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

Time to Test the Waters

In the history of the Left movement in the University of the Philippines (UP), 1975 was the year the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) accepted that an explicit anti-martial law protest movement in the Diliman campus was feasible. Going for it were the underground and above ground assets it had painstakingly developed in 1973 and especially in 1974. Besides, party leaders opined, the initial shock of the declaration had vanished.

It tried to incite protests in 1973, but these were quickly squelched by the police. In an astute move, the CPP settled down to secretly penetrate innocent looking organizations, undertake subtle anti-dictatorship activities through these groups, recruit members, and develop a mass base.

In 1975, the CPP determined that after all the spadework, it had enough warm bodies and a range of tactics to openly challenge martial law without inviting suppression and arrest. The party sensed that the Marcos regime was relaxing, albeit temporarily. The Left was willing to test the waters.

Hopes were high in the party ranks that the intended protest movement would approximate the intense rallies before martial law. However, quite a few CPP operatives in Diliman recognized the stifling effect of martial law on student activities. They were secretly lowering their expectations. Not a few, however, were convinced that the students could still be mobilized to demonstrate in droves, like they did before Proclamation 1081.

The CPP Organization in UP Diliman

By 1975, the CPP had already laid out a decent network in UP, made up of more than 80 cadres and members, and about thrice this number “national-democratic” (ND) activists. The party branch was bombastically called “University Revolutionary Council,” or URC. Its Executive Committee was called Komiteng Tagapagpaganap or verbally, KT. The URC fell under the administrative supervision of the CPP's District 2, or “D2” which covered Quezon City and Marikina. 

D2, in turn, was under the guidance of the party's Manila-Rizal (MR) Committee. MR's leadership was then newly taken over by Filemon Lagman, who was known in underground circles as "Ka Popoy." A tactical genius, Lagman this early was already hankering for a general uprising in Manila-Rizal, which he termed as a "Sigwa" (storm). 

Lagman's influence on the party branch in UP was immense. Even his agitated speaking style and gesticulating body mannerisms were copied by the top cadres. Lagman contributed in no small measure to the UP party branch's intense desire for an uprising in the university. 

The URC’s organizational department (OD) was tasked with overall organizational maintenance and political guidance of the numerous party groups and national-democratic (ND) core groups. These were embedded in the various student organizations, in the newly-elected Student Conference, and in the Philippine Collegian.

Organizational maintenance basically meant keeping the groups together and consolidating them. Giving political guidance meant ensuring that the groups followed the policies and guidelines of the URC, which was also called “higher organ” or informally, “HO.”

It was the job of the OD to transmit the memos that emanated from the URC, and for these to be thoroughly discussed in the party and ND groups. The memos were usually typewritten on onion-skin paper and several pages long. Sometimes reading the memos was difficult, because the URC production committee made too many copies in a single typing. Carrying the documents was extremely dangerous. Persons found by the military carrying them were adjudged CPP elements and were invariably arrested, tortured, or even “salvaged” (summarily executed).

The memos contained the national and campus political situation, the issues of the day, the tasks for a given period, and the political calls. The latter came in the form of stirring slogans, like “Struggle for an autonomous, democratic, and representative Student Council!” The memos were especially important when the URC was calling for a “mass campaign” revolving around an urgent or burning issue. In its memos, the URC referred to UP by the code name La Union, which in informal leftist conversation later evolved into “LU,” with the party being simply referred to with the letter "Q."

Corps of Cadres and Underground Seminars

The memos were transmitted by a small corps of talented and dedicated cadres that individually headed the various party and ND core groups. A party or ND group leader had the authoritative and glamorous title of “sec” which was short for secretary. Being a “sec” gave an activist enormous admiration and respectability even in the purportedly egalitarian UP activist community. Sometimes, if the sec was not capable enough, the OD dispatched a “political officer” or “PO” to assist him/her, especially in explaining and defending complex policies.

Helping the OD in consolidating the underground groups was the URC’s education department (ED) which was a pool of CPP instructors who were adept in conducting Marxist and ND discussion groups. These leftist seminars were casually called “EDs.” They systematically followed a prescribed curriculum. They were held in private houses belonging to the UP students themselves, especially those whose parents were middle class or upper middle class.  

For the ND activists, the course was called “Basic Mass Course,” or “Batayang Kursong Pangmasa.” A must reading for this course was CPP chairman Amado Guerrero's “Philippine Society and Revolution,” or PSR. For the party elements, the course was called “Basic Party Course,” whose readings were contained in a pocket handbook titled “Guide for Cadres and Members of the Communist Party of the Philippines,” or “Patnubay Para sa mga Kadre at Kasapi ng Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas,” or verbally, “Patnubay.” An added reading for party elements was Amado Guerrero's just published article “Specific Characteristics of Our People's War.”

Both party and ND courses were preceded by a lengthy getting-to-know-you or “kilanlanan” portion, where each participant introduced him/herself by relating a short autobiography or “talambuhay.” The talambuhays ended on what led the activist into the movement, and how he/she came to embrace its programme and ideology.

The URC also had a "Propaganda Commission" or "Propcom." It was the Propcom's job to distribute underground publications in the campus, like Ang Bayan, the CPP official publication, Liberation, which was the official paper of the National Democratic Front (NDF), and Taliba ng Bayan, a publication of the MR committee. Propcom published a paper of its own, called Rebel Collegian or RC. Propcom also gave direct tactical guidance to the party and ND core groups operating within the Philippine Collegian.

Building Alliances

After satiating itself with low key activities conducted by individual organizations in 1974, the CPP decided that in 1975, it was going to go for the dramatic. It decided to tackle bigger issues and for these to be bannered by groups or “alliances” of organizations. As well, belligerent indoor and outdoor rallies, abandoned in '73 and '74, were back on the planning table.

The first step in this bold direction was for the organizations to form alliances according to type or orientation e.g. academic, fraternity/sorority, varsitarian, civic, religious, and cultural. Examples of alliances that were formed were the “UP Fraternity Alliance,” the “UP Alliance of Social Science Organizations,” and the “UP Alliance of Natural Science Organizations.”

The alliances were usually formed in a meeting of representatives convened by a leading organization. An alliance was formalized through a written joint statement or declaration of principles which was signed by the organization heads. The CPP cadres saw to it that the declarations contained a commitment to “student rights and welfare,” and to “national freedom and democracy.”

“Student rights and welfare,” covered issues relating to tuition fees, campus facilities, student loans, and the academic curriculum. “National freedom and democracy” was inclusive of US domination of the economy, civil liberties, human rights, restoration of the student council, and martial law. The inclusion of this catchphrase was notable, in that it was a first after three years of martial rule. It was the CPP's trial balloon on how far student protests and mass actions could go, without inviting suppression.

Steering Committee on Student Rights and Welfare

The next step was for the alliances to form a university wide alliance of alliances. This aggrupation was formed in a large meeting in mid-1975, in the Student Conference room (Alcantara Hall)  on the second floor of Vinzons Hall. The main agenda of the group was the restoration of the student council and the improvement of student facilities. Note: any national political issue was off the table for the time being. 

In this meeting, I represented the newly revived UP Political Science Club (UPPSC). Minutes before the meeting, several members of the UPPSC, whom I suspected were members of the underground, asked me to preside over the meeting and gave me guidelines on the agenda. They also told me that most of the organizational heads in attendance had all been instructed to recognize me as the meeting's presider.

I was all too eager to accept the responsibility. I was a bit concerned about my personal safety, but that became a minor consideration I really wanted to contribute to the anti-martial law effort. After the room was filled with student leaders, I took it upon myself to start the ball rolling. In all confidence, I introduced myself, and gamely told the gathering the reasons for the meeting, and what we hoped to achieve. No one questioned my self-initiative in starting the meeting, and everyone seemed to have a ready input. It was exactly what I was told earlier.

The meeting lasted about 1/12 hours. Before it ended, the alliance heads decided to innocuously call the umbrella group “Steering Committee on Student Rights and Welfare.” (SCSRW). Obviously, we did not want to prematurely invite the eye of the UP and martial law authorities. By consensus, I was chosen its chairman. I gladly accepted. Thereafter, this alliance of alliances was often irreverently called "Screw." That night, at home in Bulacan, Bulacan, I was so proud of my new position.  

Although it already controlled the Student Conference and the Philippine Collegian, the CPP decided that it still needed a campus-wide organization like the SCSRW, which it completely controlled. Complete control meant being able to adapt a group's name and tactics to any issue it wanted to pursue, and to the intensity level it wanted to pursue it.

Such flexibility was not present in the Student Conference and the Philippine Collegian, because after all, they still owed their existence to the UP administration, with the attendant rules of operation. Any rash action by either body could invite suspension or abolition. It would have been foolhardy for the CPP, for example, to let these institutions lead a street uprising, or call for armed struggle. 

The CPP leadership was reserving the SCSRW for this kind of action, even though the latter was addressing student rights and welfare issues in the interim. When the SCSRW assumed an anti-dictatorship stance, the CPP planned to upgrade its harmless name to something combative.

Onofre D. Corpuz and Emanuel V. Soriano

1975 was also the first year of Onofre D. Corpuz as UP president. Before becoming the 13^th UP president, Corpuz was secretary of education in the Marcos cabinet and founding president of the Development Academy of the Philippines. A UP undergraduate alumnus, he held a masters degree in Public Administration and a PhD. in Political Economy & Government from Harvard University.

One of the first acts of Corpuz as UP president was the creation of the position of Executive Vice-president and the appointment of Emanuel “Noel” V. Soriano to the position. Soriano held a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MS in Industrial Management from UP, and a doctorate in Business Administration from Harvard University. He would later succeed Corpuz to become the 14^th UP president.

Noel Soriano was one of the founders of UP Student Catholic Action or UPSCA, a conservative and anti-Marxist campus organization. This gives a hint on his political orientation.  Upon assuming his post, Soriano began sporting the technocratic title of “EVP.” His was the unenviable job of day-to-day administration, which included dealing with bothersome UP student leaders.

EVP Position

In creating the EVP post, Corpuz must have felt his administrative authority must be increasingly delegated to run a growing state university. He needed a point man. At that time, UP had recently been reorganized by his predecessor Salvador Lopez as the “UP System.” As a result, Corpuz concentrated on presiding over policy making and institution building in the Board of Regents ------- UP Visayas was established under his watch. Noel Soriano, meanwhile, tended to UP's nitty-gritty.

Being the first UP president to be appointed under martial law and a perceived Marcos protege, Corpuz was expected by the UP activist community to be more restrictive than Salvador Lopez, and a more cooperative steward of Marcos' agenda. Marcos' long-term plan for UP, as impressed on Corpuz, was to maximize its output of ideas and expertise and minimize its capacity for dissent. The former was easy to achieve, because UP had been doing that for years. The latter was a long shot, precisely for the same reason.

Salvador Lopez acquiesced to this design, but not completely. He revealed a benevolent streak by gradually giving concessions to student demands for more campus democracy until his term ended. Corpuz could have built on Lopez' democratic measures by finally restoring the student council.

However, Corpuz proved to be intractable. He stood pat on the student council ban, obviously in deference to Marcos. He did allow though, an underdone entity like the UP Student Conference to succeed the Concomsa. The new body was elected at large, and enjoyed a fair degree of representation. Yet, Corpuz saw to it that the UP Student Conference would not be as autonomous as the council of old.  

 The Student Conference and Philippine Collegian

CPP control of the Student Conference and the Philippine Collegian in 1975 was essential to the success of its plans. These institutions were pivotal in sparking protest actions. Both were excellent CPP propaganda platforms, as they legally articulated any CPP analysis, call-to-action, and slogan.

They also enjoyed tremendous legitimacy, being administration created and sanctioned. The institutional cover they provided to CPP cadres was formidable. Moreover, they provided solid provisions to the activists, in the form of office space, office supplies, two electric typewriters, and two reliable mimeographing machines.

The party successfully fielded candidates in the Student Conference elections in mid-year, capturing most of the twenty or so seats. Even before the elections, CPP control of the new body was a foregone conclusion, because it controlled practically all the organizations that fielded candidates. Just the same, the party took advantage of the campaign to engage in propaganda and break new ground.

In the Philippine Collegian meanwhile, party elements managed to snatch important staff positions after the grueling editorial exams. They arduously prepared for it, even holding writing and lay-out workshops and a mock exam. They, however, failed to win the editor-in-chief position. The post was bagged by Abraham “Ditto” Sarmiento Jr., a nerdy and bespectacled law student who belonged to the moderate Alpha Phi Beta fraternity.

Surprisingly, Ditto Sarmiento proved to be very cooperative to the Left. In fact, he mostly let them have their way with the Collegian. With each issue, the Sarmiento Collegian escalated its attacks against the dictatorship. The most memorable issue under his editorship came in late 1975. It not so subtly called for an uprising against martial law. It had an imposing image of the Oblation on the entire front page, with “Kung hindi ngayon kailan pa?” (If not now when?) emblazoned under it in red letters.

Vinzons Hall, UP Women's Home, and The Grill

The radicals also controlled a little known but vital UP institution, the UP Women's Home, a cozy bungalow behind Vinzons Hall which became a veritable activist boarding and half-way house. There was a piano in its living room, and the militants sang revolutionary songs to its accompaniment. The Internationale by Eugène Pottier was one of the most requested songs. For some reason, many members of the UP Kappa Delta Phi sorority frequented the place.

The radicals also held meetings and consultations in its many small rooms, which were noticeably bereft of furniture. The rooms were nonetheless clean, carpeted, and sound-proof. CPP elements who were on the military's wanted list often sneaked into these cubicles, and engaged in endless small talk with their less sought after friends.

The activists also patronized that timeless Vinzons Hall fixture, a cafe called The Grill. The leftist watering hole had more than its share of activist banter, courting, and debate. No doubt about it, the Marxists were attracted by the The Grill''s proletarian prices. This University Food Service (UFS) outlet had an endless supply of cheap coffee, spaghetti, hamburgers, and cinnamon rolls.

With the Student Conference and the Philippine Collegian being likewise based in Vinzons Hall, this building, fronted by a defiant Andres Bonifacio statue, and which dominated a hill overlooking the UP Sunken Garden, became the effective UP Diliman leftist operations center.