A Brief History of the CPP Movement in the University of the Philippines in 1975 Part II

The SCSRW Led Campaign

With its forces well placed in the Student Conference, the Philippine Collegian, and in the organizations, the CPP in the summer of 1975 girded for action. At this point, the issues and rallying cries it was championing were limited to student rights and welfare concerns. It was time to test the effectiveness of the SCSRW.

In a general meeting in mid-semester, the SCSRW launched a “mass campaign” to finally force the UP administration to restore the student council. There was an extensive planning session, and the body was divided into committees with clearly delineated tasks. All the organizations represented pledged to mobilize their memberships and resources for the campaign. In the ensuing week, the newly formed alliance tried hard to provoke student passions. It did so with position papers, posters, Collegian press releases, and symposiums.

The results were moderate at best. The students attended the symposiums, shouted the prompted slogans, and read the SCSRW propaganda ---- but that was all. For example, an energized SCSRW symposium in a jam-packed University Theater, which was attended by a pestered EVP Soriano, fell short of expectations.

The indoor rally did not erupt into spontaneous protest march outside the theater as the CPP had hoped. The intended march would have gone around the academic oval in a dramatic show of force. The party branch later speculated that student welfare issues were too shallow for such an idealistic lot like the UP student body. In a “summing-up” paper, it concluded that the students would not be moved to action just because they had no council, much less because the laboratories were ill equipped, or the toilets were clogged and filthy.

Soriano would later comment that he did not recognize the SCSRW students, because he expected to confront the leaders of the Student Conference and the Philippine Collegian, with whom he was familiar. “I do not know these people from Adam,” Soriano lamented. He warned that there was something suspicious and sinister about the SCSRW, implying that it was a CPP front organization.

The October 31, 1975 Via Crucis Procession

On October 31, 1975, the CPP had a golden chance to mobilize UP students against martial law, albeit in a religious setting, and outside the UP campus. On this date, the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP) sponsored a “Via Crucis” (Way of the Cross) rally and procession in front of the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila.

This was, of course, an anti-martial law rally in disguise. It was taking advantage of the legal cover provided by the activist church elements, who were in fact, CPP elements themselves. Moreover, it was not as expressly anti-martial law as the UP activists wanted it to be, but they had to make do with it for the time being.

The Philippine Collegian, Student Conference, and SCSRW all called on the UP students to attend this rally. The assembly point was at the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) steps, the assembly time being around 1:00 pm. Around three hundred students assembled. There were some tense moments as the group lingered on the CAS steps for some 30 minutes to wait for more participants. They were expecting a police response. Finally, the marshalls gave the green light. Under the afternoon sun, the protestors discreetly marched to Vinzons Hall to board buses for Intramuros.

Like Old Times

Upon arrival in Intramuros less than an hour later, they joined a rally crowd of around two thousand, composed of priests, seminarians, nuns, students, and laborers. As was typical of the Left, representatives from each sector took turns speaking, lambasting the martial law regime in a veiled (no pun intended) manner. The emcee was the goateed Fr. Toti Olaguer S.J., who wore leather sandals and stood on an improvised stage.

After the tempered speeches, the crowd held a “procession” around the Manila Cathedral, through historic Calle Real. It passed in front of the cream colored Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) building, many members of which were still uncommitted regarding martial rule. The students, many not coming from UP, carried candles. The nuns thumbed rosaries, while the laborers, seminarians, and priests clung on to streamers.  

Yet, all avoided shouting raucous slogans, or carrying placards. The participants were being careful not to stretch their luck. Metrocom vans were waiting to accommodate them. There were truncheon wielding formations of police and “Barangay Tanods” in one corner, ready to pounce. Solitary, and burly looking men took pictures of the event.

Most of the UP students who attended this procession had become organized activists after the declaration of martial law. They were rightly called “martial law babies.” Quite a few, however, were veterans of the First Quarter Storm (FQS) of 1970 and the Diliman Commune of 1971. For them, it was almost like old times.

The Campaign Against PD 823 and the Corpuz Memo-Circular

On November 3, 1975, President Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 823, which prohibited strikes and lockouts. A few days later, a big indoor rally protesting the decree was held at the Vinzons Hall 4^th floor auditorium. It was sponsored by the Church -Labor Center (CLC), a committee under the AMRSP. The CLC had apparently made arrangements with the Student Conference or the Philippine Collegian. Many UP students attended the indoor rally, but making up the bulk were laborers and church people.

The main speakers were Fr. Luis Hechanova C.Ss.R. , who was the Executive Director of the National Secretariat of Social Action (NASSA) of the CBCP, Bishop Julio Labayen, a left-leaning bishop of the Prelature of Infanta, Mr. Elsie Estares of the Gelmart garments factory labor union, the shadowy Ka Berong from the leftist Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), and Fr. Lope Castillo of the CLC, chairman of the AMRSP.

The URC sensed that the issue was a potential game changer. At any rate, it was instructed by the CPP Manila-Rizal Committee to pursue the issue in the campus. Accordingly, the party branch immediately instructed its campus machinery to mount an intensive campaign against PD 823. In the days that followed, well attended forums occurred in the different colleges, opposing the decree, and supporting the right to strike. The Student Conference, Philippine Collegian, and SCSRW put their usual information campaigns on higher gear. Even the faculty began to get involved, pitching the issue in the classrooms.

These results attested to the UP community's receptivity to the issue. They also showed the increasing sophistication of the CPP apparatus in the UP campus. 

Onofre Corpuz Bans PD 823 Discussion

UP president Corpuz responded to this ferment by issuing a memorandum circular prohibiting the discussion of PD 823 in the university. In doing so, Corpuz was unknowingly accommodating the CPP. This was the ideal situation the CPP was looking for. PD 823 was an issue that appealed to the UP students' idealism, and forbidding its discussion in the campus hit a sensitive nerve. It was like creating the perfect storm.

In an instant, by limiting free speech in the campus, Corpuz converted PD 823 from a solidarity issue, into a grudge match. Many students and faculty, including non-activists, resented the memo-circular, and vented their ire particularly at his feisty EVP. They felt that the UP "admin" was terminating a right they had increasingly exercised that year, after cowering in relative silence in 1973 and 1974.

By the 2^nd week of November 1975, a reoriented information campaign was launched by the CPP machinery, demanding the rescinding of the controversial memo. This time around, the forums were more impassioned, the position papers more combustible, and the crowds bigger.

More and more, EVP Soriano assumed a high profile in facing the angry gatherings. About two weeks into the campaign, Corpuz and Soriano sat side-by-side on the stage in one unforgettable symposium at Abelardo Hall. They were trying with might and main to defend the memo during an open forum. 

In fairness, Corpuz and Soriano were holding their own. However, when the students couldn't handle Corpuz and Soriano's argumentative skills, the seasoned faculty, like Joel Rocamora of the Philippine Center for Advanced Studies (PCAS) came to their rescue. Otherwise, the duo's rebuttals were drowned out with shouts of disapproval and militant chanting.

Corpuz Rescinds the Memo

President Corpuz rescinded the memo circular the day after. The eminent Tarlaqueño couldn't take the heat anymore. Even during the fateful forum, I saw the pressure on his face. Yet, I thought he mustered enough decency and rationality to withdraw such an imprudent order. I wondered to myself: what could he have told Marcos to justify the historic revocation? 

In all, the three-week campaign in November 1975 that made Corpuz eat humble pie was the most assertive display of student power I had seen in UP after three years of martial law. Yet, its historical significance goes beyond its vigor. It was a vigorous campaign that was successful. It called for the rescinding of an unloved university order, and achieved its objective.

The Student Conference and the Philippine Collegian both issued euphoric declarations of victory. Even the underground publications like the Rebel Collegian joined in. The CPP, meanwhile, was able to harvest scores of recruits out of the energizing campaign. It significantly increased its clandestine presence in the university.

This renewed strength, in turn, showed in the big UP delegation to the first ever unequivocally anti-dictatorship rally held in Bustillos, Manila, in the early evening of December 6, 1975. This rally, which snaked through the narrow streets of Sampaloc and Quiapo, was attended by more than 5,000 people. PD 823 was still the issue, but this time with a pronounced anti-martial law streak. The CPP smartly timed it to coincide with the state visit of President Gerald R. Ford, during which time the regime was expected to be at its “friendliest” best.

The First Student Congress Under Martial law

After the Bustillos rally, the UP activists, Marxists as they were, looked forward to the beloved Christmas break. It was customary for them to spend this three-week hiatus to unwind. Vacation meant laid back “summing-up” meetings usually in an out of town venue, like Baguio City, or a resort in Laguna province. The meetings usually started the day after Christmas which, propitiously, was the CPP founding anniversary.

The Student Conference leadership used the break to attend the first gathering of college students under martial law. It was held at Baguio Teachers Camp on December 26-29, 1975. It was sponsored by the Department of Education and Culture (DECS) and was officially called “The First National Congress of College Students in the Philippines.” Its theme was “Nation Building Through Youth Civic Action Programs.”

For the nine-person UP delegation, it did not matter if the congress was sponsored by the dictatorial government or if the agenda served Marcos’ purposes. What mattered to them was that the gathering was a venue for making contacts, establishing a network, and discreetly conducting anti-Marcos propaganda. They felt they had the obligation to spread the protest spirit to other schools. They would not let this opportunity go away.

The congress was well attended. The different tertiary sectors were represented ----- private schools, vocational schools, and state colleges and universities. The UP delegation did groundwork to ensure UP was represented in all the workshop committees.

The January 1976 Arrests and Failed Protest Rally

Nineteen-seventy-five ended with the UP activists giddy with success. For them, November 1975 was like a democratic spring, and their participation in the December 6 Bustillos rally was their coming of age. They were looking forward to a groundswell in 1976.

But that was not to be. When classes resumed in the second week of January 1976, President Marcos ordered the arrest of the chairman and vice-chairman of the Student Conference, and the editor and managing-editor of the Philippine Collegian. Many rank and file student activists whom the military had tagged as CPP cadres and leaders were also arrested. Those apprehended were either picked up in their homes, or in the campus. On the day of the arrests, Vinzons Hall was visited several times by Metrocom arresting parties.

On the first day of the arrests, the party branch managed to assemble a small indignation rally of around a thousand in front of the College of Arts and Sciences. (CAS). In the absence of the legal leaders who would have coordinated and policed the rally, high ranking UP CPP leaders who were not arrested came out of the woodwork and did the job. 

In doing so, they were exposing themselves to intelligence agents who were also called “spotters.” Being members of the URC-KT, they were jeopardizing the safety of the entire UP CPP organization. Under their command, the rally was able to march about a hundred meters in the direction of the main library.

The authorities were ready for this demonstration. As the rally was nearing Gonzales Hall, it was accosted by a phalanx of riot police. The students stood their ground and shouted slogans demanding freedom for their leaders. But the police would not budge. There was a brief standoff. 

Upon prodding from the secretary of the CPP MR committee who was monitoring the action, the UP CPP leaders briefly toyed with the idea of forcibly occupying the main library and hostaging the hapless but revered university librarian, Prof. Marina G. Dayrit. The only demand would have been the release of the student leaders. In the heat of the confrontation, they rejected the plan as too reckless.

Finally, after about fifteen minutes, the cops received orders to violently disperse the crowd. They did so with truncheons, with the protesters fleeing in different directions. The indignation rally was over, and with it, the fleeting period of freedom in the Philippines' premier campus.