Recovery work among the Aggay in Gattaran, Cagayan
After over a decade of absence, the New People's Army (NPA) has successfully returned to Gattaran, Cagayan. The town, located in eastern Cagayan, has a long history of counterrevolutionary violence and deception in the hands of the reactionary state. Thus, the process of recovery that the NPA undertook was neither easy nor quick.
Almost all mass organizations in Gattaran disbanded in 1993. The Red fighters suffered great hardships. This resulted, on the one hand, from the active armed counterrevolutionary struggle, and weaknesses in the NPA's methods of operation, on the other.
The armed counterrevolutionary struggle was instigated by Col. Rodolfo Aguinaldo, a notorious military officer of the Marcos dictatorship who served as project officer of the counterrevolutionary "Oplan Katatagan in Cagayan" in the first half of the 1980s and as Cagayan provincial commander under the Philippine Constabulary in the latter half of that decade.
To fight the NPA, Aguinaldo established the "Cagayan 100" mainly from among the Aggay in Gattaran, inveigling them with promises of housing, money and other material things. The elements of the "Cagayan 100" used their knowledge of the local terrain to inflict military casualties on the NPA. Aguinaldo also forcibly armed other people in the area.
In the same period, the NPA pursued the erroneous "recovery by fire" policy towards the end of the 1980s up to 1991. "Recovery by fire" was a purely militarist method of recovering a militarized area. It led the masses to harbor increasingly negative sentiments with respect to the NPA.
The comrades did not readily see that the key to recovery work among the Aggay minorities in Gattaran was to hold fast to the interests of the broad masses of the people.
Since 2002, however, large-scale mass movements in Cagayan Valley have paved the way for the NPA's return to Gattaran. By the latter part of 2003, an NPA platoon had reached one of Gattaran's villages.
"It was difficult at first," according to Ka Dio, a leading NPA cadre operating in eastern Cagayan. "We first began at the barrio perimeter and talked to just a handful of people." It was these initial contacts who then told their relatives about the NPA's presence and belied the enemy's psywar about the Red fighters, recounted Ka Dio.
In the beginning, however, only the non-Aggay villagers were confident enough to approach the NPA. Thus, the first organizing groups (OG) were set up among the non-minorities.
The Aggay were terribly afraid because the enemy had spread the lie that they would be skinned alive like frogs if they were to be chanced upon by the NPA. "At first, they would run away when they saw us," says Ka Dio. "Intense fear was what prevailed in their minds, what with all those intrigues."
At every opportunity, Ka Dio and his comrades would send out letters belying the enemy's intrigues, especially one that claimed that the Aggay would be punished. The problem was that most of the Aggay did not know how to read.
"Thus, we had to use drawings," Ka Leona, an NPA cadre, cheerfully recounted. "We portrayed the NPA and the Aggay as friends. We drew Red fighters and Aggay tribespeople together." Through this, we were able to draw in Aggay who had previously refused to face the NPA because of intense fear.
| Barrio-level mobilizations were launched after the conduct of political studies... higher prices were demanded for honey and bird's nests. |
Ka Dio and his group launched a mass meeting on the first day they were able to enter the barrio center. The meeting focused both on agrarian revolution and a discussion of the summing-up of Colonel Aguinaldo's cruel reign, up until his punishment in June 2001. The Red fighters linked these subjects to the present national situation as well as to the more particular local issues where high prices, low wages and usurious lending rates prevail even as prices for bird's nests, honey, rattan and other forest products remained low.
They also held cultural performances. "We showed them, through a drama depictingthe life of Ka Mai, an Aggay, the cruelty and deception of Colonel Aguinaldo." The Red fighters likewise ran a documentary on martial law. The masses warmly welcomed the NPA's presentations.
News about the Red fighters� presence spread like wildfire throughout the village. One by one, the Aggay approached the guerrillas on their second day at village center to apologize.
The Red army explained to the Aggay that it was the pursuit of unity and not vengeance that prompted them to come.
"We have no intention of punishing the Aggay minorities who we know were merely deceived by the enemy. Justice has been realized with Aguinaldo's punishment," he said.
"We were a bit hesitant during that meeting," Ka Dio confided. "But then it turned out that they cooked rice and prepared chicken, fish and other food for us."
The NPA offered medical services on the third day. An Aggay comrade who was also the NPA unit's medic, helped immensely in putting the minorities more at ease with the guerrillas. This further enhanced the Aggay�s confidence in the NPA.
The Red fighters summed up and explained to the Aggay masses the role of national minorities in the Philippine national-democratic revolution. They delved deeper on how Colonel Aguinaldo oppressed and inflicted cruelty on them. "We showed them how they were used and deceived," said Ka Dio.
The NPA also explained how the Aggay are displaced from their lands three times over�because of the state's antipeople and antiminority projects, as a result of landgrabbing by landlords and big businessmen, and due to the discrimination they suffer in the hands of the majority. In contrast, the NPA explained how the revolutionary movement recognizes the rights of the Aggay to their lands.
The Red fighters also explained that as a result of discrimination, the Aggay receive P5-P10 less in wages compared to the rest. "In contrast," said Ka Dio, "we advocate equal wages and higher prices for their goods." The non-Aggay masses were a big help in reducing discrimination against the minorities by explaining matters to the other barriofolk.
Barrio-level mobilizations were launched after the conduct of political studies. Through the OGs, the barriofolk demanded higher prices for honey and bird's nests.
Not long after, former CAFGU elements among the Aggay voluntarily surrendered their ammunition belts, magazines, rifle grenades and other military equipment issued by the AFP. After a few months, the son of an Aggay who was a former CAFGU element joined the NPA.
"At last," Ka Dio happily stated, "they've accepted us."
(Based on correspondence reports from Northeastern Luzon.)
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