Statement

Salute to Comrade Kyla! A noble martyr of the Filipino revolution!

Read in: Pilipino

We, members of the Artista at Manunulat ng Sambayanan-Bikol, raise our fists in salute of Kerima Lorena Tariman (Comrade Kyla). Red salute to Ka Kyla!

As an artist of the people, Ka Kyla had not just contributed her talents in the arts in the area she worked in Camarines Sur, but also, the discipline and creativity in all types of revolutionary work she undertook.

She had expressed her love for the arts through her love for the masses that she had loyally served. In every home they would stay in, she warmly shared political propaganda and Party education, her experiences and her comrades’ stories. Before they would embark on another journey, the masses could not help but be touched by the songs they would leave behind to show their gratitude and a promise of meeting once more someday. Ka Kyla had taught us how important this is to the arousal, organization and mobilization of the masses. How to integrate cultural work to the daily lives of a Red fighter and how it shall serve the interests of the people.

With her death, each one of us feel wrath against the fascist military who ended her life and a hundred thousand others. What else can we expect from the mercenaries who follow any of all the criminal regimes? It is their sworn duty to kill the likes of Ka Kyla – those who dared to stand up for what is just and fought for the interests of the oppressed.

But there is nothing for us to worry. Though they have buried her body to the ground, the rhythm of her memories and lessons will never be erased from our hearts and minds. These will remain alive for all the Red fighters, revolutionaries and contemporaries of Ka Kyla – with the harmony of every song and poem that she had imparted with all of us. Her partaking in all the sacrifices, obstacles and hardships in the many struggles we faced together shall always reamin alive. The joyful experiences that she had shared with us and the way she had strived to advance in our daily revolutionary work shall also remain flourishing in our minds.

Ka Kyla’s great contributions to the advancement of the revolution in Bikol shall remain a powerful weapon for all the revolutionaries who continue the struggle against the exploitative and oppressive ruling class. The aspirations of ending this semifeudal and semicolonial system of every revolutionary is also what the scores of the Filipino masses hope for. Every comrade who sacrificed their lives will be assured that what they began will never go in vain.

Salute to Comrade Kyla! A noble martyr of the Filipino revolution!