Correspondence Reports
Establishing a MAKIBAKA chapter in a barrio in Bicol

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

The MAKIBAKA had long been organized in this barrio after the formation of the Pambansang Katipunan ng mga Magbubukid (PKM) in the area the previous year. But it was reorganized this June because women members of PKM were not included in its membership the first time around. Women from all of the barrio�s sitios held a conference to reestablish the MAKIBAKA chapter.

With the help of the NPA and the Local Party Branch (LPB), preparing the requisites for establishing the MAKIBAKA chapter became easy. On June 15, they gathered the members� written biographies that had missing or vague information to put them in order. At the same time, they prepared the necessary data about the barrio�s revolutionary history.

Subsequently, the comrades assigned to prepare the requisites held a meeting. They divided among themselves the tasks of putting in order the drafts of the MAKIBAKA chapter�s one-year program, the barrio�s revolutionary history and the members� biographies.

They also met with a number of comrades from the people�s army and the LPB�s Executive Committee to help prepare the other requisites, including appointing persons who could oversee the technical needs of the conference such as procuring kitchen utensils and preparing food as well as maintaining security.

The conference to reestablish the MAKIBAKA chapter took place on June 18. Of the 68 targeted women members, 42 attended. But the conference coincided with a parents� meeting in a nearby school. After the women explained matters to the teachers, however, the school postponed its scheduled meeting.

During the conference, the assembly gave a vigorous round of applause to the local PKM chapter chair�s speech on the importance of setting up mass organizations and striving to raise the people�s level of unity in the barrio step-by-step. After this, an NPA commander recounted the barrio�s history.

To enable all members of the chapter to get to know each other, their biographies were read at the conference.

It was in the afternoon when the draft of the chapter�s one-year program was discussed and presented for commentaries and suggestions from the membership before approval. The highlights of the program included, among others, the establishment of a corps of political instructors, provisions for MAKIBAKA members to join the barrio defense group and the launching of finance projects.

After this, the meeting elected 16 of the ablest and most active in the organization as members of the Chapter Committee. From the 16, the chairperson and vice-chairperson for organization; education; finance and economy; health; and defense were elected.

Everyone was in high spirits during the day of establishment, with all of them feeling the strong bond between the women and the people�s army. After the day-long conference, they sang Awit ng Pag-asa (Song of Hope), the comrades� favorite song sung during conferences to establish mass organizations.

� �Dahil mithi nati�y palayain, Bawat isa sa pagkaalipin, Sa gitna man ng gutom, kahirapa�t pasakit Hinding-hindi tayo susuko��

21 July 2003
English Edition

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