Ka Lorena starts her day waking at dawn like other Red fighters: packing gear, and staying alert while waiting for sunrise. Then she carries out her duties as guerrilla unit logistics officer.

Larab interviewed Ka Lorena while she was doing an inventory of sacks of rice, vegetables, root crops, and firewood that comrades brought. She noted the shortage of supplies reflecting the current difficulties in transporting them into the area. But comrades showed little worry. They trusted Ka Lorena, whom they affectionately call “Mama,” who like a mother would find ways to fix any shortages.

She has been doing this for decades. She was just a simple housewife in a barrio in Eastern Visayas before going full-time. She and her husband were newly married then with no children of their own, but she became a mother to the children of full-time New People’s Army (NPA) members entrusted to her. That caring for a big family being second nature to her is no surprise.

Ka Lorena later joined the local chapter of Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan (Makibaka, or New movement of Patriotic Women) and the Communist Party of the Philippines branch. She served as finance officer in the Party branch and section committee. She helped run and develop the newly established cooperative in their barrio, which still stands today despite military raids on mass organizations in the area.

The military targeted her husband when militarization intensified and forced him to go full-time in the NPA. Ka Lorena solely shouldered earning a living while caring for their seven children. She pounded rice at 3 a.m. and at dawn woke the children to help with housework and cook packed meals for field work. Through her efforts, they kept up, sometimes more than enough, so other mothers borrowed rice from her.

The military hunted Ka Lorena and her children after some years. They escaped to another barrio through help from the Party and mass organizations. They had to leave the region when militarization broadened. She found no work in the new place so Ka Lorena went full-time in the NPA. Some of their children voluntarily joined the NPA upon reaching 18.

Ka Lorena faced no hardship as a Red fighter. She was used to waking early and carrying heavy supplies as logistics officer. Her most challenging ordeal, for which she often cried, was separation from her children who were too young to join the NPA. But she later embraced this situation.

“I really chose to go full-time instead of staying elsewhere because I didn’t want the enemy to abduct and break me, when I did no crime,” she said. Beyond having discipline and principles, the people’s army for Ka Lorena is also a refuge for people repressed by the state.

Lorena attended the command meeting after her supplies inventory task. She reported supply status, how much they had, and how long it would last. Though limited, she vowed she would find means to overcome whatever shortages they have.

The barriofolks arrived delivering supplies and information on enemy movements after the meeting. Ka Lorena and others immediately greeted them and let them rest in a hut.

Ka Lorena brought her thermos out for the masses have coffee. She always kept it filled with hot water to offer visitors. She also offered snacks to the newcomers and, with a mother’s care, chatted with fellow fighters.

—translated from the original Winaray published in Larab May 9, 2026, revolutionary mass newspaper in Eastern Visayas