

A

The

N

ew

Peop

le's

A

rmy

is

unde

r th

e su

prem

e co

mm

and

ofM

arxi

sm-L

enin

ism

-Mao

T

setu

ng

Tho

ught

and

the

C

omm

unis

t P

arty

of

the

Phil

ippi

nes.

It

is t

he r

evol

utio

nary

arm

y of

the

bro

ad m

asse

s of

the

Fil

ipin

ope

ople

aga

inst

U.S

. im

peri

alis

m, t

he c

ompr

ador

big

bou

rgeo

isie

, the

land

lord

clas

s an

d th

e bu

reau

crat

cap

ital

ists

.T

he

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy

is t

he

prin

cipa

l fo

rm o

f or

gani

zati

on u

nder

the

Com

mun

ist

Part

y of

th

e P

hili

ppin

es,

whi

ch

has

take

n th

e ro

ad

of a

rmed

revo

luti

on i

n li

ne w

ith

Mao

Tse

tung

Tho

ught

. It

is

the

inst

rum

ent

for

carr

ying

out

the

Part

y's

cent

ral

task

of

seiz

ing

poli

tica

l po

wer

and

con

soli

dati

ng it

. It

is t

he i

nstr

umen

t fo

r ov

erth

row

ing

the

pres

ent

bour

geoi

s re

acti

onar

y pu

ppet

gove

rnm

ent

and

for

win

ning

the

pe

ople

's

dem

ocra

tic

revo

luti

on.

It i

s th

ein

stru

men

t fo

r he

lpin

g in

a b

ig w

ay t

o ca

rry

out

the

Prog

ram

me

for

a Pe

ople

'sD

emoc

rati

c R

evol

utio

n of

the

Com

mun

ist

Par

ty o

f th

e Ph

ilip

pine

s.T

he

New

Pe

ople

's A

rmy

is c

ompl

etel

y in

th

e se

rvic

e of

th

e pe

ople

'sde

moc

rati

c in

tere

sts

and

is

the

mai

nsta

y of

th

e pe

ople

's

dem

ocra

tic

dict

ator

ship

. It

def

ends

the

peop

le f

rom

the

evi

l fo

rces

of

U.S

. im

peri

alis

t an

dfe

udal

op

pres

sion

an

d ex

ploi

tati

on a

nd a

lway

s st

rive

s to

hel

p th

em i

n ev

ery

poss

ible

way

in

thei

r da

ily

life

. It

abh

ors

the

leas

t ha

rm d

one

to t

he m

asse

s of

the

peop

le a

nd i

t in

stil

ls a

n ir

on d

isci

plin

e am

ong

its

offi

cers

and

men

whi

chpr

even

ts t

hem

fro

m d

oing

the

lea

st h

arm

to

the

mas

ses

of t

he p

eopl

e.A

rmed

wit

h th

e in

vinc

ible

Mao

Tse

tung

Tho

ught

, th

e N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

yha

s em

erge

d af

ter

shed

ding

off

the

cou

nter

-rev

olut

iona

ry r

evis

ioni

st e

rror

s of

the

Lav

a's

and

Tar

uc's

an

d ot

her

sour

ces

of

mod

ern

revi

sion

ism

and

oppo

rtun

ism

, "L

eft"

an

d R

ight

. It

co

mba

ts

wit

hin

its

rank

s th

e pu

rely

mil

itar

y vi

ewpo

int,

ultr

a-de

moc

racy

, di

sreg

ard

of o

rgan

izat

iona

l dis

cipl

ine,

abso

lute

equ

alit

aria

nism

, sub

ject

ivis

m, i

ndiv

idua

lism

, th

e id

eolo

gy o

f ro

ving

33

Page 19: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

rebe

l ba

nds

and

puts

chis

m.

Now

, th

e N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y in

clud

es t

he b

est

figh

ters

who

per

sist

in

wag

ing

arm

ed s

trug

gle

and

in p

ropa

gati

ng M

ao T

setu

ngT

houg

ht.

It

cons

iste

ntly

in

tegr

ates

th

e un

iver

sal

trut

h of

M

ao

Tse

tung

Tho

ught

, th

e ac

me

of M

arxi

sm-L

enin

ism

in

the

pres

ent

era,

wit

h th

e pr

acti

ceof

pro

trac

ted

peop

le's

war

in

the

Phi

lipp

ines

.W

hile

fo

llow

ing

the

abso

lute

le

ader

ship

of

the

wor

king

cla

ss

and

the

Com

mun

ist

Part

y of

the

Phi

lipp

ines

, th

e N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y in

corp

orat

esm

ainl

y th

e ar

med

pea

sant

s fi

ghti

ng f

or a

grar

ian

revo

luti

on w

hich

is

the

mai

nco

nten

t of

th

e pe

ople

's

dem

ocra

tic

revo

luti

on.

In t

his

sens

e, t

he

peop

le's

dem

ocra

tic

revo

luti

on is

ess

enti

ally

a p

easa

nt w

ar l

ed b

y th

e w

orki

ng c

lass

. In

the

coun

trys

ide,

th

e N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y w

orks

an

d fi

ghts

ar

duou

sly

totr

ansf

orm

ba

ckw

ard

vill

ages

in

to

the

mos

t ad

vanc

ed

poli

tica

l, m

ilit

ary,

econ

omic

an

d cu

ltur

al b

asti

ons

of t

he

peop

le's

dem

ocra

tic

revo

luti

on.

To

carr

y ou

t th

is g

reat

tas

k, i

t re

lies

mai

nly

on t

he m

asse

s of

poo

r pe

asan

ts a

ndfa

rm w

orke

rs,

and

then

win

s ov

er t

he m

iddl

e pe

asan

ts t

o ne

utra

lize

the

ric

hpe

asan

ts.

Suc

h is

its

revo

luti

onar

y an

ti-f

euda

l cl

ass

line

in t

he c

ount

rysi

de.

The

N

ew

Peop

le's

A

rmy

ensu

res

the

inde

pend

ence

, in

itia

tive

an

dle

ader

ship

of

the

Com

mun

ist

Part

y of

the

Phi

lipp

ines

and

the

wor

king

cla

ss i

nth

e na

tion

al u

nite

d fr

ont

by c

ondu

ctin

g ar

med

str

uggl

e an

d th

ereb

y w

eldi

ngto

geth

er m

ost

firm

ly t

he b

asic

all

ianc

e of

the

wor

king

cla

ss a

nd t

he p

easa

ntry

as t

he t

rue

foun

dati

on o

f a

broa

d na

tion

al d

emoc

rati

c un

ity.

All

thr

ough

out

the

peri

od

of

prot

ract

ed

peop

le's

w

ar,

the

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy

shal

l re

lym

ainl

y on

the

mas

ses

of w

orke

rs a

nd p

easa

nts

but

it s

hall

alw

ays

be r

eady

to

coop

erat

e w

ith

othe

r pa

trio

tic

and

prog

ress

ive

clas

ses,

or

gani

zati

ons

and

indi

vidu

als

inte

rest

ed i

n th

e ar

med

ove

rthr

ow o

f U

.S.

impe

rial

ism

, fe

udal

ism

and

bure

aucr

at c

apit

alis

m.

The

m

ain

stra

tegi

c pr

inci

ple

of t

he

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy

is a

pr

otra

cted

peop

le's

war

, wit

h it

s ar

med

uni

ts e

ver

grow

ing

stro

nger

in

the

coun

trys

ide

onth

e ba

sis

of

arm

ed

stru

ggle

, ag

rari

an

revo

luti

on

and

the

buil

ding

of

rura

lba

ses,

and

con

sist

entl

y en

circ

ling

the

citi

es u

ntil

suc

h ti

me

that

the

ene

my

forc

es

are

fina

lly

exha

uste

d af

ter

bein

g de

feat

ed

piec

e by

pi

ece

in

the

coun

trys

ide.

T

he

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy

is d

eter

min

ed

to

buil

d ru

ral

base

s,es

tabl

ish

loca

l or

gans

of

peop

le's

gov

ernm

ent

and

adva

nce

wav

e up

on w

ave

unti

l it

can

eff

ecti

vely

de

stro

y th

e re

mai

ning

ene

my

forc

es c

once

ntra

ted

inbi

g ci

ties

and

big

mil

itar

y ca

mps

. It

sha

ll sy

stem

atic

ally

cre

ate

and

elev

ate

the

guer

rill

a zo

nes

to

the

leve

l of

st

able

ba

se

area

s w

here

lo

cal

peop

le's

gove

rnm

ents

can

ope

rate

fu

lly.

T

he r

ural

bas

e ar

eas

shal

l se

rve

as t

he g

reat

rear

s fo

r th

e em

erge

nce

and

expa

nsio

n of

gue

rril

la z

ones

and

for

the

adv

ance

of a

ll o

ther

for

ces

of t

he p

eopl

e's

dem

ocra

tic

revo

luti

on.

The

N

ew

Peop

le's

A

rmy

shal

l un

derg

o th

ree

stra

tegi

c ph

ases

in

th

epr

otra

cted

pe

ople

's w

ar.

The

fir

st p

hase

is

the

stra

tegi

c de

fens

ive

in w

hich

it

alw

ays

mai

ntai

ns t

acti

cal

offe

nsiv

e an

d in

itia

tive

aga

inst

the

str

ateg

ic m

ilit

ary

supe

rior

ity

of t

he e

nem

y. T

he s

econ

d ph

ase

is th

e st

rate

gic

stal

emat

e in

whi

chit

s fi

ghti

ng

forc

es

are

alre

ady

mor

e or

le

ss

equa

l to

the

en

emy

forc

es i

nst

reng

th.

The

th

ird

and

fina

l ph

ase

is t

he

stra

tegi

c of

fens

ive

in w

hich

th

ere

gula

r m

obil

e fo

rces

of

th

e N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y sh

all

have

att

aine

d su

chst

reng

th

and

scop

e as

to

be a

ble

to t

ake

the

offe

nsiv

e ag

ains

t th

e is

olat

eden

emy

forc

es

in t

heir

ci

ty a

nd b

ig c

amp

fort

ific

atio

ns.

All

thr

ough

out

the

prot

ract

ed

peop

le's

w

ar,

the

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy

has

the

poli

tica

l in

itia

tive

beca

use

it

inte

grat

es

revo

luti

onar

y th

eory

w

ith

revo

luti

onar

y pr

acti

ce,

34

beca

use

it is

cl

osel

y li

nked

w

ith

the

mas

ses

and

beca

use

it co

nduc

tsse

lf-c

ritic

ism

whe

neve

r it

doe

s w

rong

or

carr

ies

wea

knes

ses.

The

N

ew

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy

crea

tes

and

empl

oys

seve

ral

form

s of

fi

ghti

ngun

its

in t

he c

ours

e of

the

pro

trac

ted

peop

le's

war

. T

he r

egul

ar m

obil

e fo

rces

defe

nd

the

rura

l ba

ses

and

dest

roy

the

enem

y fo

rces

in

a bi

g w

ay.

The

guer

rill

a fo

rces

de

fend

th

e gu

erri

lla

zone

s, p

repa

re

the

emer

genc

e or

th

ead

vanc

e of

reg

ular

mob

ile

forc

es t

o cr

eate

new

gue

rril

la z

ones

. T

he m

ilit

ia a

ndse

lf-d

efen

se

corp

s de

fend

th

e m

asse

s in

lo

cal

area

s w

itho

ut s

epar

atin

gth

emse

lves

fr

om

dail

y pr

oduc

tive

wor

k. T

he a

rmed

cit

y pa

rtis

ans

perf

orm

spec

ial

task

s of

dis

rupt

ing

the

enem

y an

d pu

nish

ing

trai

tors

in

citi

es. A

ll th

ese

figh

ting

un

its

of

the

New

P

eopl

e's

Arm

y sh

all

be

coor

dina

ted

and

shal

lem

ploy

all

kin

ds o

f w

arfa

re t

hat

they

can

dev

elop

and

tha

t ar

e m

ade

avai

labl

eby

the

sit

uati

on a

nd t

he m

asse

s of

the

peo

ple.

The

N

ew

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy

is

high

ly

cons

ciou

s th

at

by

perf

orm

ing

its

revo

luti

onar

y du

ty

of

over

thro

win

g U

.S.

impe

rial

ism

, the

co

mpr

ador

big

bour

geoi

sie,

th

e la

ndlo

rd

clas

s an

d th

e bu

reau

crat

ca

pita

list

s in

th

ePh

ilip

pine

s, i

t is

per

form

ing

a gr

eat

and

nobl

e ta

sk f

or t

he b

road

mas

ses

of t

heF

ilip

ino

peop

le,

espe

cial

ly f

or t

he e

xplo

ited

mas

ses

of w

orke

rs a

nd p

easa

nts,

as w

ell

as f

or t

he o

ppre

ssed

pe

ople

s of

the

wor

ld.

It i

s bo

th a

pat

riot

ic d

uty

and

an a

ct o

f pr

olet

aria

n in

tern

atio

nali

sm f

or t

he N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y to

fig

htfo

r a

peop

le's

de

moc

rati

c re

volu

tion

as

th

e tr

ansi

tion

al s

tage

to

war

dsso

cial

ism

. A

rmed

str

uggl

e in

the

Phi

lipp

ines

wea

kens

and

hel

ps d

estr

oy U

.S.

impe

rial

ism

, m

oder

n re

visi

onis

m a

nd

all

reac

tion

in

the

coun

trys

ide

of t

hew

orld

and

in

the

who

le w

orld

in

the

sam

e w

ay t

hat

the

arm

ed s

trug

gle

wag

edby

all

oth

er

oppr

esse

d pe

ople

s w

eake

ns a

nd h

elps

des

troy

th

e sa

me

in t

heP

hili

ppin

es.

The

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy

has

the

inte

rnat

iona

list

man

date

to

figh

tfo

r th

e to

tal

colla

pse

of

impe

rial

ism

le

d by

U

.S.

impe

rial

ism

and

th

ew

orld

wid

e tr

ium

ph o

f so

cial

ism

in

this

era

of

Mao

Tse

tung

Tho

ught

.

Rul

e T

hree

ME

MB

ER

SHIP

IN

TH

E N

EW

PE

OP

LE

'S A

RM

Y

Poi

nt

1.

Any

ab

le-b

odie

d pe

rson

ir

resp

ecti

ve

of

age,

se

x,

colo

r,na

tion

alit

y or

rel

igio

us b

elie

f, w

ho

is c

apab

le o

f co

mba

t du

ties

and

who

is

read

y to

par

tici

pate

in

a p

rotr

acte

d ar

med

str

uggl

e ag

ains

t th

e re

acti

onar

yst

ate

pow

er

may

bec

ome

a m

embe

r of

a f

ight

ing

unit

of

the

New

Peo

ple'

sA

rmy.

Poin

t 2.

T

hose

w

ho w

ish

to j

oin

the

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy

shal

l in

form

any

unit

or

of

fice

of

th

e N

ew

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy,

P

arty

co

mm

itte

e,

Part

ym

embe

rs o

r re

volu

tion

ary

mas

s or

gani

zati

ons

of t

heir

int

enti

on.

Poi

nt 3

. L

ocal

Par

ty c

omm

itte

es,

arm

ed u

nits

of

the

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy

and

revo

luti

onar

y m

ass

orga

niza

tion

s sh

all

take

th

e in

itia

tive

of

acce

ptin

gin

divi

dual

and

col

lect

ive

requ

ests

for

mem

bers

hip

in t

he N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

yor

of

dire

ctly

rec

ruit

ing

figh

ters

and

of

crea

ting

new

fig

htin

g un

its

of t

he N

ewPe

ople

's A

rmy.

Poi

nt

4.

The

m

ilit

ary

com

man

d an

d th

e lo

cal

Part

y co

mm

itte

eim

med

iate

ly

resp

onsi

ble

for

the

area

whe

re r

ecru

itm

ent

of R

ed s

oldi

ers

isbe

ing

mad

e sh

all

dire

ct a

nd s

uper

vise

the

rec

ruit

men

t w

ork.

Poin

t 5.

A

hig

her

mili

tary

com

man

d or

Par

ty c

omm

itte

e sh

all

have

the

35

Page 20: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

righ

t to

dis

solv

e or

reo

rgan

ize

any

arm

ed u

nit o

n va

lid g

roun

ds.

Poi

nt

6.

Indi

vidu

al

or m

ass

dese

rter

s fr

om

the

enem

y si

de o

r ca

ptiv

eso

ldie

rs m

ay b

e in

corp

orat

ed i

nto

the

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy,

pro

vide

d th

ey a

rere

-edu

cate

d an

d re

orga

nize

d. T

heir

inc

orpo

rati

on

shal

l be

app

rove

d af

ter

ath

orou

gh i

nves

tiga

tion

by

the

mil

itar

y co

mm

and

and

arm

y P

arty

co

mm

itte

eof

the

pro

vinc

ial l

evel

at

leas

t.P

oint

7.

T

he

New

P

eopl

e's

Arm

y sh

all

regu

larl

y ch

eck

up

the

clas

sor

igin

, per

form

ance

of

duty

and

wil

l to

fig

ht o

f al

l its

fig

hter

s in

ord

er t

o ra

ise

cons

iste

ntly

the

ir p

role

tari

an r

evol

utio

nary

cha

ract

er.

Poi

nt 8

. T

he v

ast

maj

orit

y of

mem

bers

of

the

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy

shal

lbe

arm

ed c

omba

tant

s at

all

tim

es,

alth

ough

som

e m

embe

rs m

ay b

e as

sign

ed t

ono

n-co

mba

t fu

ncti

ons

whi

ch a

re d

irec

tly

rela

ted

to t

he f

ight

ing

effe

ctiv

enes

sof

the

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy.

Rul

e F

our

DIS

CIP

LIN

E

Poi

nt

1.

The

di

scip

line

of

the

offi

cers

and

men

in

the

New

Peo

ple'

sA

rmy

shal

l be

a

cons

ciou

s di

scip

line

gui

ded

by

Mar

xism

-Len

in is

m-M

aoT

setu

ng

Tho

ught

, by

th

e C

omm

unis

t Pa

rty

of t

he P

hili

ppin

es a

nd b

y th

eor

gani

zati

onal

pri

ncip

le o

f de

moc

rati

c ce

ntra

lism

. The

arm

y P

arty

com

mit

tee

shal

l se

e to

it

th

at

the

line

, po

lici

es

and

deci

sion

s of

th

e P

arty

ar

eim

plem

ente

d by

the

mil

itar

y co

mm

and

at e

very

leve

l.P

oint

2.

T

he

New

Pe

ople

's

Arm

y sh

all

be

boun

d by

th

e fo

llow

ing

disc

ipli

ne:

a.

the

indi

vidu

al i

s su

bord

inat

e to

the

who

le a

rmy;

b.

the

min

orit

y is

sub

ordi

nate

to

the

maj

orit

y;c.

th

e lo

wer

leve

l is

sub

ordi

nate

to t

he h

ighe

r le

vel;

and

d.

the

enti

re m

embe

rshi

p is

sub

ordi

nate

to

the

Mil

itar

y C

omm

issi

on a

ndto

the

Cen

tral

Com

mit

tee.

Poi

nt

3.

All

off

icer

s an

d m

en

shal

l be

pro

hibi

ted

from

doi

ng t

he l

east

harm

to

th

e pe

ople

's i

nter

ests

and

the

y sh

all

alw

ays

be b

ound

by

Com

rade

Mao

Tse

tung

's T

hree

Mai

n R

ules

of

Dis

cipl

ine

and

Eig

ht P

oint

s of

Att

enti

onin

ord

er t

o ke

ep h

igh

thei

r re

volu

tion

ary

inte

grit

y.a.

T

hree

Mai

n R

ules

of D

isci

plin

e:1)

O

bey

orde

rs i

n al

l you

r ac

tion

s.2)

D

o no

t ta

ke a

sin

gle

need

le o

r pi

ece

of t

hrea

d fr

om t

he m

asse

s.3)

T

urn

in e

very

thin

g ca

ptur

ed.

b.

Eig

ht P

oint

s of

Att

enti

on:

1)

Spe

ak p

olit

ely.

2)

Pay

fai

rly

for

wha

t yo

u bu

y.3)

R

etur

n ev

eryt

hing

you

bor

row

.4)

P

ay f

or a

nyth

ing

you

dam

age.

5)

Do

not

hit

or s

wea

r at

peo

ple.

6)

Do

not

dam

age

crop

s.7)

D

o no

t ta

ke l

iber

ties

wit

h w

omen

.8)

D

o no

t il

l-tr

eat c

apti

ves.

Poi

nt

4.

Off

icer

s sh

all

be

abso

lute

ly

proh

ibit

ed

from

bo

urge

ois

and

feud

al p

ract

ices

in

thei

r re

lati

ons

wit

h th

eir

men

and

wit

h th

e pe

ople

.

36

Poi

nt 5

. O

ffic

ers

and

men

sha

ll be

str

ictly

pro

hibi

ted

from

get

ting

dru

nkan

d fr

om g

ambl

ing.

Poi

nt 6

. T

he a

rmy

Part

y co

mm

itte

e at

the

pro

per

leve

l or

the

mil

itar

yco

urt

it m

ay c

reat

e sh

all

hear

and

dec

ide

case

s ag

ains

t of

fice

rs a

nd m

en a

t th

ele

vel

whe

re t

he a

llege

d m

ista

ke o

r cr

ime

has

been

com

mit

ted

and

shal

l im

pose

the

foll

owin

g pe

nalt

ies

acco

rdin

g to

the

gra

vity

of

the

offe

nse

com

mit

ted:

a.

repr

iman

db.

re

prim

and

and

reas

sign

men

tc.

de

mot

ion

d.

susp

ensi

one.

ex

puls

ion

f. ex

puls

ion

and

exec

utio

nP

oint

7.

In

all

kin

ds o

f pe

nalt

y, e

xcep

t ex

puls

ion

and

exec

utio

n, t

heof

fend

er o

r of

fend

ers

shal

l re

ceiv

e re

-edu

cati

on w

ithi

n a

reas

onab

le p

erio

d of

time

and

shal

l be

req

uire

d to

mak

e a

publ

ic a

polo

gy t

o th

e of

fend

ed.

Poi

nt 8

. T

he h

ighe

st p

enal

ty,

expu

lsio

n an

d ex

ecut

ion,

sha

ll b

e m

eted

out

on o

ffen

ders

for

the

pro

ven

crim

es o

f tr

easo

n, b

etra

yal,

dese

rtio

n in

the

face

of

the

enem

y, e

spio

nage

, sa

bota

ge,

mut

iny,

inc

itin

g to

mut

iny,

mur

der,

robb

ery,

rap

e, a

rson

and

gra

ve m

alve

rsat

ion

of p

eopl

e's

fund

s.P

oint

9.

All

case

s sh

all

be f

ully

inv

estig

ated

and

all

accu

sed

shal

l be

give

na

fair

hea

ring

.

Rul

e Fi

ve

DE

MO

CR

AC

Y

Poi

nt 1

. T

o be

abl

e to

enj

oy d

emoc

racy

and

yet

mai

ntai

n di

scip

line

and

avoi

d ul

tra-

de

moc

racy

w

ithi

n th

e N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y, a

ll o

ffic

ers,

fig

hter

san

d P

arty

ca

dres

sh

all

disc

uss

and

educ

ate

each

ot

her

on

Mao

T

setu

ngT

houg

ht

and

on t

he

prog

ram

me,

po

lici

es a

nd d

ecis

ions

of

the

Com

mun

ist

Par

ty o

f th

e P

hili

ppin

es.

Poi

nt

2.

All

offi

cers

an

d m

en

shal

l to

geth

er

enga

ge

in

peri

odic

an

dsp

ecia

l cr

itici

sm a

nd s

elf-

crit

icis

m s

essi

ons

in o

rder

to

impr

ove

thei

r po

liti

cal

and

com

bat

effe

ctiv

enes

s.

Ideo

logi

cal,

poli

tica

l an

d or

gani

zati

onal

m

ista

kes

and

wea

knes

ses

shal

l be

co

rrec

ted

thro

ugh

the

proc

ess

of

crit

icis

m

and

self

-cri

tici

sm.

Poi

nt

3.

The

re

shal

l be

po

liti

cal

dem

ocra

cy

in

that

th

e of

fice

rs

and

sold

iers

sh

all

be f

ree

to h

old

mee

ting

s an

d sp

eak

out

free

ly o

n ho

w t

o ra

ise

thei

r pr

olet

aria

n re

volu

tion

ary

cons

ciou

snes

s, b

ring

the

mse

lves

clo

ser

to t

hepe

ople

, im

prov

e th

eir

figh

ting

abi

lity

, or

gani

ze t

heir

no

n-co

mba

t w

ork

and

impr

ove

thei

r m

ater

ial

cond

itio

ns.

Poi

nt

4.

The

re

shal

l be

ec

onom

ic d

emoc

racy

am

ong

the

offi

cers

an

dso

ldie

rs i

n th

at t

hey

shal

l sha

re w

eal

and

woe

, enj

oy e

qual

mat

eria

l co

ndit

ions

such

as

equ

al

rati

ons

and

equa

l al

low

ance

s,

they

sh

all

have

the

ri

ght

tom

anag

e to

geth

er

thei

r su

ppli

es

and

mes

s,

wit

h th

e so

ldie

rs

elec

ting

repr

esen

tativ

es

to

assi

st

the

com

pany

le

ader

ship

in

man

agem

ent,

and

that

anyo

ne s

hall

have

the

rig

ht t

o lo

ok i

nto

the

acco

unts

and

sup

plie

s an

ytim

e.P

oint

5.

The

re s

hall

be m

ilit

ary

dem

ocra

cy a

mon

g of

fice

rs a

nd s

oldi

ers

in t

hat

toge

ther

the

y sh

all

hold

a s

erie

s of

mee

ting

s be

fore

and

aft

er b

attl

esan

d ca

mpa

igns

, w

here

by t

he o

ffic

ers

teac

h th

e so

ldie

rs, t

he s

oldi

ers

teac

h th

e

37

Page 21: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

offi

cers

an

d th

e so

ldie

rs

teac

h ea

ch

othe

r co

ncer

ning

op

erat

iona

l pl

ans,

met

hods

and

tec

hniq

ues

of f

ight

ing

and

win

ning

bat

tles.

Rul

e E

ight

FOR

MS

OF

PEO

PLE

'S A

RM

ED

FO

RC

ES

Poi

nt 1

. T

he N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y sh

all e

ncom

pass

the

fol

low

ing

form

s of

figh

ting

uni

ts:

a.

regu

lar m

obil

e fo

rces

b.

guer

rill

a un

its

c.

mil

itia

and

sel

f-de

fens

e un

its

d.

arm

ed c

ity

part

isan

sP

oint

2

. ...

Poi

nt

3.

The

fo

rmat

ion

and

grow

th o

f gu

erri

lla

unit

s sh

all

alw

ays

beba

sed

on t

he

poli

tica

l si

tuat

ion

and

avai

labi

lity

of

wea

pons

in

a p

arti

cula

rar

ea.

The

int

egra

tion

of

a gu

erri

lla

unit

or

part

of

it in

to t

he r

egul

ar m

obile

forc

es s

hall

be d

ecid

ed b

y th

e re

gion

al o

pera

tion

al

com

man

d,

the

nati

onal

oper

atio

nal

com

man

d or

Mil

itar

y C

omm

issi

on.

How

ever

, gu

erri

lla

unit

s sh

all

cont

inue

to

be r

aise

d as

a f

orce

aux

ilia

ry t

o th

e re

gula

r m

obil

e fo

rces

.P

oint

4.

The

mil

itia

and

sel

f-de

fens

e un

its

shal

l be

com

pose

d of

tho

sew

ho

cont

inue

w

ith

thei

r da

ily

prod

ucti

ve

life.

T

hey

shal

l pl

ay

a m

ainl

yde

fens

ive

role

but

th

ey

shal

l se

rve

as t

he v

ast

rese

rve

and

supp

ort

for

the

regu

lar

mob

ile

forc

es a

nd t

he g

uerr

illa

uni

ts.

Poin

t 5.

E

very

uni

t of

the

arm

ed c

ity p

arti

sans

sha

ll co

nsis

t of

at

leas

tth

ree

com

bat

mem

bers

and

sha

ll sp

ecia

lize

in

city

ope

rati

ons,

in

int

elli

genc

ean

d re

conn

aiss

ance

, in

di

srup

ting

the

en

emy

rule

, in

ra

isin

g th

e fi

ghti

ngm

oral

e of

w

orke

rs

and

the

urba

n pe

tty

bour

geoi

sie

and

in p

repa

ring

in

alo

ng-t

erm

way

for

a g

ener

al c

ity

upri

sing

upo

n in

stru

ctio

ns o

f th

e M

ilit

ary

Com

mis

sion

.P

oint

6.

T

he

unit

co

mm

ande

rs

and

thei

r de

puty

co

mm

ande

rs

shal

lco

nsti

tute

the

uni

t op

erat

iona

l co

mm

and.

Poin

t 7.

T

he r

egul

ar m

obil

e fo

rces

sha

ll di

stri

bute

arm

s an

d am

mun

itio

nto

the

gue

rril

las,

mil

itia

and

sel

f-de

fens

e un

its

and

the

arm

ed c

ity p

artis

ans

tora

ise

thei

r fi

ghti

ng c

apac

ity

or i

nteg

rate

the

m a

s re

gula

r tr

oops

or

crea

te n

ewfi

ghti

ng u

nits

of

the

sam

e ty

pe.

The

gue

rril

las

shal

l lik

ewis

e di

stri

bute

ar

ms

and

amm

unit

ion

to t

he m

ilit

ia a

nd s

elf-

defe

nse

unit

s to

rai

se t

heir

fig

htin

gca

paci

ty

or c

reat

e ne

w f

ight

ing

unit

s of

the

sam

e or

rai

se t

hem

to

a hi

gher

com

bat

form

atio

n.Po

int

8.

Part

y ca

dres

, of

fice

rs a

nd m

en i

n th

e N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y m

aybe

ass

igne

d to

cre

ate

the

non-

regu

lar

arm

ed u

nits

men

tion

ed

in P

oint

s 3,

4,

and

5 ab

ove.

2. R

evol

uti

onar

y G

uide

to

Lan

d R

efor

m

Fol

low

ing

is t

he f

ull

text

of

the

Rev

olut

iona

ry G

uide

for

Lan

d R

efor

mis

sued

by

th

e C

omm

unis

t P

arty

of

th

e P

hilip

pine

s.

This

is

an

impo

rtan

tdo

cum

ent

whi

ch

serv

es a

s th

e ba

sic

guid

e fo

r th

e N

ew

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy

and

Bar

rio

Org

aniz

ing

Com

mit

tees

in

carr

ying

out

the

agr

aria

n re

volu

tion

.

38

Cha

pter

I. T

HE

MA

IN C

ON

TE

NT

OF

TH

E P

EO

PL

E'S

DE

MO

CR

AT

IC R

EV

OL

UT

ION

Sect

ion

1.

The

mai

n co

nten

t of

the

peo

ple'

s de

moc

rati

c re

volu

tion

is t

hefu

lfil

lmen

t of

th

e pe

asan

ts'

dem

and

for

land

an

d th

e er

adic

atio

n of

th

eva

riou

s fo

rms

of f

euda

l an

d se

mi-

feud

al e

xplo

itat

ion.

Sect

ion

2.

It

is t

here

fore

th

e pr

ime

duty

of

the

peo

ple'

s de

moc

rati

cgo

vern

men

t to

fu

lfill

th

e af

orec

ited

de

man

d by

im

plem

enti

ng

aco

mpr

ehen

sive

la

nd

refo

rm

prog

ram

w

hose

es

sent

ial

goal

is

th

e fr

eedi

stri

buti

on o

f la

nd t

o th

e po

or p

easa

nts

and

low

er-m

iddl

e pe

asan

ts a

nd t

hepr

omot

ion

of p

rodu

ctiv

e co

oper

atio

n am

ong

the

peas

ant

mas

ses.

Cha

pter

II.

TH

E L

AN

D R

EF

OR

M P

RO

GR

AM

Sect

ion

1.

Thi

s la

nd r

efor

m p

rogr

am s

hall

have

as

its m

inim

um g

oal

the

dras

tic

redu

ctio

n of

la

nd

rent

an

d th

e el

imin

atio

n of

us

ury;

and

as

its

max

imum

goa

l th

e fr

ee d

istr

ibut

ion

of l

and

to t

he t

ille

rs w

ho h

ave

no l

and

orw

ho d

o no

t ha

ve e

noug

h la

nd. T

his

prog

ram

sha

ll al

so h

ave

as a

con

stan

t goa

lth

e be

tter

men

t of

w

age

and

livin

g co

ndit

ions

of

fa

rm

wor

kers

in

land

edes

tate

s op

erat

ed o

n a

capi

tali

st b

asis

.Se

ctio

n 1

Free

di

stri

buti

on

of

land

sh

all

be e

ffec

ted

as s

oon

as t

heC

omm

unis

t Pa

rty

of t

he P

hili

ppin

es,

the

New

Peo

ple'

s A

rmy,

the

peo

ple'

sde

moc

ratic

go

vern

men

t, th

e pe

asan

t as

soci

atio

ns

and

othe

r m

ass

orga

niza

tions

, th

e m

ilit

ia a

nd t

he l

ocal

gue

rrill

as a

re s

uffi

cien

tly

stro

ng i

n th

ela

nd r

efor

m a

rea.

Sect

ion.

3.

The

Par

ty C

entr

al C

omm

itte

e or

a r

egio

nal P

arty

com

mit

tee

shal

l ha

ve t

he a

utho

rity

to

dete

rmin

e w

heth

er t

he f

ree

dist

ribu

tion

of

land

isal

read

y po

ssib

le i

n a

give

n la

nd r

efor

m a

rea.

Cha

pter

III

. R

EN

T R

ED

UC

TIO

N A

ND

EL

IMIN

AT

ION

OF

US

UR

Y

Sect

ion

1.

In

land

s w

here

fe

udal

re

lati

ons

exis

t, la

nd

rent

sh

all

bere

duce

d to

ove

r te

n pe

r ce

nt o

r ev

en le

ss o

f ev

ery

crop

. Suc

h la

nd r

ent

may

be

mad

e in

cas

h or

kin

d.Se

ctio

n 2.

T

he n

et c

rop

shal

l be

arr

ived

at

by d

educ

ting

fro

m t

he g

ross

crop

al

l ag

ricu

ltur

al

cost

s in

curr

ed

by

the

tena

nt.

Cos

ts

for

plou

ghin

g,ha

rrow

ing,

ren

t or

dep

reci

atio

n of

far

m a

nim

als

and

impl

emen

ts,

irri

gati

on,

seed

ing

and

seed

lings

, pl

anti

ng,

wee

ding

, fe

rtil

izer

s, p

esti

cide

s,

harv

esti

ng,

haul

ing,

thr

eshi

ng

and

mill

ing

shal

l be

in

the

cate

gory

of

agr

icul

tura

l co

sts.

Such

sh

all

be

dete

rmin

ed

acco

rdin

g to

pri

ce s

tand

ards

se

t by

the

pe

asan

tas

soci

atio

n an

d al

so a

ccor

ding

to

curr

ent

pric

es.

Sect

ion

3.

Usu

ry s

hall

be c

ompl

etel

y el

imin

ated

by

four

met

hods

:a.

en

cour

agin

g th

e pe

asan

t m

asse

s to

kee

p pe

rson

al s

avin

gs;

b.

lett

ing

the

peas

ant

asso

ciat

ion

oper

ate

as a

coo

pera

tive

as

soci

atio

nin

ord

er t

o ac

cum

ulat

e sa

ving

s an

d ot

her

inco

me;

c.

lim

itin

g th

e ra

tes

of i

nter

est

to o

nly

a si

mpl

e in

tere

st o

f si

x pe

rcen

tof

six

per

cent

per

ann

um o

n cu

rren

t de

bts;

and

d.

canc

elli

ng a

ll un

just

deb

ts a

nd r

ecom

puti

ng o

ld d

ebts

as

far

back

as

five

year

s at

the

sim

ple

inte

rest

rat

e of

six

per

cent

per

ann

um.

39

Page 22: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

Sect

ion

4.

Any

ag

ricu

ltur

al c

ost,

espe

cial

ly s

eed

grai

n, w

hich

may

be

shou

lder

ed

by t

he l

andl

ord

shal

l be

pai

d fo

r w

itho

ut p

rofi

t or

int

eres

t an

dsh

all

be d

educ

ted

from

the

gro

ss c

rop.

The

pea

sant

ass

ocia

tion

s sh

all i

nqui

rein

to

ever

y lo

an

agre

emen

t be

twee

n a

land

lord

an

d a

tena

nt a

nd s

hall

not

allo

w a

ny l

andl

ord

to c

ompe

l a

tena

nt t

o re

ceiv

e an

y lo

an f

rom

him

or

from

any

know

n us

urer

, es

peci

ally

whe

n th

e in

tere

st r

ate

char

ged

is m

ore

than

the

sim

ple

inte

rest

rat

e of

six

per

cen

t pe

r an

num

.Se

ctio

n 5.

R

ent

on w

ork

anim

als

and

farm

im

plem

ents

whi

ch a

re b

oth

land

lord

pro

pert

y sh

all

be r

educ

ed p

aral

lel

to l

and

rent

red

ucti

on.

The

ric

hpe

asan

ts a

nd u

pper

- mid

dle

peas

ants

sha

ll al

so b

e pe

rsua

ded

to r

educ

e re

nt o

nth

eir

wor

k an

imal

s an

d im

plem

ents

.Se

ctio

n 6.

N

o la

ndlo

rd,

adm

inis

trat

or o

r ov

erse

er s

hall

be a

llow

ed

tode

man

d an

y ki

nd o

f tr

ibut

e fr

om t

he t

enan

t fa

mil

ies,

whe

ther

thi

s be

in

the

form

of

labo

r, m

enia

l se

rvic

e, f

ees

or a

nyth

ing

else

in

kind

fro

m t

he m

ain

orsi

de o

ccup

atio

ns o

f th

e te

nant

s.Se

ctio

n 7.

R

ich

peas

ants

and

upp

er m

iddl

e pe

asan

ts s

hall

be p

ersu

aded

to i

ncre

ase

the

wag

es o

f th

e fa

rm w

orke

rs t

hat

they

hir

e or

red

uce

the

rent

paid

to

them

by

thei

r te

nant

s or

sub

tena

nts

in a

ccor

danc

e w

ith

stan

dard

s se

tby

the

pea

sant

as

soci

atio

n. S

uch

stan

dard

s sh

all

not

mak

e th

e ri

ch p

easa

nts

and

uppe

r m

iddl

e pe

asan

ts l

ose

thei

r st

atus

.S

ecti

on

8.

In c

ase

of a

ny

cala

mit

y li

ke f

lood

s, d

roug

ht,

crop

di

seas

e,fi

re,

enem

y ac

tion

or

the

like

, whe

re a

t le

ast

twen

ty p

er c

ent

of t

he c

rop

isde

stro

yed,

the

ten

ant

shal

l no

t pa

y an

y la

nd r

ent

to t

he l

andl

ord.

Sho

uld

the

cala

mit

y da

mag

e th

e cr

op t

o th

e ex

tent

of

at l

east

fif

ty

per

cent

, th

e te

nant

shal

l no

t pa

y an

y la

nd r

ent

for

the

incu

mbe

nt c

rop

and

also

for

the

nex

t cr

op.

Pay

men

ts

on

debt

s pr

evio

usly

inc

urre

d on

des

troy

ed

crop

s sh

all

be j

ustl

yse

ttle

d by

de

cisi

on

of

the

peas

ant

asso

ciat

ion

acco

rdin

g to

co

ncre

teci

rcum

stan

ces.

The

pea

sant

ass

ocia

tion

may

dec

ide

to c

ance

l th

e de

bts

to a

nex

tent

pa

rall

el t

o th

e am

ount

of

dest

ruct

ion,

esp

ecia

lly

if t

hose

deb

ts w

ere

incu

rred

fro

m l

andl

ords

and

oth

er p

riva

te m

oney

lend

ers.

Sec

tion

9.

In c

ase

a te

nant

for

one

rea

son

or a

noth

er f

orfe

its

his

righ

t to

till

the

land

, it

sh

all

be

the

resp

onsi

bili

ty

of

the

peas

ant

asso

ciat

ion

tode

term

ine

tena

ncy

righ

ts.

The

te

nanc

y ri

ghts

sh

all

be

pass

ed

on

to

anim

med

iate

rel

ativ

e of

the

pre

viou

s te

nant

or

to s

omeo

ne e

lse

who

is

a fa

rmw

orke

r or

poo

r pe

asan

t.S

ecti

on

10.

The

si

mpl

e m

etho

d of

wit

hhol

ding

inf

orm

atio

n fr

om

the

land

lord

ab

out

the

actu

al

harv

est

may

be

em

ploy

ed

to

redu

ce

land

ren

tdr

asti

call

y. I

n su

ch a

cas

e, o

ne h

alf

of t

he l

and

rent

tha

t sh

ould

hav

e go

ne t

oth

e la

ndlo

rds

shal

l be

giv

en t

o th

e pe

ople

's d

omoc

rati

c go

vern

men

t th

roug

hth

e pe

asan

t as

soci

atio

ns o

r th

e N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y an

d th

e ot

her

half

sha

llac

crue

to

the

inco

me

of t

he t

enan

ts.

Sec

tion

11.

O

n th

e ev

e of

the

con

fisc

atio

n of

lan

dlor

d pr

oper

ty a

nd f

ree

dist

ribu

tion

of

the

sam

e, s

impl

e no

ndel

iver

y of

lan

d re

nt t

o th

e la

ndlo

rds

shal

l be

mad

e co

ncer

tedl

y by

the

ten

ant

mas

ses.

One

hal

f of

the

lan

d re

ntth

at

shou

ld h

ave

gone

to

the

land

lord

s sh

all

auto

mat

ical

ly b

e gi

ven

to t

hepe

ople

's d

emoc

rati

c go

vern

men

t th

roug

h th

e pe

asan

t as

soci

atio

n or

the

New

Peop

le's

Arm

y an

d th

e ot

her

half

sha

ll ac

crue

to

the

inco

me

on t

he t

enan

ts.

Sect

ion

12.

The

pea

sant

ass

ocia

tion

s an

d th

eir

com

mit

tees

sha

ll co

nduc

tm

ass

mee

ting

s on

lan

d re

form

, an

d sh

all

cont

inuo

usly

stu

dy a

nd d

iscu

ss a

ndev

entu

ally

agr

ee o

n ho

w t

o di

stri

bute

the

lan

ds t

o be

con

fisc

ated

fro

m t

he

40

land

lord

s. S

uch

acti

viti

es s

hall

faci

lita

te t

he c

urre

nt a

s w

ell

as f

utur

e w

ork

ofth

e la

nd r

efor

m c

omm

itte

es.

Sect

ion

13.

Any

la

ndlo

rd

who

res

orts

to

vio

lent

mea

ns o

r an

y ot

her

coun

ter-

rev

olut

iona

ry a

ctio

n in

ord

er t

o co

unte

ract

or

sabo

tage

the

cam

paig

nto

red

uce

land

ren

t an

d el

imin

ate

usur

y sh

all

be p

unis

hed

acco

rdin

g to

the

grav

ity

of h

is c

rim

e, s

hall

have

his

lan

d co

nfis

cate

d an

d sh

all

have

the

loa

ns h

eha

s le

nt c

ance

lled

wit

hout

fur

ther

com

pens

atio

n. H

owev

er, o

ther

mem

bers

of

his

fam

ily

shal

l be

gi

ven

the

oppo

rtun

ity

to

have

a m

eans

of

live

liho

od,

incl

udin

g la

nd

cult

ivat

ion,

pr

ovid

ed

they

ob

ey

the

law

s of

th

e pe

ople

'sde

moc

rati

c go

vern

men

t.

Cha

pter

IV

. F

RE

E D

IST

RIB

UT

ION

OF

LA

ND

Sect

ion

1.

Lan

d sh

all

be c

onfi

scat

ed

from

the

la

ndlo

rds

and

shal

l be

dist

ribu

ted

free

to

the

poor

pea

sant

and

low

er-m

iddl

e pe

asan

t fa

mil

ies,

who

shal

l ha

ve p

rior

ity

in o

wni

ng t

he p

iece

of

land

tha

t th

ey t

ill b

ut w

ho s

hall

at

the

sam

e ti

me

agre

e to

cer

tain

rea

djus

tmen

ts f

or t

he p

urpo

se o

f en

suri

ng e

ach

fam

ily

has

suff

icie

nt la

nd a

nd t

here

fore

pro

mot

ing

the

com

mon

wel

fare

.Se

ctio

n 2.

L

and

shal

l be

di

stri

bute

d ac

cord

ing

to

the

prin

cipl

e of

equa

lizi

ng l

ande

d pr

oper

ty a

nd e

nabl

ing

the

poor

pea

sant

s an

d lo

wer

-mid

dle

peas

ants

to

achi

eve

the

stat

us o

f m

iddl

e-m

iddl

e pe

asan

ts.

Due

con

side

rati

onsh

all

be g

iven

to

the

foll

owin

g:a.

th

e to

tal

amou

nt o

f la

nd a

vail

able

for

dis

trib

utio

n in

the

are

a;b.

th

e si

ze a

nd

labo

r po

wer

of

eve

ry f

amil

y or

hou

seho

ld r

ecei

ving

the

land

; and

the

qua

lity

, loc

atio

n an

d si

ze o

f th

e la

nd.

Sec

tion

3.

Dep

ende

nts

of r

evol

utio

nary

mar

tyrs

, ca

dres

and

Red

fig

hter

ssh

all

enjo

y pr

iori

ty i

n re

ceiv

ing

a sh

are

of t

he l

and

bein

g di

stri

bute

d fr

ee.

Inca

ses

whe

re

they

la

ck

suff

icie

nt

labo

r po

wer

, th

e pe

ople

's

dem

ocra

tic

gove

rnm

ent

shal

l se

e to

it

that

the

pea

sant

ass

ocia

tion

in

thei

r lo

cali

ty g

ives

them

all

nec

essa

ry c

oope

rati

ve a

ssis

tanc

e in

cul

tiva

ting

the

ir l

and.

Sect

ion

4.

The

mid

dle-

mid

dle

peas

ants

sha

ll be

giv

en s

ome

shar

e of

the

land

bei

ng d

istr

ibut

ed f

ree

in o

rder

to

rais

e th

e le

vel

of t

heir

liv

elih

ood

toso

me

exte

nt,

prov

ided

th

at t

his

land

sha

re d

oes

not

give

the

m t

he s

tatu

s of

uppe

r-m

iddl

e pe

asan

ts o

r ri

ch p

easa

nts.

Sect

ion

5.

Wor

kers

, han

dicr

afts

men

, ped

lars

and

oth

er p

oor

nonp

easa

nts

who

ar

e w

illi

ng t

o ti

ll th

e so

il sh

all

be

give

n a

shar

e of

th

e la

nd

bein

gdi

stri

bute

d fr

ee.

Sho

uld

they

con

tinu

e to

hav

e m

eans

of

live

liho

od o

ther

tha

nti

llin

g th

e so

il, t

heir

lan

d sh

are

shal

l be

pro

perl

y ad

just

ed.

Sect

ion

6.

Wor

k an

imal

s,

farm

im

plem

ents

an

d ot

her

prop

erty

conf

isca

ted

from

th

e la

ndlo

rds

shal

l be

di

stri

bute

d fr

ee

on

the

basi

s of

equa

lizi

ng

prop

erty

or

tu

rned

ov

er

to

the

peas

ant

asso

ciat

ion

for

adm

inis

trat

ion

and

com

mon

us

e.Se

ctio

n 7.

O

rcha

rds,

fis

hpon

ds, r

anch

es a

nd o

ther

suc

h pr

oper

ty w

hich

are

land

lord

pro

pert

y bu

t w

hich

can

not

be d

ivid

ed w

itho

ut p

reju

dici

ng th

eir

prod

ucti

vity

sh

all

be

turn

ed

over

to

th

e co

oper

ativ

es

or

to

the

peop

le's

dem

ocra

tic

gove

rnm

ent

for

appr

opri

ate

purp

oses

.Se

ctio

n 8.

D

epen

ding

on

conc

rete

con

diti

ons,

one

to

ten

perc

ent

of t

hela

nd

conf

isca

ted

from

la

ndlo

rd's

sh

ould

be

se

t as

ide

for

publ

ic u

se;

for

prod

ucti

on

plot

s of

th

e N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y, t

he p

easa

nt a

ssoc

iati

ons

and

41

Page 23: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

othe

r m

ass

orga

niza

tion

s;

expe

rim

enta

l fa

rms;

an

d al

so

for

futu

rere

adju

stm

ents

in

land

dis

trib

utio

n.S

ecti

on

9.

The

sur

plus

lan

d an

d ot

her

mea

ns o

f pr

oduc

tion

ow

ned

byth

e ri

ch

peas

ants

an

d up

per-

mid

dle

peas

ants

sh

all

not

be

conf

isca

ted.

How

ever

, th

ese

rich

pas

ants

and

upp

er-m

iddl

e pe

asan

ts s

hall

by

pers

uade

d to

furt

her

incr

ease

the

wag

es o

f th

e fa

rm w

orke

rs t

hat

they

hir

e or

red

uce

the

rent

pai

d to

the

m

by t

heir

ten

ants

in

acco

rdan

ce w

ith

stan

dard

s se

t by

the

peas

ant

asso

ciat

ion.

In

case

s w

here

the

ric

h pe

asna

ts a

nd m

iddl

e pe

asan

ts r

ent

land

s fr

om

the

land

lord

s, s

uch

land

s sh

all

by

cons

ider

ed l

andl

ord

prop

erty

and

shal

l be

sub

ject

to

conf

isca

tion

, wit

h th

e ri

ch p

easa

nts

and

uppe

r-m

iddl

epe

asan

ts g

etti

ng th

eir

due

shar

e in

the

fre

e di

stri

buti

on o

f la

nd.

Sec

tion

10

. T

he

land

s of

rev

olut

iona

ry m

arty

rs,

cadr

es,

Red

fi

ghte

rs,

scho

ol t

each

ers,

pro

fess

iona

ls a

nd w

orke

rs w

hich

do

not

exce

ed t

he l

imit

s of

the

land

hold

ings

of

rich

pea

sant

s sh

all

not

be c

onsi

dere

d la

ndlo

rd p

rope

rty

and

shal

l no

t be

co

nfis

cate

d,

prov

ided

th

ey

are

till

ed b

y re

lati

ves

of

the

owne

rs a

nd p

rovi

ded

furt

her

that

the

loc

al m

asse

s ag

ree.

Sec

tion

11

. H

omes

, in

dust

rial

an

d co

mm

erci

al

ente

rpri

ses,

ar

tisa

ns'

shop

s, s

choo

ls,

reli

giou

s ho

uses

, pl

azas

, pu

blic

pla

ygro

unds

and

the

lik

e sh

all

be

allo

wed

th

eir

nece

ssar

y la

nd s

ites.

Eve

n be

fore

the

fr

ee

dist

ribu

tion

of

land

, al

l te

nant

s sh

all

be a

ssur

ed o

f ow

ners

hip

of

thei

r ho

me

lots

wit

hout

payi

ng a

ny a

mou

nt t

o th

eir

land

lord

.S

ecti

on

12.

The

m

embe

rs

of

the

enli

ghte

d ge

ntry

w

ho

supp

ort

the

peop

le's

dem

ocra

tic

gove

rnm

ent

and

agre

e w

ith

its

land

ref

orm

pro

gram

sha

llno

t be

sub

ject

ed t

o an

y pu

nish

men

t or

hum

ilia

tion

, and

eac

h of

the

m s

hall

beal

low

ed

to

keep

hi

s ow

n ho

use,

pe

rson

al

faci

liti

es

and

indu

stri

al

orco

mm

erci

al b

usin

ess

or a

pie

ce o

f la

nd w

hich

is

roug

hly

equi

vale

nt t

o th

epi

ece

of l

and

owne

d by

a r

ich

peas

ant.

Sec

tion

13

. L

andl

ords

w

ho

have

no

t co

mm

itte

d an

y se

riou

s cr

ime

agai

nst

the

peop

le s

hall

be

allo

ted

to t

he s

ame

exte

nt a

nd q

uali

ty g

iven

to

the

poor

pea

sant

s an

d lo

wer

- mid

dle

peas

ants

, pr

ovid

ed t

hey

are

wil

ling

to

till

the

soil

and

to r

e-ed

ucat

e th

emse

lves

thro

ugh

thei

r ow

n la

bor.

Sec

tion

14

. P

erso

ns o

f go

od s

tand

ing

who

hav

e le

ft t

heir

hom

e ba

rrio

sfo

r on

e re

ason

or

anot

her

shal

l upo

n th

eir

retu

rn b

e gi

ven

land

for

the

m t

o til

lso

lon

g as

the

y ex

pres

s th

eir

wil

ling

ness

to t

ill

the

land

.S

ecti

on

15.

Ene

my

sold

iers

and

of

fice

rs

who

hav

e m

utin

ied

agai

nst

orde

sert

ed

the

enem

y sh

all

be

abso

lved

of

re

spon

sibi

lity

fo

r pa

st

acti

ons

com

mit

ted

unde

r or

ders

of

thei

r su

peri

ors

and

shal

l th

eref

ore

be a

llow

ed t

oen

joy

the

bene

fits

of

land

ref

orm

.Se

ctio

n 16

. A

ny

land

lord

w

ho r

esor

ts

to v

iole

nt m

eans

or

any

othe

rco

unte

r-re

volu

tion

ary

acti

on i

n or

der

to s

abot

age

or c

ount

erac

t th

e ca

mpa

ign

to d

istr

ibut

e la

nd f

ree

shal

l be

puni

shed

acc

ordi

ng t

o th

e gr

avit

y of

his

cri

mes

.H

owev

er,

othe

r m

embe

rs o

f hi

s fa

mil

y sh

all b

e gi

ven

the

oppo

rtun

ity

to h

ave

a m

eans

of

live

liho

od,

incl

udin

g th

e ri

ght

to

own

and

till

a pi

ece

of l

and,

prov

ided

th

at t

hey

obey

th

e la

ws

of t

he p

eopl

e's

gove

rnm

ent.

Cha

pter

V. T

HE

PE

AS

AN

T A

SS

OC

IAT

ION

AS

A C

OO

PE

RA

TIV

E A

SSO

CIA

TIO

N

Sec

tion

1.

The

pea

sant

ass

ocia

tion

sha

ll at

the

bar

rio

leve

l and

upw

ards

func

tion

as

a

coop

erat

ive

asso

ciat

ion

mai

nly

of

poor

pe

asan

ts,

mid

dle

42

peas

ants

an

d fa

rm

wor

kers

, un

less

th

ere

is

som

e pa

rtic

ular

ne

ed

for

aco

oper

ativ

e as

soci

atio

n th

at i

s di

stin

ct f

rom

the

pea

sant

ass

ocia

tion

.S

ecti

on

2.

The

pe

asan

t as

soci

atio

n sh

all

alw

ays

fost

er

and

unde

rtak

eam

ong

its

mem

bers

suc

h el

emen

tary

for

ms

of c

oope

rati

on a

s m

utua

l ai

d an

dex

chan

ge o

f la

bor

in o

rder

to

prom

ote

the

com

mon

wel

fare

, ra

ise

prod

ucti

on,

redu

ce

cert

ain

prod

ucti

on

cost

s an

d el

imin

ate

the

need

for

cre

dit

from

the

usur

ers.

Sect

ion

3.

The

pea

sant

ass

ocia

tion

sha

ll se

e to

it

that

the

pro

duct

s of

its

mem

bers

can

be

sold

at

the

best

pos

sibl

e pr

ice

and

shal

l co

mba

t ex

ploi

tati

vem

erch

ant

man

ipul

atio

ns.

It s

hall

deal

fai

rly

wit

h th

e m

erch

ants

and

all

owth

em a

fai

r ra

te o

f pr

ofit

.Se

ctio

n 4.

E

qual

gra

in o

r ca

sh c

ontr

ibut

ions

sha

ll be

spe

cial

ly p

oole

d or

regu

larl

y ac

cum

ulat

e fr

om m

embe

rs

of t

he

peas

ant

asso

ciat

ion

in o

rder

to

crea

te v

ario

us ty

pes

of c

omm

on f

unds

suc

h as

the

fol

low

ing:

a.

for

acqu

irin

g w

ork

anim

als,

fa

rm

impl

emen

ts,

equi

pmen

t an

dfa

cili

ties

tha

t ot

herw

ise

cann

ot b

e af

ford

ed b

y a

sing

le p

erso

n or

fam

ily;

b.

for

sett

ing

up a

sto

re t

hat

buys

bas

ic c

omm

odit

ies

as w

ell

as s

eeds

,fe

rtil

izer

s an

d pe

stic

ides

in

bu

lk

and

that

co

nseq

uent

ly

sell

s to

th

e lo

cal

peop

le a

t re

tail

pric

es l

ower

tha

n if

the

goo

ds w

ere

othe

rwis

e pu

rcha

sed;

c.

for

deve

lopi

ng s

ide

occu

pati

ons?

d.

for

stor

ing

med

icin

e fo

r co

mm

on

illne

sses

as

wel

l as

for

get

ting

adeq

uate

med

ical

and

den

tal

serv

ices

;e.

fo

r su

ppor

ting

ed

ucat

iona

l an

d cu

ltur

al

acti

viti

es

and

also

recr

eati

onal

pro

ject

s an

d fa

cili

ties

;f.

fo

r im

prov

ing

tran

spor

t an

d co

mm

unic

atio

ns f

acil

itie

s; a

ndg.

fo

r de

fray

ing

buri

al e

xpen

ses.

Sec

tion

5.

The

pea

sant

ass

ocia

tion

may

acq

uire

suc

h m

oder

n eq

uipm

ent

as i

rrig

atio

n pu

mps

, tr

acto

rs

and

thre

shin

g an

d m

illi

ng m

achi

nes

but

befo

rean

y su

ch a

cqui

siti

on

it s

hall

dem

and

mor

e ef

fici

ent

and

chea

per

serv

ice

from

owne

rs o

f eq

uipm

ent

alre

ady

in o

pera

tion

.S

ecti

on 6

. W

hen

cred

it is

exp

lici

tly

exte

nded

to

part

icul

ar m

embe

rs,

the

peas

ant

asso

ciat

ion

shal

l no

t ch

arge

an

inte

rest

rat

e hi

gher

tha

n si

x pe

r ce

ntpe

r an

num

and

sha

ll ac

cept

lan

d, t

he n

ext

harv

est,

farm

ani

mal

s, im

plem

ents

or s

ome

usef

ul p

erso

nal

prop

erty

as

col

late

ral

com

men

sura

te i

n va

lue

to t

heam

ount

of

cre

dit

exte

nded

. C

redi

t ca

n be

ext

ende

d on

ly f

or p

rodu

ctiv

e or

othe

r w

orth

whi

le

reas

ons.

T

he

peas

ant

asso

ciat

ion

shal

l ha

ve t

he r

ight

to

inqu

ire

any

tim

e in

to t

he a

ctua

l us

e of

the

loa

n.Se

ctio

n 7.

T

he

peas

ant

asso

ciat

ion

shal

l ap

ply

coop

erat

ive

effo

rts

inhe

lpin

g th

e de

pend

ents

of

re

volu

tion

ary

mar

tyrs

, ca

dres

and

Red

fig

hter

scu

ltiv

ate

thei

r fi

elds

or

earn

a l

ivin

g in

som

e ot

her

way

.Se

ctio

n 8.

T

he p

easa

nt a

ssoc

iati

on s

hall

deve

lop

on a

coo

pera

tive

bas

issu

ch

side

oc

cupa

tion

s as

cu

ltiv

atio

n of

or

char

ds

and

vege

tabl

es,

poul

try-

rais

ing,

hog

-rai

sing

, ca

ttle

-rai

sing

, lu

mbe

ring

, ca

rpen

try,

col

lect

ion

ofw

ood

fuel

, fi

shin

g,

fish

-far

min

g,

fish

pr

oces

sing

, ha

ndic

raft

s, t

ailo

ring

and

dres

smak

ing,

bl

acks

mit

hing

, tr

ansp

orta

tion

(t

ricy

cles

, je

epne

ys a

nd

mot

orbo

ats)

, m

otor

rep

air

shop

s an

d ot

hers

.Se

ctio

n 9.

T

he

peas

ant

asso

ciat

ion

shal

l de

cide

ac

cord

ing

to

conc

rete

cond

itio

ns

how

to

re

cove

r ex

pens

es,

mai

ntai

n le

vels

of

fina

ncia

l su

ffic

ienc

yan

d dr

aw a

fai

r ra

te o

f re

turn

on

inve

stm

ents

.Se

ctio

n 10

. T

he p

easa

nt

asso

ciat

ion

shal

l ac

quir

e la

nds

for

coop

erat

ive

43

Page 24: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

Ipurp

oses

and

sha

ll du

ring

the

fre

e di

stri

buti

on o

f la

nd h

ave

thei

r ow

n sh

are.

The

la

nds

owne

d co

oper

ativ

ely

shal

l se

rve

as t

he

base

for

rea

chin

g hi

gher

leve

ls

of

coop

erat

ion

and

thei

r in

com

e sh

all

be u

sed

for

acqu

irin

g su

rplu

sla

nds

of r

ich

peas

ants

and

oth

ers

perm

itte

d to

ow

n su

rplu

s la

nds

and

also

the

land

s of

the

ben

efic

iari

es o

f la

nd r

efor

m w

ho f

or o

ne r

easo

n or

ano

ther

wan

tto

sel

l th

eir

land

s.Se

ctio

n 11

. M

embe

rs o

f th

e pe

asan

t as

soci

atio

n sh

all

be e

ntit

led

to a

neq

ual

shar

e of

la

bor

and

like

wis

e to

an

eq

ual

shar

e of

in

com

e in

th

ecu

ltiv

atio

n of

th

e la

nds

owne

d co

oper

ativ

ely.

H

owev

er,

the

peas

ant

asso

ciat

ion

shal

l de

vise

a s

yste

m o

f w

ork

poin

ts i

n or

der

to g

ive

due

valu

e to

the

actu

al d

iffe

renc

es i

n qu

anti

ty a

nd q

uali

ty o

f w

ork

done

by

the

mem

bers

.T

he m

embe

rs s

hall

be c

ompe

nsat

ed

acco

rdin

gly.

Sect

ion

12.

Peas

ant

asso

ciat

ions

of

a nu

mbe

r of

bar

rios

, to

wns

, di

stri

cts

or p

rovi

nces

may

und

erta

ke j

oint

coo

pera

tive

pro

ject

s un

der

the

dire

ctio

n of

a co

mm

itte

e an

d up

on t

he a

ppro

val o

f th

e pe

ople

's d

emoc

rati

c go

vern

men

t at

an a

ppro

pria

te l

evel

.

Cha

pter

VI.

BE

TT

ER

WA

GE

AN

D L

IVIN

G C

ON

DIT

ION

SO

F F

AR

M W

OR

KE

RS

IN C

API

TA

LIS

T F

AR

MS

Sec

tion

1.

In a

ll fa

rms

oper

ated

on

a ca

pita

list

bas

is, f

ull

supp

ort

shal

l be

exte

nded

to

th

e fo

rmat

ion

of w

orke

rs'

unio

ns a

nd e

xerc

ise

of

dem

ocra

tic

righ

ts a

mon

g th

e fa

rm a

nd o

ther

wor

kers

and

lik

ewis

e to

uni

on d

eman

ds f

orbe

tter

wor

king

and

liv

ing

cond

itio

ns a

nd o

ther

ben

efit

s.Se

ctio

n 2.

B

ette

r w

orki

ng a

nd l

ivin

g co

ndit

ions

and

oth

er b

enef

its

shal

lm

ean

job

secu

rity

, a

fair

m

inim

um w

age,

a h

ighe

r w

age

rate

for

ov

erti

me

wor

k an

d fo

r m

ore

dang

erou

s w

ork,

a w

age

scal

e ba

sed

on e

ffic

ienc

y an

dle

ngth

of

serv

ice,

bet

ter

faci

liti

es o

f w

ork,

bet

ter

hous

ing

faci

liti

es, v

acat

ion

priv

ilege

s, p

ensi

on p

lans

, op

erat

ion

of s

tore

coo

pera

tive

s to

ass

ure

them

of

basi

c co

mm

odit

ies

at

low

pr

ices

, fr

ee

med

ical

and

den

tal

serv

ices

for

th

een

tire

wor

kers

' fa

mil

y,

free

el

emen

tary

and

hig

h sc

hool

edu

cati

on f

or t

heir

chil

dren

, co

mpe

nsat

ion

for

deat

h or

acc

iden

ts,

free

bur

ial

expe

nses

, an

d th

eli

ke.

As

muc

h as

pos

sibl

e, f

arm

wor

kers

sha

ll be

all

otte

d pr

ivat

e lo

ts i

n or

der

to

unde

rtak

e si

de o

ccup

atio

ns b

y w

hich

to

supp

lem

ent

thei

r co

nsum

ptio

nne

eds

as w

ell

as i

ncom

e.Se

ctio

n 3.

Si

nce

farm

w

orke

rs,

espe

cial

ly

thos

e ca

tego

rize

d as

nonr

egul

ar a

nd n

onpe

rman

ent

wor

kers

in

capi

tali

st f

arm

s, a

re d

raw

n fr

om t

hera

nks

of t

he

peas

ant

mas

ses,

the

pea

sant

ass

ocia

tion

sha

ll ex

amin

e an

d ta

keap

prop

riat

e ac

tion

on

any

cont

act

or p

lan

by w

hich

a l

andl

ord,

adm

inis

trat

or,

over

seer

or

labo

r co

ntra

ctor

se

eks

to r

ecru

it

farm

wor

kers

fro

m a

loc

alit

y.T

he p

easa

nt a

ssoc

iati

on

shal

l sa

fegu

ard

the

poli

tica

l an

d ec

onom

ic r

ight

s of

the

farm

wor

kers

who

may

at

the

sam

e ti

me

join

the

wor

kers

' un

ion

in t

heir

plac

e of

wor

k.Se

ctio

n 4.

A

nyon

e w

ho r

ecru

its

farm

wor

kers

sha

ll be

pro

hibi

ted

from

viol

atin

g fa

ir

cont

ract

s,

prac

tici

ng u

sury

, ge

ttin

g cu

ts o

n w

ages

, ch

eati

ng o

nac

coun

ts

and

othe

r ex

ploi

tati

ve

prac

tice

s.

Any

one

who

vi

olat

es

this

proh

ibit

ion

shal

l be

sub

ject

to

puni

tive

mea

sure

s.Se

ctio

n 5.

T

he a

gric

ultu

ral

wor

kers

' un

ion

or t

he p

easa

nt a

ssoc

iati

on i

nth

e vi

cini

ty o

f a

capi

tali

st f

arm

sh

all

see

to i

t th

at i

dle

or e

xces

s pa

rts

of a

land

ed e

stat

e op

erat

ed o

n a

capi

tali

st b

asis

sha

ll be

dis

trib

uted

for

cul

tiva

tion

.

44

In t

he

case

of

ranc

hes

the

area

of

lan

d sh

all

be c

orre

late

d w

ith

the

actu

alnu

mbe

r of

cat

tle.

Sect

ion

6.

Dep

endi

ng

on

conc

rete

ci

rcum

stan

ces,

th

e pe

ople

'sde

moc

rati

c go

vern

men

t m

ay c

ompl

etel

y ta

ke o

ver

land

ed e

stat

es o

pera

ted

ona

capi

tali

st

basi

s or

al

low

th

e la

ndow

ners

to

co

ntin

ue

owne

rshi

p an

dm

anag

emen

t of

the

se u

nder

suc

h st

rict

con

diti

ons

of t

he w

orke

rs a

nd t

o pa

yta

xes

mai

nly

in c

ash

to t

he p

eopl

e's

dem

ocra

tic

gove

rnm

ent.

Sect

ion

7.

Big

fore

ign

capi

tali

sts

shal

l be

stri

ctly

pro

hibi

ted

from

ow

ning

to a

ny e

xten

t or

con

trol

ling

in

any

man

ner

agri

cult

ural

lan

ds a

nd t

here

fore

they

, to

geth

er w

ith

thei

r ru

nnin

g do

gs,

shal

l be

sub

ject

to

puni

tive

mea

sure

ssh

ould

the

y vi

olat

e th

is p

rohi

biti

on.

Sect

ion

8.

The

ow

ners

, ad

min

istr

ator

s,

over

seer

s,

labo

r co

ntra

ctor

s,in

clud

ing

othe

r ru

nnin

g do

gs,

who

use

pri

vate

arm

ed g

uard

s or

ene

my

troo

psor

pol

ice

to g

uard

lan

ded

esta

tes

and

oppr

ess

the

farm

wor

kers

and

the

peo

ple

shal

l be

sub

ject

to

puni

tive

mea

sure

s.S

ecti

on

9.

Agr

icul

tura

l la

nds

oper

ated

on

a

capi

tali

st

basi

s sh

all

ulti

mat

ely

be

nati

onal

ized

by

th

e pe

ople

's

dem

ocra

tic

gove

rnm

ent.

The

unio

ns a

nd m

ass

of w

orke

rs s

hall

be o

rien

ted

tow

ards

thi

s go

al.

Cha

pter

VII

. T

HE

PO

OR

SE

TT

LE

RS

AN

DN

AT

ION

AL

MIN

OR

ITIE

S IN

FR

ON

TIE

R A

RE

AS

Sect

ion

1.

In

fron

tier

ar

eas,

the

poo

r se

ttle

rs

and

nati

onal

m

inor

itie

ssh

all

be

orga

nize

d in

to

peas

ant

asso

ciat

ions

in

or

der

to

look

af

ter

thei

rco

mm

on

inte

rest

s,

fost

er

coop

erat

ion

and

com

bat

feud

al

and

sem

i-fe

udal

expl

oita

tion

. U

nity

an

d un

ders

tand

ing

betw

een

the

sett

lers

an

d or

igin

alin

habi

tant

s sh

all

be p

rom

oted

.S

ecti

on 2

. T

he p

oor

sett

lers

and

nat

iona

l m

inor

itie

s in

log

ged-

over

are

as,

fore

st

clea

ring

s,

past

ure

land

s or

re

clai

med

ar

eas,

sh

all

be

assu

red

ofow

ners

hip

of

the

hom

este

ad

or

lots

th

at

they

cu

ltiv

ate

and

shal

l be

enco

urag

ed t

o fu

rthe

r de

velo

p th

ese.

Sec

tion

3.

R

eset

tlem

ent

of l

andl

ess

peas

ants

in

fro

ntie

r ar

eas

shal

l be

prom

oted

in

orde

r to

mak

e up

for

lan

d sc

arci

ty i

n ce

rtai

n ar

eas.

How

ever

, no

infr

inge

men

t w

hats

oeve

r of

the

equ

al r

ight

s of

the

nat

iona

l m

inor

itie

s or

orig

inal

inh

abit

ants

sha

ll be

allo

wed

.S

ecti

on

4.

The

pe

ople

's

dem

ocra

tic

gove

rnm

ent,

toge

ther

w

ith

the

peas

ant

asso

ciat

ions

, sh

all

be r

espo

nsib

le

for

the

amic

able

set

tlem

ent

of l

and

disp

utes

in

fron

tier

are

as.

Sec

tion

5.

Big

cap

italis

ts,

land

lord

s an

d co

mpr

ador

-bur

eauc

rats

sh

all

bepr

ohib

ited

fr

om g

rabb

ing

land

s in

fro

ntie

r ar

eas

and

ther

efor

e th

ey,

toge

ther

wit

h th

eir

runn

ing

dogs

, sh

all

be s

ubje

ct

to

puni

tive

mea

sure

s sh

ould

the

yvi

olat

e th

is p

rohi

biti

on.

Sec

tion

6.

R

estr

icti

ons

shal

l be

pl

aced

on

de

fore

stat

ion

wit

h du

eco

ncer

n fo

r th

e ge

nera

l w

elfa

re a

nd w

itho

ut p

reju

dice

to

the

wel

fare

of

the

poor

set

tler

s an

d na

tion

al m

inor

itie

s.

Cha

pter

VII

I. I

MP

LE

ME

NT

AT

ION

OF

TH

E P

RO

GR

AM

Sect

ion

1.

The

pe

ople

's

dem

ocra

tic

gove

rnm

ent

shal

l es

tabl

ish

land

refo

rm

com

mit

tees

at

ev

ery

leve

l in

ord

er

to s

uper

vise

lan

d re

form

w

ork.

45

Page 25: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

The

se

land

re

form

co

mm

itte

es

shal

l be

gi

ven

the

auth

orit

y to

dec

ide

onpr

oble

ms

pert

aini

ng t

o la

nd r

efor

m.

Uni

ts o

f th

e N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y sh

all

assi

st t

hem

.S

ecti

on

2.

The

pe

asan

t as

soci

atio

ns

and

thei

r le

adin

g or

gans

sh

all

mob

iliz

e th

e pe

asan

t m

asse

s in

ach

ievi

ng la

nd r

efor

m.

Asi

de f

rom

con

duct

ing

mas

s m

eeti

ngs,

the

y sh

all m

ake

a cl

ass

anal

ysis

of

hous

ehol

ds i

n th

eir

loca

lity

;de

term

ine

the

amou

nt

of l

abor

po

wer

and

num

ber

of d

epen

dent

s in

eve

ryfa

mil

y or

hou

seho

ld;

draw

up

an a

ccur

ate

map

of

the

land

s to

be

conf

isca

ted

incl

udin

g th

e ad

join

ing

land

s th

ereo

f; a

nd

indi

cate

the

qu

alit

y an

d si

zes

ofpa

rcel

s as

the

y ar

e be

fore

the

fr

ee

dist

ribu

tion

of

land

and

as

they

will

be

whe

n fr

ee d

istr

ibut

ion

of l

and

shal

l hav

e be

en m

ade.

Sec

tion

3.

M

ass

mee

ting

s sh

all

be c

ondu

cted

as

oft

en a

s ne

cess

ary

inor

der

to s

tren

gthe

n th

e re

solv

e of

the

pea

sant

mas

ses

to c

ondu

ct a

nd w

in t

hest

rugg

le

for

land

. T

hese

sh

all

prom

ote

the

gene

ral

line

of

th

e pe

ople

'sde

moc

rati

c re

volu

tion

and

the

cu

rren

t li

ne o

n la

nd r

efor

m i

n th

e ar

ea;

give

full

play

to

th

e po

urin

g ou

t of

gr

ieva

nces

aga

inst

im

peri

alis

t, fe

udal

an

dbu

reau

crat

opp

ress

ion;

poi

nt o

ut t

he s

olut

ion

of c

urre

nt p

robl

ems;

and

fos

ter

the

spir

it o

f pr

oduc

tive

coo

pera

tion

.S

ecti

on

4.

Des

poti

c la

ndlo

rds

and

thei

r ru

nnin

g do

gs

who

vi

olen

tly

oppo

se l

and

refo

rm s

hall

be a

rres

ted

by t

he m

ilit

ia, l

ocal

gue

rril

las

or r

egul

arun

its

of t

he N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y fo

r tr

ial

by t

he p

eopl

e's

cour

t.S

ecti

on

5.

Lan

dlor

ds

shal

l be

cl

assi

fied

as

ei

ther

de

spot

ic

orno

ndes

poti

c; e

nlig

hten

ed o

r no

nenl

ight

ened

gen

try;

and

big

, med

ium

or

smal

lpr

ior

to a

nd i

n th

e co

urse

of

land

ref

orm

. T

hey

shal

l be

trea

ted

acco

rdin

gly,

wit

h th

e m

ost

pow

erfu

l as

saul

ts

of

the

peas

ant

mas

ses

conc

entr

ated

in

desp

otic

lan

dlor

ds w

ho a

re i

n au

thor

ity

and

have

big

lan

dhol

ding

s.S

ecti

on

6.

In t

he

cour

se o

f th

e fr

ee

dist

ribu

tion

of

lan

d, t

he p

eopl

e's

dem

ocra

tic

gove

rnm

ent

shal

l is

sue

new

lan

d ti

tles

thr

ough

the

lan

d re

form

com

mit

tees

. T

he l

and

titl

es o

f th

e la

ndlo

rds

shal

l be

aut

omat

ical

ly

null

ifie

d.S

ecti

on 7

. T

he b

asic

uni

t ar

ea f

or b

oth

min

imum

and

max

imum

goa

ls o

fla

nd r

efor

m s

hall

eit

her

be t

he m

unic

ipal

ity,

a l

arge

con

tinu

ous

land

ed e

stat

eor

eve

n a

barr

io.

Cha

pter

IX

. AG

RIC

UL

TU

RA

L T

AX

ES

Sec

tion

1.

The

suc

cess

of

land

ref

orm

sha

ll b

e th

e ke

y to

sel

f re

lian

ce o

fth

e pe

ople

's d

emoc

rati

c go

vern

men

t.S

ecti

on 2

. T

ax c

olle

ctio

n sh

all

be m

ade

from

the

pea

sant

mas

ses

on t

heba

sis

of f

amil

y he

ads

or h

ouse

hold

s af

ter

ever

y ha

rves

t. T

ax p

aym

ents

sha

ll be

mad

e in

kin

d or

cas

h.Se

ctio

n 3.

A

n ag

ricu

ltur

al t

ax s

hall

be c

olle

cted

and

sha

ll no

rmal

ly b

eeq

uiva

lent

to

te

n pe

r ce

nt

of

the

tota

l ga

ins

mad

e by

th

e po

or

and

low

er-m

iddl

e pe

asan

ts a

s a

resu

lt o

f la

nd r

efor

m.

Sec

tion

4.

O

nly

for

defi

nite

rea

sons

, su

ch a

s th

e in

tens

ific

atio

n of

the

war

eff

ort

or s

uppo

rt

for

refu

gees

, sh

all

the

agri

cult

ural

tax

be

rais

ed t

o as

high

as

the

max

imum

lim

it o

f fo

rty

per

cent

of

the

to

tal

gain

s m

ade

as a

resu

lt o

f la

nd r

efor

m.

Sect

ion

5.

Peas

ants

of

mid

dle-

mid

dle

stat

us i

mm

edia

tely

pri

or t

o la

ndre

form

sha

ll be

req

uire

d to

pay

an

agri

cult

ural

tax

equ

ival

ent t

o fi

ve p

er c

ent

of t

heir

net

cro

p.

46

Sect

ion

6.

Ric

h pe

asan

ts,

uppe

r-m

iddl

e pe

asan

ts a

nd o

ther

non

cult

ivat

orow

ners

of

agri

cult

ural

lan

ds c

ompa

rabl

e in

siz

e to

tho

se o

wne

d by

ric

h an

dm

iddl

e pe

asan

ts s

hall

be r

equi

red

to p

ay a

n ag

ricu

ltur

al ta

x eq

uiva

lent

to t

enpe

r ce

nt o

f th

eir

net

crop

.Se

ctio

n 7.

Pe

asan

t as

soci

atio

ns

shal

l co

ntri

bute

ev

ery

mon

th

to

the

fund

s of

the

peo

ple'

s de

moc

rati

c go

vern

men

t an

am

ount

equ

ival

ent t

o tw

ope

r ce

nt o

f th

eir

mon

thly

net

inc

ome.

Sect

ion

8.

Agr

icul

tura

l ca

pita

list

s,

corp

orat

ely

and

indi

vidu

ally

, sha

llpa

y a

grad

uate

d in

com

e ta

x an

nual

ly ra

ngin

g fr

om a

min

imum

of

ten

per

cent

to f

ifty

pe

r ce

nt o

f th

eir

net

inco

me

in a

ccor

danc

e w

ith

the

foll

owin

g ta

ble:

Net

Inc

ome

in P

esos

Ove

r 5,

000

up t

o 10

,000

Ove

r 10

,000

up

to 2

0,00

0O

ver

20,0

00 u

p to

40,

000

Ove

r 40

,000

up

to 8

0,00

0O

ver

80,0

00 u

p to

160

,000

Ove

r 16

0,00

0 up

to

320,

000

Ove

r 32

0,00

0 up

to

640,

000

Ove

r 64

0,00

0 up

to

1,28

0,00

0O

ver

1,28

0,00

0

Tax

(%

)

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Sect

ion

9.

Agr

icul

tura

l w

orke

rs s

hall

pay

a m

onth

ly

tax

equi

vale

nt t

ofiv

e up

to

ten

per

cent

of

wag

e in

crea

ses

gain

ed a

s a

resu

lt o

f th

e as

sist

ance

of

the

peop

le's

dem

ocra

tic

gove

rnm

ent o

r th

e N

ew P

eopl

e's

Arm

y. T

his

tax

shal

lbe

apa

rt f

rom

due

s pa

id t

o th

eir

unio

ns.

Cha

pter

X.

CL

ASS

ST

AT

US

IN T

HE

CO

UN

TR

YS

IDE

Sect

ion

1.

A la

ndlo

rd i

s on

e w

ho o

wns

lan

d bu

t do

es n

ot e

ngag

e in

lab

oror

onl

y en

gage

s in

sup

plem

enta

ry l

abor

and

who

dep

ends

ent

irel

y or

mai

nly

on l

and

rent

for

his

mea

ns o

f li

veli

hood

. L

and

adm

inis

trat

ors,

ove

rsee

rs, l

abor

cont

ract

ors

and

loca

l bu

llie

s w

ho

are

at

leas

t be

tter

of

f th

an

the

mid

dle-

mid

dle

peas

ants

by

depe

ndin

g on

the

exp

loit

atio

n of

pea

sant

s as

the

mai

n so

urce

of

in

com

e ar

e al

so

in t

he

cate

gory

of

lan

dlor

ds.

Asi

de

from

expl

oiti

ng t

he p

easa

nts,

mai

nly

thro

ugh

the

coll

ecti

on o

f la

nd r

ent,

land

lord

sal

so e

ngag

e in

usu

ry,

nonp

aym

ent

or h

irin

g of

lab

or,

chea

ting

on

acco

unts

,re

ntin

g ou

t fa

rm

anim

als

and

impl

emen

ts, o

pera

tion

of

mod

ern

agri

cult

ural

equi

pmen

t an

d va

riou

s fo

rms

of e

xtor

tion

.Se

ctio

n 2.

A

ric

h pe

asan

t ge

nera

lly

own

land

alt

houg

h in

man

y ca

ses

heal

so r

ents

lan

d. H

e ca

n be

dis

ting

uish

ed f

rom

the

lan

dlor

d in

tha

t he

dep

ends

mai

nly

on h

is o

wn

labo

r an

d ti

llag

e of

the

soi

l fo

r hi

s m

eans

of

live

liho

od. H

eca

n al

so b

e di

stin

guis

hed

from

the

upp

er-m

iddl

e pe

asan

t in

tha

t he

dep

ends

on t

he e

xplo

itat

ion

of o

ther

s to

the

ext

ent

of o

ver

thir

ty t

o fi

fty

per

cent

or

ther

eabo

uts.

H

e en

gage

s in

suc

h ex

ploi

tati

ve p

ract

ices

as

hiri

ng w

age

labo

ran

d re

ntin

g ou

t fa

rm a

nim

als

and

impl

emen

ts a

nd h

as s

urpl

us f

unds

to

enab

lehi

m t

o en

gage

in m

oney

lend

ing.

Sect

ion

3.

Man

y m

iddl

e pe

asan

ts o

wn

land

, al

thou

gh i

n ot

her

case

s th

eyre

nt l

and.

The

y de

pend

who

lly

or m

ainl

y on

the

ir o

wn

labo

r fo

r th

eir

mea

ns

47

Page 26: S N THPEOPLE' WA I E PHILIPPINE S R - Freedom Archives · People' s Wa r i n th e Philippine s SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES - Revolutionary fighter gives medical aid to a woman civilian wounded

of l

ivel

ihoo

d an

d ge

nera

lly

they

do

not

sell

thei

r la

bor

pow

er t

o ot

hers

.a.

T

he

uppe

r-m

iddl

e pe

asan

ts

enga

ge

slig

htly

or

oc

casi

onal

ly

inex

ploi

tati

on.

But

inc

ome

from

suc

h ex

ploi

tati

on r

ange

s fr

om o

ver

fift

een

upto

thi

rty

per

cent

of

thei

r to

tal

inco

me.

b.

The

mid

dle-

mid

dle

peas

ants

gen

eral

ly d

o no

t su

ffer

dir

ect

land

lord

expl

oita

tion

an

d th

ey t

hem

selv

es d

o no

t en

gage

in

expl

oita

tion

. H

owev

er,

som

e m

iddl

e-m

iddl

e pe

asan

ts e

ngag

e sl

ight

ly o

r oc

casi

onal

ly

in

expl

oita

tion

,to

an

exte

nt

that

th

eir

inco

me

deri

ved

from

suc

h ex

ploi

tati

on r

ange

s fr

omon

e pe

r ce

nt t

o fi

ftee

n pe

r ce

nt o

f th

eir

tota

l in

com

e.c.

T

he

low

er-m

iddl

e pe

asan

ts

sell

thei

r ow

n la

bor

pow

er

to s

ome

degr

ee o

r oc

casi

onal

ly s

o th

at w

ages

con

stit

ute

a se

cond

ary

part

of

thei

r to

tal

inco

me.

The

y ar

e on

the

ver

ge o

f be

com

ing

poor

pea

sant

s an

d ar

e su

bjec

t to

expl

oita

tion

by

othe

rs i

n th

e fo

rm o

f la

nd r

ent

and

loan

int

eres

t.Se

ctio

n 4.

T

he p

oor

peas

ants

are

who

lly

or m

ainl

y te

nant

s of

lan

dlor

ds.

The

y ha

ve n

o la

nd a

t al

l or,

if

they

hav

e an

y, o

nly

a ve

ry s

mal

l po

rtio

n of

the

land

tha

t th

ey c

ulti

vate

. Som

etim

es,

they

lac

k ad

equa

te f

arm

im

plem

ents

and

have

no

farm

ani

mal

at

all.

It i

s a

nece

ssit

y fo

r th

em t

o se

ll th

eir

labo

r po

wer

for

cert

ain

peri

ods.

Sect

ion

5.

The

wor

kers

in

the

coun

trys

ide

gene

rall

y ow

n no

lan

d an

dfa

rm

impl

emen

ts a

nd t

hey

depe

nd w

holl

y or

mai

nly

on s

ellin

g th

eir

labo

rpo

wer

fo

r th

eir

mea

ns o

f liv

elih

ood.

Far

m w

orke

rs f

all

unde

r th

is c

ateg

ory.

The

y w

ork

for

capi

tali

st o

r se

mic

apit

alis

t fa

rms

and

also

for

ric

h pe

asan

ts a

ndto

a l

esse

r ex

tent

for

upp

er-m

iddl

e pe

asan

ts.

Man

y fa

rm w

orke

rs e

arn

a liv

ing

sim

ply

by g

oing

aro

und

wit

h no

def

init

e si

ngle

em

ploy

er a

nd t

akin

g pa

rt i

nag

ricu

ltur

al w

ork,

esp

ecia

lly

plan

ting

, wee

ding

and

har

vest

ing,

her

e an

d th

ere.

Sect

ion

6.

In

mak

ing

firm

th

e ab

ove

clas

sifi

catio

ns,

the

peop

le's

dem

ocra

tic

gove

rnm

ent,

the

peas

ant

asso

ciat

ions

and

lan

d re

form

co

mm

itte

essh

all

alw

ays

take

int

o fu

ll co

nsid

erat

ion

the

num

ber

of f

amil

y de

pend

ents

and

the

actu

al s

urpl

uses

tha

t ev

ery

fam

ily

or h

ouse

hold

ha

s.

Cha

pter

XI.

SU

PPL

EM

EN

TA

RY

RU

LE

SA

ND

RE

GU

LA

TIO

NS

Sec

tion

1.

The

P

arty

C

entr

al

Com

mitt

ee

shal

l m

ake

the

appr

opri

ate

deci

sion

s to

mod

ify

or s

uppl

emen

t th

is g

ener

al g

uide

on

the

basi

s of

fur

ther

soci

al i

nves

tiga

tion

and

act

ual

expe

rien

ce i

n la

nd r

efor

m w

ork.

Sect

ion

2.

The

R

egio

nal

Par

ty

Com

mitt

ee

may

dr

aft

rule

s an

dre

gula

tion

s as

wel

l as

exp

lana

tion

s an

d cl

arif

icat

ions

to

supp

lem

ent

this

gui

defo

r la

nd

refo

rm.

The

se

shal

l be

su

bjec

t to

app

rova

l by

the

Par

ty

Cen

tral

Com

mit

tee.

Ten

Poi

nt P

rogr

am o

f th

eN

ati

on

al

Dem

ocr

atic

Fro

nt

In A

pril

, 19

73 t

he P

repa

rato

ry C

omm

issi

on

for

the

Nat

iona

l D

emoc

ratic

Fro

nt

issu

ed

a m

anife

sto

enti

tled

"U

nite

to

O

vert

hrow

th

e U

.S.-M

arco

sD

icta

tors

hip.

" Th

e N

DF

pu

t fo

rwar

d th

e th

reef

old

task

of

th

e F

ilipi

nope

ople

: I)

Uni

te

to o

ppos

e an

d ov

erth

row

the

U

.S.-M

arco

s di

ctat

orsh

ip;

2)Li

bera

te

the

nati

on f

rom

im

peri

alis

m,

feud

alis

m

and

bure

aucr

at

capi

talis

m;

and

3) E

stab

lish

a co

aliti

on g

over

nmen

t ba

sed

on a

tru

ly d

emoc

ratic

sy

stem

of

repr

esen

tatio

n.

Fol

low

ing

is t

he t

en-p

oint

pro

gram

w

hich

will

ser

ve a

s th

efo

unda

tion

of u

nity

upo

n w

hich

the

Nat

iona

l D

emoc

ratic

Fro

nt w

ill b

e bu

ilt.

1. U

nite

all

anti

-im

peri

alis

t and

dem

ocra

tic

forc

es i

n or

der

to o

vert

hrow

the

U.S

.-M

arco

s di

ctat

orsh

ip a

nd w

ork

for

the

esta

blis

hmen

t of

a c

oali

tion

gove

rnm

ent

base

d on

a t

ruly

dem

ocra

tic

syst

em o

f re

pres

enta

tion

;2.

Exp

ose

and

oppo

se

U.S

. im

peri

alis

m a

s th

e m

aste

rmin

d be

hind

the

sett

ing

up o

f th

e fa

scis

t di

ctat

orsh

ip,

dem

and

the

null

ific

atio

n of

all

uneq

ual

trea

ties

an

d ar

rang

emen

ts w

ith

this

im

peri

alis

t po

wer

, an

d ca

ll fo

r th

ena

tion

aliz

atio

n of

all

its

prop

erti

es in

the

cou

ntry

;3.

Fig

ht f

or t

he r

e-es

tabl

ishm

ent

of a

ll th

e de

moc

rati

c ri

ghts

of

the

peop

le,

such

as

fr

eedo

m

of

spee

ch,

the

pres

s,

asse

mbl

y, a

ssoc

iati

on,

mov

emen

t,re

ligio

us b

elie

f, a

nd t

he r

ight

to

due

proc

ess;

4.

Gat

her

all

poss

ible

po

liti

cal

and

mat

eria

l su

ppor

t fo

r th

e ar

med

resi

stan

ce a

nd t

he u

nder

grou

nd a

gain

st th

e U

.S.-

Mar

cos d

icta

tors

hip;

5. S

uppo

rt a

gen

uine

lan

d re

form

pro

gram

me

that

can

libe

rate

the

pea

sant

mas

ses

from

fe

udal

an

d se

mi-

feud

al

expl

oita

tion

an

d ra

ise

agri

cult

ural

prod

ucti

on t

hrou

gh c

oope

rati

on;

6. I

mpr

ove

the

peop

le's

liv

elih

ood,

gua

rant

ee t

he r

ight

to

wor

k an

d pr

otec

tna

tion

al c

apit

al a

gain

st f

orei

gn m

onop

oly

capi

tal;

7. P

rom

ote

a na

tion

al,

scie

ntif

ic a

nd m

ass

cult

ure

and

com

bat i

mpe

rial

ist,

feud

al a

nd f

asci

st c

ultu

re;

8. S

uppo

rt t

he n

atio

nal

min

orit

ies,

esp

eial

ly t

hose

in

Min

dana

o an

d th

em

ount

ain

prov

ince

s, i

n th

eir

stru

ggle

for

sel

f-de

term

inat

ion

and

dem

ocra

cy;

9. P

unis

h af

ter

publ

ic t

rial

the

rin

glea

ders

of

the

U.S

.-M

arco

s fa

scis

t gan

gfo

r th

eir

crim

es a

gain

st t

he p

eopl

e an

d co

nfis

cate

all

thei

r il

l-go

tten

wea

lth;

and 10

. U

nite

wit

h al

l pe

ople

s fi

ghti

ng i

mpe

rial

ism

and

see

k th

eir

supp

ort

for

the

Phi

lipp

ine

revo

luti

onar

y st

rugg

le.

48