The Jethro Isaac Ferrer Chapter of the Artista at Manunulat ng Sambayanan (Armas), a chapter in Southern Tagalog, held a general assembly in June at an undisclosed location in the region. Additionally, it conducted a cultural activity and graffiti painting, postering and hanging of streamers bearing revolutionary slogans.

The chapter reported that the assembly began with a revolutionary discussion on the experiences of the attending members. They shared their respective stories of becoming aware of the rotten semicolonial and semifeudal society. A coffee meet was also held where attendees showcased cultural performances and conducted a revolutionary mass criticism of literary pieces.

As part of the assembly, the group also elected new officers for the chapter’s executive committee. “The chapter pledges to continuously study the writings of Comrade Joma Sison on revolutionary cultural work and putting it into practice by relentlessly arousing, organizing, and mobilizing the oppressed masses for the victory of the national democratic revolution,” it stated.

Also in the month of June, Armas-Jethro Isaac Ferrer Chapter led a cultural festival. Discussions and workshops were held during the gathering aiming to enrich the cultural work of revolutionary artists.

Following the activity, the chapter launched a coordinated Oplan Pinta (graffiti painting of slogans), Oplan Dikit (putting up posters and stickers), and Oplan Sabit (hanging of streamers). They scattered posters, streamers, and wall paintings calling to advance the people’s war and join the New People’s Army (NPA).

“Showcase your art on the battlefield!”, read one of the slogans painted on the walls by chapter members. It stated that the call is a challenge to all artists to take up their historic role in advancing the revolution. “It is only through armed struggle that cultural workers can eliminate the dominance of colonial, feudal, and bourgeois culture spawned by the semicolonial and semifeudal character of the Philippines,” the group declared.

Who is Jethro Isaac Ferrer?

The chapter’s activities were timed to honor Ferrer’s 34th birthday on June 30. Ferrer was a Red fighter of the New People’s Army (NPA) and a cadre of the Communist Party of the Philippines in Southern Tagalog who was martyred on November 13, 2023, in Barangay Buong Lupa, Gloria, Oriental Mindoro.

Ferrer was born in Binmaley, Pangasinan, and came from the lower petty-bourgeois class. He attended college at the University of the Philippines-Los Baños, pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Development Communication. It was at the university where he became deeply aware of the plight of student youth—the suppression of academic freedom and campus journalism.

In 2009, he was organized into Armas. From 2010, he served as a full-time organizer and later as a propagandist. He was eventually recruited as a member of the Party and in December 2010 went on exposure with an NPA unit on the island of Mindoro. He eventually decided to become a full-time Red fighter.

The Party appointed him as a member of the Regional Propaganda and Culture Staff in September 2012 when the committee was reconstituted. He became a writer for Kalatas, Dagitab, and other regional publications. He also took on tasks in the reproduction of Red newspapers and other publications, video production, serving as a war correspondent in selected tactical offensives in the region, and more.

He poured the largest part of his revolutionary life into staff work from 2012 to 2021. During this time, he also periodically carried out mass work across the region and became known to peasant masses and indigenous people along the Quezon-Bicol and North Quezon-Rizal borders.

From 2022 onwards, Ferrer carried out territorial work in a guerrilla front on the island of Mindoro, where he was originally inspired to become a full-time fighter in 2011. Up until his death, he served as a regular member of the Mindoro Island Party Committee, wholeheartedly contributing to the rebuilding and further revitalization of the revolution across the entire island.