Correspondence Reports
Three important lessons

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

(Second in a series of articles about the advance of agrarian revolution in Samar)

In over twenty-five years' experience in advancing genuine land reform in a guerrilla base in Samar, three valuable lessons have been drawn: 1) a solid and deep mass base is built in the process of advancing the antifeudal struggle; 2) the Party must excel in its tactical leadership; and 3) one must always be ready for the enemy's counterattacks.

FORMING A SOLID AND DEEP MASS BASE. As a result of the development and invigoration of the antifeudal struggle, the level of mass organizations in the guerrilla base was rapidly raised in a relatively short period of time.

After a mere six months of revolutionary work from the first contact with comrades during the last quarter of 1977, mass struggles at the barrio level were initiated. This was carried out despite the fact that only peasant organizing groups (POG) had been set up in most barrios and only a few barrios had peasant organizing committees (POC). The mass struggles included clandestinely reducing land rent, raising farm workers' wages, combatting usury and mobilizing mass organizations as cooperatives, wih tasks ranging from undertaking simple forms of labor exchange such as tiklos, to launching communal production.

These mass struggles helped immensely in consolidating, strengthening and expanding the revolutionary mass organizations. Because of the concrete benefits attained by the peasant masses from these struggles (read the previous issue of AB, June 7, 2003), many more peasants voluntarily joined mass organizations or expressed their desire to do so.

Before the end of 1978, organizing in most barrios had been raised to the level of peasant organizing committees (POC) while full-fledged mass organizations (FMO) had also been set up in a number of advanced barrios. By 1979, the FMO had become the norm in most barrios. Together with the development of armed struggle, the antifeudal campaign simultaneously encompassed many barrios. Almost 90% of those who ought to be organized were joining and supporting mass struggles and the armed struggle in various ways.

The revolutionary mass organizations continued to raise their capacity to support the armed struggle.

The antifeudal struggle yielded mass activists and revolutionary masses tempered in the class struggle. In the process of struggle, the masses recognized their own decisive strength born out of their own unity and determination to eradicate feudal and semifeudal exploitation that has long condemned them to poverty and enslavement. The formerly timid, submissive, oppressed and exploited and fractionalized peasant masses are now rising up, uniting and slowly becoming a powerful force against the landlord class.

The antifeudal base in the area now also serves as a bulwark of legal and open mass actions on a broader broader scope, including the town centers.

The historic rise of the peasant masses in this and many other similar areas has deep significance not only for the locality where it occurs but also in the overall advance of the national struggle.

EXCELLING IN TACTICAL LEADERSHIP. In launching the antifeudal struggle, it is most important for the Party to exercise good tactical leadership.

With the Party's firm leadership over the step-by-step and sustained advance of the peasant masses' antifeudal struggles, the political and economic power of landlords and merchant-usurers has been weakened in the area. This is manifested in the successful and significant reduction of feudal and semifeudal exploitation and oppression and the dominance of the people's political power in the area.

Comrades have drawn important lessons from both positive as well as negative experiences in the process of implementing the Party's tactical leadership in launching antifeudal struggles in the area:

In order to set the appropriate tactics, sufficient social investigation and class analysis must be conducted in the area. On the whole, comrades and the masses had a grasp of class analysis and the prevailing forms of feudal and semifeudal exploitation in the area. In this way, the overall targets, objectives, policies and steps taken were in the main correct.

But they failed to conduct a more thoroughgoing social investigation and class analysis, and thereby struck against some persons who should not have been targeted. Likewise, it would have been better to deal with some of the targets through democratic consultation and give-and-take instead of engaging them in intense confrontations.

Ensure that any tactic undertaken to advance the agrarian revolution conforms to existing Party policy. This is important to ensure that tactics are based on principle and policy and not merely on subjective wishes or on what is achievable.

Overall, the advance of the antifeudal struggle in the area was in accordance with Party principles and policies. Nevertheless, there were some shortcomings that in the main, resulted from basing tactics merely on the strength of the organization and mass actions and neglecting some actual conditions and practical considerations:

1) Some demands were excessive. For instance, farm workers asked wages that were too high for the rich and middle peasants. The failure to take into account whether such demands were just deterred the advance of production in the area for some time. In some barrios, rich and middle peasants could no longer afford to hire farm workers.

One other example involved the excessive reduction of interest in the desire to eradicate usury quickly and completely deny merchant-usurers any profit instead of accomplishing this step by step. Thus, usurers were discouraged from extending credit and peasants lost their source of capital.

2) Likewise, too confrontational means of struggle should not have been used with some tactical allies, such as a number of enlightened landlords and merchant allies. Instead, it is necessary to exercise selfrestraint and do well in conducting democratic consultations with allies. Embarrassing them too much in front of the barriofolk should be avoided.

3) One consolidated mass struggle should have been launched in several barrios dominated by a single landlord adversary instead of advancing such struggles separately and repeatedly.

Ensure that the masses' minds and organization are prepared for struggle. We must ensure that the masses are aware of what the issue is, who the principal and secondary targets and what the form and means of action are.

Overall, this task was effectively carried out. However, there were some shortcomings in this aspect, whereby the following important lessons were drawn:

1) We must always have strong trust in the masses. Giving full play to the masses' initiative hastens the formation of activists and mass leaders.

There has been criticism of the fact that in some instances, it was cadres and full-time forces instead of mass leaders who took the lead in facing the targets of open confrontations such as struggles to reduce land rent, raise wages and combat excessive merchant profit.

2) It is important to further develop assemblies as the most effective means by which the masses could directly and democratically participate in their numbers in discussing their problems and forming decisions, and in gathering their ideas and obtaining their concurrence. This way, we avoid limiting the role of the masses to carrying out decisions and calls that are merely relayed to them by the leaders of mass organizations.

3) It is important to sum up experiences after every particular struggle, aside from summing them up upon the conclusion of the overall struggle. The objective is to attain unity regarding positive as well as negative lessons from each experience and have them serve as guides to future revolutionary actions.

PREPARE FOR THE ENEMY'S COUNTERATTACKS. The enemy has its eyes peeled on antifeudal struggles because they directly challenge, smash and supplant feudal and semifeudal power in the countryside and are firmly linked to the armed struggle. Thus, from the very start, we must prepare for possible enemy retaliation, especially when feudal and fascist forces connive to sow violence.

The masses will certainly suffer severely if we fail to adequately consider and prepare for the enemy's reaction, such as what occurred during the antifeudal campaign of 1979-1981, where four of nine landlords collaborated with the military in launching operations. Consequently, eight peasant leaders were slain and many others were tortured by military forces and landlords. In some barrios, where the enemy's assaults had become so intense, the masses were forced to evacuate and live in the forest.

The masses must be prepared on what to do in the event of enemy retaliation, how they should face enemy attacks in an organized way, how they can ensure the security of their mass leaders and what other protective measures they could take.

There are instances when the use of revolutionary armed force or military action becomes appropriate in order to punish despotic landlords who violently and actively oppose the peasant movement.

With the help of the revolutionary masses, the NPA began punishing landlords with blood debts one by one, thereby reducing the number of their victims and neutralizing other class enemies who tended to oppose agrarian revolution and the democratic revolution.

21 June 2003
English Edition

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