Alegria, a tiny municipality sitting along the shores of Lake Mainit, in Surigao del Norte Province, has a storied past vis a vis the insurgency, more than one would expect for such a non-descript town. In 1999 the NPA finally decided to organise within the general area, after sewing up the adjacent municipality of Kitcharao, in Agusan del Norte Province, the town I have been discussing in other Fourth Quarter NPA entries regarding the 30IB (Infantry Battalion) terrorising the town's Mamanwa Tribe in the Zapanta Valley.
When the NPA first organises it deploys a seven to fifteen person guerilla unit known as the "SYP," short for Sandatahang Yunit Pagpropaganda, which translated from the Tagalog basically means, "Armed Propaganda Unit." The SYP only moves in after a small but effective mass base of support has been established. Peasant Organisations, KMP for example, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Peasant Organization of the Philippines) helps to incite dirt poor-almost always- landless farmers. Organising a local branch of such organizations, which, inevitably are themselves constituent to the NDFP, or, National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the above-ground umbrella for all Hard Left organisations in the Philippines. The NDFP was founded in the early 1970s, by the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines), the political wing of the NPA equation, as a way in which to remain viable and at the forefront of the legal, above ground struggle versus the Marcos Dictatorship, but of course it has persevered for the quarter century since Marcos was toppled.
With a local chapter of a political organisation in place, NDFP activists agitate the local populace to organise, found "Barangay Committees" outside of the LGU (Local Government Unit) structure. In the Philippines, municipalities aren't constructed according to any Western model. There is a "municipality," which can very easily cover a 75 kilometer stretch of coastline. Within a given municipality there are "barangays," or "villages." Within each barangay, which can, like the municipality, be composed of disparate settlements, there are "sitios" or "puroks"- and one can even speak of another divisible unit within the purok or sitio, but for my purposes here, barangays are the smallest unit that needs to be examined.
Barangays are given de facto mayors known as "Barangay Chairmen," but usually referred to as "Barangay Captains." There is also a barangay council and both the Chairman and the Council are elected into office in an electoral process that is unsynchronised vis a vis the National Elections (which counter-intutively include the Mayoral and Provincial Gubernatorial Elections as well). As if that isn't confusing enough for you, Mindanao also has a Regional Election in the ARMM, or, Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Again, this third election isn't synchronised with the other two.
The NDFP activists effectively organise a parallel, or "shadow government," but do so down to the sitio or purok level. Their "committees" are unlike the legal government's committees which devote time and energy to such non-sensical subjects (for Mindanao) as "tourism' and "sports." Instead, the parallel committees focus on real life issues that are incredibly important to villagers, issues like developing potable water systems that don't involve a two kilometer trek through hilly jungle. For the first time power is removed from the traditional Philippine power base, its ogliarchs and political dynasties, and instead offers the poorest of the poor the feeling (of course it is illusory) that their concerns and needs are finally being addressed.
Then the NPA SYP arrives and though they are armed, the villagers aren't afraid, because the SYP is presented as an extension of the previous organisational activity. The SYP organises village defence committees, what it calls, "Milisya ng Bayan," the Village Militia. Townspeople are drilled in the use of firearms and if by chance the guerilla unit, or "Front" with Operational Control of that given area, has somehow managed to fully arm its guerillas (which is almost never the case), the SYP may distribute revolvers and shotguns, or in extremly rare cases, a vintage Garand M1 to the "Milisya." Once a Milisya is organised, it serves mostly as an intelligence pool for a guerilla Front. Rarely, members will be utilised as NPA Irregulars, joining in large scale operations before melting back into their villages and returning to theor farm work and other day to day activities.
The most important purpose of the SYP is to provide cannon fodder for the NPA, young, expendable, men and women who take that small leap and become guerillas themselves, NPA Regulars. In 1999, in a town near Alegria, a 17 year old Lumad (Hilltribe) woman made that leap with her family's support and blessing. Jelyn Dayong was the eldest child of a landless peasant family. When the NPA's Front 16 (NEMRC or Northeast Mindanao Regional Committee) stopped in the Zapanta Valley, on the Agusan del Norte and Surigao del Norte Provincial borders, and suggested that Jelyn had the makings of a natural defender of the defenceless, and promised to help her extremly poor family provide for its youngest children, she readily followed the group into the jungle.
Unfortunately for Front 16, and more unfortunately for Jelyn, her time with the NPA ended abruptly, not long after joining the group. While trying to train Jelyn as a guerilla the then-leader of Front 16, Eusebio Gumaquit, known by the nom de guerre "Ka Irak," realised she would be more of a hinderance than a help. Therefore, he deployed Jelyn to an SYP Team. Although she would carry a rifle, she would probably never be involved in an armed contact with the AFP. On February 16th, 1999, the SYP Team entered the municipality of Alegria, in Surigao del Norte Province, and made its way along the shores of Lake Mainit, finally entering Barangay Perdida, a barangay that has since been dissolved, where it was tasked with forming a new Milisya in Sitio Baglamag. Unfortunately for the SYP, the AFP's 20IB (Infantry Battalion, "AFP" being the Armed Forces of the Philippines) was also in the sitio that day. Having just been transferred into that AOR (Area of Responsibility, as in "Area of Operation"), replacing the 29IB, and was spending time in every sitio in the sector so as to acclimate itself to the terrain.
Jelyn's SYP team was joined by three other guerillas , so as to cross train a number of new members as they themselves trained villagers, but even with ten Regulars was still woefully undermanned when her small group inadvertently crossed paths with the 20IB. The AFP managed to capture five rifles and a seriously wounded Jelyn, though she fared the best since the AFP killed the other nine in her detachment. Shot in her leg and pelvic bone, she was first taken to Caraga Regional Hospital in Surigao City before being airlifted first to Camp Bancasi in Butuan City, in Agusan del Norte Province, the 4ID (Infantry Division) support base, and then again ro Camp Evangelista, the 4ID's main camp. There in 4ID Hospital, her true age, 17, came to light. Not one to miss a propaganda opportunity, the 4ID broke not only Philippine Law BUT International Humanitarian Law and LOAC, the Laws of Armed Conflict as well. Philippine Law requires that any combatant under the age of 18 be turned over to the DSWD, or, Department of Social Welfare and Development, within 72 hours of the AFP taking custody. International Humanitarian Law, or IHL, mandates that juveniles not be identified when charged with serious crimes. LOAC mandates that enemy prisoners of war not be subjected to media exposure- something the AFP willfully contravenes with most any captured NPA member.
Naturally Jelyn Dayong's case became a cause celebre amongst the NDFP "human rights" groups like "Karapatan" and ao, it was only after a Writ of Habeus Corpus was filed and approved in April of that year that Jelyn surfaced, but by then she "begged" to remain within the "safe arms" of the AFP. Indeed, they used Jelyn terribly. Getting cash allotments from General Headquarters to "pay" for her public school education (P21,000 alone went for a "subsistence allowance"), they even made the poor girl "star" in a propaganda play about her capture ("Batan-on pa lang sa Kamatayan, or, "Too Young to Die"). At age 23, in 2003, finally graduating highschool, she was inducted into the 4ID where she eventually was deployed to its CMO (Civil Military Operations) Battalion as a clerk, married to a fellow soldier. Her family hates her, despite the AFP trying to bribe them with a 3 hectare lot in the Zapanta Valley, but Jelyn claims to be happy.
Since that memorable armed contact at the beginning of 1999, the NPA has steered wide and clear of the small town of Alegria. Aside from isolated cases of transiting to and fro through the municipality, Front 16 has simply let it be. Then, on November 18th, 2011, at 8PM, ten "guerillas" barged into the home of Danny Evarita in Alegria's Barangay Ombong, and demanded...GOLD. Mr.Evarita is one of the many "Treasure Hunters" who dream of finding "Yamashita's Gold" here on Mindanao. Never mind that General Yamashita never set foot on Mindanao, it is ebough to know that there were Japanese soldiers here for suck dreamy eyed fools, I mean innocents, I mean fools. Tired of people poking fun at him, Mr.Evarita boldly announced that he had found the motherlode. Not long after, ten men brandishing M16s, M14s, and M1s paid the Evarita household a visit.
Demanding "the gold," the gunmen said that they needed it to sell for cash so as to buy medicines for wounded colleagues. Mr.Evarita stumbled as he tried to explain that the truth of the matter was, he hadn't actually found any gold...or anything of value. Naturally this didn't go over too well and one of the men squeezed off three rounds from his M16, all of which met their mark. As Mr.Evarita lay on the floor whimpering in pain, the gunmen searched the home from top to bottom before leaving disgustedly with a mere P6,000 ($140). Withdrawing into Barangay Camp Edward (the new name for Barangay Geotina) the "guerillas" melted back into the jungle. Of course these weren't NPA guerillas who have a full array of medicines along with hospitals that gladly assist them.
Danny Evarita survived and made his way to Caraga Regional Hospital.
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