Correspondence Reports:
Gains of the agrarian revolution reaped in Samar

Basahin ang artikulong ito sa Pilipino

The following is the first of a series of articles about the gains of the agrarian revolution in Samar.

The peasant masses are now reaping the benefits of the step-by-step implementation of genuine land reform in guerrilla zones and bases in Samar. In a portion of a guerrilla base composed of vast expanses of rice fields and coconut lands, the peasants have been determinedly and sustainedly advancing the antifeudal struggle at the barrio and interbarrio level.

As a result of the benefits achieved by the peasants in launching revolutionary land reform, their conditions are now a far cry from what they were before the arrival of the first unit of the NPA in the latter part of 1977.

Before, despite the land's fertility, the peasant masses experienced extreme hardships because of feudal exploitation.

Harvests were always abundant even with the use of simple instruments of production. For example, it was possible to harvest 40-50 sacks of palay per hectare even without the use of irrigation or fertilizer. Most of the barrios could harvest 3,000 to 10,000 sacks of palay per harvest. However, only 30-40% of the harvest remained in the barrios.

Nine landlord families monopolized the principal instruments of production such as land and carabaos. They owned 40-50% of the rice fields and coconut lands and 80% of the carabaos in the area.

The landlords set exorbitantly high levels for the rent of land and production equipment, paid low wages and required long hours of work, set very high lending rates, and raked in excessive profits from the sale of their goods.

THREE STAGES. The peasants underwent three stages of arduous, and at certain times, bloody struggle in order to change this order of things.

• First stage (1978-1985): The agrarian revolution was advanced comprehensively. Four of the nine landlords who owned about 2,000 hectares of the land reacted severely. They joined military operations where enemy forces killed a number of peasant leaders and many farmers left their farms to live in the forest. Nevertheless, their struggle did not cease and even spread to other places.
• Second stage (1985-1992): The anti-feudal struggle lost momentum because the NPA focused mainly on premature "regularization" and insurrectionism.
• Third stage (1993-2002): The anti-feudal struggle was once again stressed under the guidance of the Second Great Rectification Movement of the Party's Central Committee. Full-fledged mass organizations were established because of the reinvigoration and advance of the antifeudal struggle.

Some of the victories that the peasants have achieved are as follows:

LAND RENT HAS BEEN REDUCED. In the past, the usual sharing system was "50-50". Landlords merely shouldered half of the wages of farm workers, while the tenants shouldered all of the work, half of the wages and all expenses for food.

Land rent was first reduced by 30% secretly in 1978 and by 50% when open struggles were launched in 1985. At present, land rent has been further reduced to a mere 10% in rice lands.

In coconut lands, the previous tersyo sharing system (1/3 to the tenants, 2/3 to the landlord) has been reversed. The previous sharing scheme was extremely exploitative because the tenants shouldered all of the work and expenses.

The mass organizations are also striving to systematize the management of at least 500 hectares of confiscated rice and coconut lands. Thus, a large part of the earnings from these lands now go to the peasant masses.

WAGES HAVE BEEN RAISED. Wages for working the rice fields and coconut lands, for cutting timber and for carpentry work have been raised by 33% at the minimum, to as much as P100 from the previous rate of P50 per day that usually did not include free meals.

For instance, wages for every 100 square meters of palay planted have been raised to P50 from the previous P5. Carrying a sack of palay across a moderate distance is now paid P20 from the previous P2. The per kilo rate for carrying loads has been raised from P0.50 to P1.00. Wages for harvesting coconuts are now set at P30 for every 100 nuts from the previous P5. Wages for eight hours' toil of farm workers have been raised from P50 to P200 at present.

COMBATTING USURY. High lending rates and excessive profits on commercial goods are slowly being reduced. In the past, three months after a harvest, the peasant masses were forced to borrow from merchant-usurers because their share of the palay harvest was already depleted and they needed money to defray expenses for their daily needs. They also had to borrow money for their expenses for the next planting season.

A sack of palay borrowed before harvest then had to be repaid with two (100% interest) to three sacks of palay (200%). The rate has now been reduced to one and a half sacks (50% profit). The previous 5-6 system, where 20% monthly interest was imposed on cash loans, has been replaced with a system requiring only 10% monthly interest. In even worse cases where a debt of P50 was repaid with a sack of palay (P350, equivalent to 600% interest), only half a sack or P175 is now required as payment.

Many peasant lands ended up in the hands of landlord-usurers because of expropriation and extremely high lending rates through the prenda (mortgage) system that imposed a 50% interest. Now, the peasants are slowly retrieving their mortgaged lands.

The profits on commercial goods have been reduced from 50% down to only 10%. Before the existence of the revolutionary movement, goods were overpriced by 30-300%. On the other hand, prices of the masses' produce have been raised. From the previous price of P15 per kilo, meat is now priced at P70 per kilo.

COOPERATIVES. Credit and animal dispersal cooperatives as well as marketing and consumer cooperatives that have been set up by the masses are important in advancing and consolidating gains in the antifeudal struggle. The masses also maintain communal farms. This is how the masses see it:

"The cooperative develops economic activities for the welfare � of the members of mass organizations and the peasant masses. It is a partner in eradicating feudal and semifeudal exploitation in the area step-by-step. It serves as the seed of agricultural cooperativization and gradual changes in the old system of production."

As a result of these gains in agrarian revolution, favorable conditions have been laid down for the advance of armed struggle, Party building and united front work from the countryside to the town centers.

The broad and deep mass support for the armed struggle can be seen mainly in the recruitment of Red fighters for the NPA. In truth, many NPA recruits hail from barrios that have benefited concretely from revolutionary land reform. The masses actively support, and in some instances, directly participate in the tactical offensives of the NPA.

The support of the masses can also be seen in the way they provide for the daily needs of the people's army. They also attend to the needs of the families of Red fighters.

The masses likewise ensure the security of large gatherings of comrades such as study sessions, meetings and trainings of cadres and fighters held in the advanced barrios.

Because of their continuous struggle, many peasants and farm workers have been recruited into the Party and Party branches are rapidly set up in the localities. Local cadres have also been recruited and trained, and consequently, the section committee has been formed.

Peasants and farm workers are not only forces of the antifeudal struggle. They also join antifascist and antiimperialist struggles such as campaigns against intensifying militarization and support open struggles in town centers and cities.

07 June 2003
English Edition

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