Cebuano youth gathered and collectively lit candles to pay tribute to Dee Supelanas, a UP-Cebu alumni, at the University of the Philippines (UP)-Cebu on April 29. Supelanas, known as Ka Dahlia to the masses in Negros, and her companions in the Kabankalan 7, were Red fighters of the New People’s Army (NPA)-Negros Island who were killed on April 27 in Barangay Tapi, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental.

With Supelanas were Reniel Locsin Cellon (Ka Randy), Mary Jane Magquilat (Ka Shonie), Charity Amacan (Ka Mayang), Johnrey Mejares (Ka Jai), Glenda Tinio Mejares (Ka Glendyl), and Ka Pitong. Three of them were senior citizens and had medical conditions that hindered their mobility but continued to serve in the people’s army.

Before serving as a Red fighter, Supelanas was an activist and student leader at UP-Cebu. She led campaigns for education, social services, democratic rights, and resistance against tyranny and fascism. She served as a leader of the UP Cebu student council, became a coordinator of the National Union of Students of the Philippines-Cebu, and served as secretary general for the organization KASAMA in UP. Dee was also a nominee for the 38th UP Student Regent.

Dee’s role was also a cornerstone for the executive committee to revive Anakbayan UP Cebu. After that, she served as spokesperson for Kabataan Partylist Cebu in 2021. As a transwoman, Dee also fiercely fought for LGBT+ rights.

“Dee Supelanas’ life is a thousand blooms in the revolutionry garden. She now lives on every red flag that is raised, every mountain trail marched by the Red fighters, every call for land, justice, and freedom that echoes across the archipelago,” Anakbayan-Cebu honored.

The group stated that they clearly know why Dee chose to become a Red fighter. “[It was amid the poverty, exploitation, and fascism of the ruling class] that she witnessed and her deep and profound understanding of Philippine society that pushed her to walk up the hinterlands of Negros and join the armed revolutionary struggle and become a cherished daughter of the people’s war, to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the peasants and workers she loved,” according to Anakbayan-Cebu.

“Dee, you too were loved by the masses you served. You were their most beloved child, comrade, and soldier of the poor,” the group added.

Anakbayan-Cebu also refuted the widespread slander the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the National Task Force-Elcac disseminated against Dee. It said, “the enemy spreads lies that you were brainwashed, but the universal truth of class struggle and the need for a people’s war cannot be easily disarmed from someone as brilliant as you.”

The group emphasized that revolution is inevitable and is a necessity as proven by history. This is brought about by the “determination of the masses to resolve the basic problems of the Filipino people,” it stated.

Tributes and praises for Dee poured in from various organizations, friends, former comrades, and fellow student leaders. They recognized her exceptional courage and resolve to dedicate her life to the democratic people’s revolution of the NPA, led by the Communist Party of the Philippines.

At the end of the gathering, Cebuano youth offered flowers, prayers, and lit candles.