THE KABATAAN Partylist (KPL) launched its Katipunan chapter last February as de facto Education and Research Committee Head Diana Breboneria said that its fifteen members were part of the Atenean branch. However, it was back in November during the anti-Marcos burial rallies that she and a few others joined the national KPL, with the plans to expand in Ateneo solidifying in January.
According to their official website, KPL is a “youth sectoral party and mass organization that aims to arouse, organize, and mobilize the large number of youth to advocate for their democratic rights and interests.” KPL is affiliated with the Makabayan bloc, a coalition of progressive organizations in the Philippine Congress.
KPL Katipunan organized a peaceful protest against the Talakayang Alay sa Bayan talk of Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief General Eduardo Año on February 21 and a talk on human rights and political prisoners on March 12.
While Organizational Development Committee member Niels Nable said that the group aimed to bridge Ateneo youth with other sectors of society, Breboneria explained that the group’s main concern is to immerse its members in the struggle of different sectors.
She also added that aside from chapter-building, the group’s focus is introducing national democracy to Ateneans as another perspective.
According to Nable, the organization has no plans of registering under the Office of Student Activities as KPL Katipunan is already supported by the national partylist.
Links to CPP?
Development Studies Assistant Professor Lisandro Claudio, PhD, warned that the group is associated with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). While he said that not all members of KPL are part of CPP, he says that aboveground groups such as KPL receive direct instructions from cadres and serve as tools for recruitment.
“KPL endorses the perspective of CPP that you need violent change from the countryside in order to fundamentally reshape Philippine society. CPP is an organization that believes in a one-party state. In other words, a dictatorship,” he said.
On the contrary, History Instructor Michael Pante said that the group’s formation is a good move because students are beginning to form networks with organizations outside campus. “Seeing that [the group] has a direct impact on legislation since KPL is in the House of Representatives, I think it’s a good thing we should support,” he said.
Moreover, Pante refuted the claim that KPL is associated with CPP, saying that it is a case of “red-baiting.”
“The party has been tagged ever since, but there has been no formal case filed against them to establish those claims,” he said.
However, Claudio said that there is a “Voldemort problem” in Philippine communism. The term, coined by former communist Bobby Garcia, refers to how communist-affiliated groups are called “militant” instead of “communist-affiliated.”
“What’s illuminating for me was when I had a chat with the former CPP Chairman Rodolfo Salas. I asked him, ‘Ka Bilog, is it accurate to say that organizations like Bayan Muna are communist?’ He said, ‘Of course, I made that organization.’ Make of that what you will,” he said. “These things are kind of open secrets and in a democracy, we won’t prosper if we speak in euphemisms. Democracy prospers through transparent language because it’s the kind of language that allows people to know what they’re getting into.”
Moreover, Claudio said that protecting his students is his primary concern. He said that certain students have died as a result of being sent to New People’s Army (NPA)-red areas after being recruited by aboveground organizations.
“I would not be able to live with myself if I heard of students dying as a result of being involved in a struggle that I think is not worthwhile anyway. I would be proud of a student who died for a worthwhile cause, but [for] a student [to die] for a sexist like Jose Maria Sison, I’d be very disappointed,” he said.
Pante, however, contests such sentiments because they encourage victim-blaming. He explained that even though it may be proven that aboveground organizations are sympathizers of the NPA, violence against them should never be justified as they are unarmed civilians.
“They are still students, so why blame them if they opt to align their political views with radical groups? It’s actually counterproductive because all the more people from these organizations would feel disenfranchised. The better thing to do is to actually allow them to further their aspirations using the parliamentary way,” he said. “It’s like we’re saying to students that it’s okay for them to believe whatever they want to believe in, but there are certain limitations.”
On the defensive
Breboneria lamented that questioning KPL Katipunan’s involvement with CPP is a “damned if I do, damned if I don’t” situation. “Answer negatively and we’ll still be damned because we belong to the Makabayan bloc. Answer affirmatively and, well, we’ll have ourselves killed. It [is] red-baiting at its finest,” she said.
According to her, the state, and not the aboveground organizations, is the “largest recruiter” of NPA. She emphasized that if the state served the interests of the masses, nobody would be enticed to join the NPA.
Breboneria explained that being part of a National Democratic Mass Organization (NDMO) such as KPL does not automatically translate to being part of the NPA. However, NDMOs recognize armed struggle because of their belief that the roots of poverty such as imperialism, bureaucrat capitalism, and feudalism are very much alive. According to her, it is important to understand why radicalism is needed – people are encouraged to join the masses and realize that the state is repressive and a revolution, therefore, is necessary for change.
“Siguro madaling sabihin para sa iba na wala ring patutunguhan iyong mga ipinaglalaban namin pero ‘yung maglingkod ka sa kapwa mo Filipino na wala kang hinihinging kapalit, ‘yung makakita ng tunay na malayang Pilipinas, palagi at palagi siyang worth it (It may be easy for some to say that our cause is worthless, but to serve our fellowmen without asking for anything in return and to see a Philippines that is truly free, it will always be worth it in the end),” she said.
Moreover, she questioned how students are encouraged to think critically when they are persecuted for challenging the views of the administration. Breboneria and Nable have both felt that they are under surveillance inside the campus.
Nable insisted that KPL Katipunan is just like any other Ateneo organization. “Wala kaming pinagkaiba sa AJMA, sa Gabay. Kapasyahan namin na itatag ang organization na ito at manghikayat ng ibang Atenista na sumali. Walang gumagamit sa amin (We are not different from AJMA or Gabay. It is our decision to form this organization and invite Ateneans to join. Nobody is using us),” he said.
Campus political diversity
Union of Students for the Advancement of Democracy (USAD) Premier Lanz Espacio welcomed the newly founded organization, but stressed the importance of differentiating USAD and KPL Katipunan as two distinct political groups.
“We do have fundamental differences in principle. KPL Katipunan embodies the national democratic line. As a social democratic party, we do recognize that these, to an extent, are irreconcilable,” he said.
According to Espacio, some members of USAD were removed because of their involvement with KPL Katipunan, specifically for using USAD’s name to in invite members of the community in protests organized by the new group.
“Sana, once they do organize, we’d be free to talk about these things in public dialogues for us to think of the new solutions on how we should go about politicization in campus as a response to what’s happening outside,” he said.
While he sees merit in the apprehensions of some administrators, Espacio reassured that if these sentiments translate into active suppression, USAD would condemn it.
Likewise, School of Social Sciences Representative Christian Dy released a memorandum on students’ exercise of political rights and welcomed the formation of KPL Katipunan, saying that it enriches Ateneo formation and diversifies the school’s political base.
“[The] Sanggunian is committed to making sure that students will not face repercussions as long as they are peaceable, as long as they are doing political expression at the exercise of their rights,” he said.
