In Philippines, a Threat Revives

Once nearly extinct, communist rebels find new converts

By Carlos H. Conde
International Herald Tribune
Published: MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2003

AGTONGANON RANGE, Philippines: Christopher Suazo looked too fragile and innocent to be in the jungle. But there he was, wearing a pair of torn jogging pants and cradling an M-1 Garand rifle almost as tall as himself. He was only 18 and had managed only three years of schooling when he joined the communists three months ago.

Like many cadres of the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, Suazo joined the rebellion because of a perceived injustice. In March, his father and uncle, both farmers, were killed by the hired guns of a town mayor who is protected by the military, he said.

The mayor’s men later hunted Suazo, thinking that he might seek revenge.

Human rights groups have time and again cautioned the government that unless the state’s security forces respect human rights and the laws of war, the ranks of the communist rebellion that started here 35 years ago will grow. The rebellion is considered by the Philippine military as the biggest threat to national security.

“They are our utmost security concern at present,” said Colonel Daniel Lucero, a military spokesman. “We consider them a much bigger threat than the Abu Sayyaf, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or the Jemaah Islamiyah,” he said.

Since September, Suazo has been moving around in the mountains here, always alert for the enemies who lurk in the jungles below but, he says, happy about his decision to join the revolution. “I can only be safe here with the New People’s Army. One day I and my family will have justice,” he said.

In the foggy camp high up in the mountains of Compostela Valley Province, in the southern Philippines, the communists go about their business: training cadres in military tactics and martial arts, organizing the residents in the plains, helping peasants on their farms, and studying what some called the “evils of U.S. imperialism.”

“The U.S. is a brutal enemy. It will not hesitate to use or kill its own people to justify its acts of aggressions all over the world,” a guerrilla leader who uses the nom de guerre Richard told a dozen rebels during a class about the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

“The U.S. is in cahoots with the Arroyo regime in perpetuating poverty and injustice in this country,” Richard added, referring to the Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Along with poverty and injustice here, what the rebels call U.S. imperialism is also fueling the revolution. In the party’s “basic party course,” the topic requires at least one and a half days of discussion.

“U.S. interventionism is even more blatant nowadays,” said Rubi del Mundo, a guerrilla spokeswoman.

“It used to just influence the passing of Philippine laws to benefit the business interests of American companies here. Now, the U.S. is directly involved in counterrevolutionary activities,” she said, referring to reports of U.S. military personnel going inside communist territory to gather intelligence.

During the administrations of Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino, the rebels’ numbers grew, peaking at more than 25,000 in the mid-80’s, according to military estimates.

Because of their growing number, the cadres became overconfident and lax with security and discipline. As a result, military spies penetrated the ranks of the New People’s Army. Party officials purged the movement in the late 80’s and early 90’s, torturing and killing hundreds of their fellow guerrillas suspected of spying for the military.

The purges nearly destroyed the movement. The number of fighters plunged to only a few thousand. The group’s guerrilla bases and zones disappeared one after the other. Its popularity among Filipinos plunged.

What saved the communists was a campaign begun by the central committee in 1992 to discipline those behind the purge, in some cases expelling them from the party.

The campaign’s main thrust, however, was to bring back to the countryside the guerrillas who had been based in the urban areas.

It worked. The New People’s Army, according to the party, now has 128 guerrilla fronts in 8,000 villages, or 20 percent of all villages in the country. The military estimates the rebels’ strength at about 10,000.

In many parts of the country, the party functions as the government, providing services such as education, health and basic livelihood in areas the mainstream government cannot reach.

Although the government and the communists have been engaged in peace negotiations since the Aquino administration, little progress has been made.

In the meantime, the fighting in the countryside continues. Hardly a week goes by without news of two or three firefights.

The government’s response to the growth of the communist movement has mainly been force — often targeting civilians considered sympathetic to the rebels. Extrajudicial killings by the military have became common.

People are perplexed by the rebirth of the communists here in spite of the downfall of communist and socialist states in many parts of the world. But some say it would be a mistake to conclude that this revolution is fueled mainly by the communist ideology.

“There is so much injustice, so much despair in this country that people, particularly the poor and powerless, are naturally drawn to those who they think can protect them,” said Representative Joel Virador, a member of Congress who formerly worked for a human rights group.

Lucero, the military spokesman, said checking the growth of the movement had become even more difficult because the rebels operate above ground, through legal organizations. The military had previously tagged some political parties led by former rebels, some of whom are now in Congress, as communist fronts. Two weeks ago, it said communists had infiltrated government agencies, including the Philippine Information Agency.

But the war is still confined to the countryside, fought by guerrillas such as Suazo and Jim, a 27-year-old former seminarian who has been in the mountains since 1996.

“I believe the movement has a clear direction, that its victory is inevitable, that the future is bright,” Jim said. “The more I see the suffering of the people, the more I am convinced of the justness of this cause.”

Jim’s wife, his mother, his four siblings and an uncle are also guerrillas. They joined the movement after Jim’s father, a union activist, was abducted by the military during the Marcos years. He has never been found.