Robert Reid | Chairperson FFPS
Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle (FFPS) joins the Filipino people in honoring the revolutionaries and New People’s Army (NPA) fighters Reniel Locsin Cellon, Mary Jane Maguilat, Charity Amacan, Jhonrey Mejares, Glenda Tinio Mejares, ka Pitong and Dee Supelanas, who were martyred on April 27 in Kabankalan City, Negros. Their bravery and selfless struggle for the liberation of the Filipino people solidifies them as true heroes, inspiring the Filipino people to further intensify their revolutionary armed struggle and us as anti-imperialists worldwide to further deepening our solidarity with the struggles of the Filipino fighting masses.
While these revolutionaries came from different generations and backgrounds, they nevertheless all chose the same difficult but noble road to fight for national liberation and genuine democracy in the Philippines. Besides fighting to overthrow the Marcos regime, they undertook the painstaking work in helping to organize the peasants of Negros to wage the struggle for land and of building the revolutionary People’s Democratic Government. In doing this they, and the masses, face extreme violence from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and paramilitary groups.
One of the martyred revolutionaries is Dee Supelanas, a trans woman and former student leader at UP Cebu. Even in her student days, she fought with her fellow students and for the oppressed sectors in the Philippines. Her contributions ranged from building and reviving progressive organizations for youth and students, resisting militarization in University campuses and indigenous Lumad areas during the Duterte regime, to educating displaced Lumad children as a volunteer teacher. Notably she joined in investigating the massacre of 14 farmers by the AFP in 2019, exposing her to the struggles of the peasants in the region.
These experiences as an activist led her to join the NPA, choosing the name ‘ka Dahlia’ after a colorful flower of the same name. It is a fitting name, for as long as the Filipino people suffer under the current rotten system, the ground is ripe for the growth and blooming of revolutionaries that fight for a future in which the Philippines and all the Filipino people will bloom into a free and democratic society.
The Marcos regime and the AFP boast of victory with the martyrdom of the Kabankalan 7. This ‘victory’ for the ruling class however will be short-lived, as the lives of service to the people lived by the Kabankalan 7 carry far greater weight. Their sacrifice will inspire comrades, friends, and the Filipino people to take up arms and join the NPA, as their grief and anger will turn into revolutionary determination.
While we too are deeply saddened by the martyrdom of ka Dahlia and the rest of the Kabankalan 7, their brave and selfless decision to face difficulty and even death for the liberation of the Filipino People inspires us and calls upon us to emulate their bravery by boldly extending out utmost support to the Philippine revolution.
Long live the Kabankalan 7!
Long live the martyrs of the Philippine Revolution!
Long live the New People’s Army!
Long live the fighting Filipino masses!