ABOARD a van cruising at 40 to 60 kph on the national highway late in the evening towards the direction of Bulan, Sorsogon, Ray, the driver and owner of the vehicle, was attentive at the steering wheel, waiting instruction from a lower-ranked New People’s Army (NPA) leader towards their destination which the latter kept to himself.

        Ray considers himself alyado because he voluntarily cooperates with the NPA rebels in exchange for protection of his agrarian interest because he has inherited some 80 hectares of tenanted rice and coconut farms in a town at the foot of Mt. Bulusan.

        He said that from time-to-time he gives the NPA rebels a sack of rice and does errands for them while he maintains control over his farm and tenants.

        Quick and alert, Ray turned left towards a dirt road upon instruction from Ka Louie, the leader of three-man NPA team picked up in a house along the national highway.

        “We have to ask permission from our ‘collective’ about your request,” Ka Louie responded in a ‘structured’ Tagalog regarding a request for an interview with this correspondent.

        He emphasized that the NPA has a designated spokesperson who announces matters regarding issues that involve the kilusan (communist movement).

Local NPA leader
        Even then, he asked for the mobile phone number of this correspondent to relay whether or not the local NPA command agree for an interview.

        Rephrasing my request, I told Ka Louie that I could be trusted and was the first one allowed by their higher ‘authorities’ to cover the drama of two Army soldiers held captive by the NPA command in Camarines Sur way back in 2004 and that it would be enlightening to know the perception of an NPA leader regarding the renewed counterinsurgency move of the Arroyo administration with P1-B budget and Sorsogon identified as the province where the NPA rebels targeted decimated in two years time.

        “They (government soldiers) may kill us (NPA rebels) all but we believe that for as long as there is poverty around the struggle continues,” Ka Louie quipped.

        He added that it would also depend on the masa because he said that if the masa would turn them away they would be defeated.

Big village
        As the van labored slowly on a humpy rocky road, a welcome sign crossed our way towards the sea where a big coastal village nestles along the coast. It’s a large village with electric power and about 500 houses.

        Two more turns, Ka Louie instructed Ray to stop in a short narrow street several meters from the beach. Without much-ado, he disembarked with the two NPA rebels who were quietly clutching their M16 rifles throughout the trip and seated at the backseat

        With handshakes, the NPA rebels who seemed to be in their early 20s bid us goodbye and disappeared in the dark as they walked towards left of the beach.

        “Ka Louie, as I know is a team leader of the ‘sparrow unit’ in this area. But I think it’s better if you could talk to Ka Cris. He is the one in-charge of this area,” Ray told this correspondent as he drove back to the national highway.

        Stopping by the crossroad, he tried to contact Ka Cris but the phone was always ‘out of coverage area’ and then he told this correspondent that for the past two days he could only send him messages.

        Ray said that Ka Cris and his band were on the run because the soldiers were behind them and that they could not be reached that moment.

Revolutionary tax
        Leon, an overseas contract worker who has decided to settle down in his hometown in Sorsogon, said he has to deal with the NPA rebels in a non-antagonistic way because he has bought 30 hectares of coconut and rice farms.

        He said the NPA rebels collect one sack of rice for every 50 sacks of palay harvested and resort to confiscation once the landowner fails to give their dues.

        But Leon said the NPA rebels do not have uniform collection scheme and depend on the relation of the individual to the local commander.

        He explained that in an NPA-influenced area the alyado are the friendly forces in the locality who secure for the NPA rebels guns, ammunitions, groceries, office supplies, cell phone load, transportation facilities, medicines including doing special tasks for them.

Alyado
        Leon said that the alyado are commonly exempted from revolutionary taxes and treated with cordiality at the same time that their business and agrarian interests are also assured and secured.

        He said that giving into the request from the NPA rebels of some provisions is small sacrifice compared to his long-term interest in agribusiness.

        The former OCW claimed that in their town two key informants and communication line or poste (communication post) of the NPA were already ‘liquidated’ while one informer of the military was likewise shot dead.

        None of the families of the victims of the killings were interested in filing a case because nobody wants to be a witness, he added.

        “I think there is an immediate effect on the operation of the NPA in the areas where key informants were liquidated because this constricts their knowledge of the ongoing situation and movement of the military in the locality,” Leon explained.