Student Leader Turned CPP-NPA-NDF Cadre

Duty of Youth/Student Revolutionary Movement. Screengrab of a document recovered from the CPP-NPA-NDF hideout in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija on September 2018. It describes the role of the youth/student revolutionary movement in organizing for the CPP-NPA-NDF. (Source: Captured enemy-documents)  

How did a promising young student leader like Victor ended up getting recruited into a communist organization?

In his growing up years, Victor barely saw his mother because she was busy working hard for the family. This, Victor mused, was perhaps one reason why he had been so susceptible to recruitment – the CPP’s charismatic recruiters had made him feel like he belonged. The CPP knew that the youth who did not have close relationships with their families would be looking for kinship elsewhere – and that was a gap the CPP could meet.

As Victor puts it, “We tend to give families, a sort of haven, to young people for them to believe they have a new family so that we can win their trust... Noong bata ako inaakala ko na pamilya ko sila kasi 24/7 nakakausap ko sila. [When I was young I thought they were my family because I could talk to them 24/7]. You find another sense of belongingness with them. Iyon ang nangyari sa buhay ko, I found belongingness with them. Pagod ang nanay ko, hindi ko siya makausap, hindi naman ako pala-barkada. Naging malayo kami emotionally sa isa’t isa [My mother was tired, I could not speak with her, I wasn’t the type of person to go out a lot with friends. We became distant emotionally to each other]. I found new friends [in them].”

This, Victor later learned, was a key tactic in recruitment and organizing, a skill which he later used in his involvement with the CPP.

“The best approach in mass work is to create a sense of belongingness with your target. Pagkakita pa lang sayo ng NPA kakamayan ka na agad at kakamustahin. Kaya kahit pa noong estudyante kami ganoon na talaga, "’Nanay, Tatay, magandang gabi po! Naibabalik 'yung pagpapahalaga at init ng human relationship [When an NPA member sees you, they’ll immediately shake hands with you and greet you. Even when we were students, it was like that. ‘Mother, father, good evening!’ They bring back the value and warmth of human relationship].” 

--THE WARS WITHIN (2020 / Copy&Share)