Roman Polintan: A Farmer at Heart

After earning the ire of the country's most dreaded army general, Roman Politan may soon be a party list representative in Congress. But if he had his way, this militant leader in Central Luzon who has been marked by the military, would rather go back to what he loves most - farming.

BY ABNER BOLOS

Gitnang Luzon News Service

Posted by Bulatlat

Roman Polintan gives an impassioned address during a recent press conference on political killings

After earning the ire of the country's most dreaded army general, Roman Politan may soon be a party list representative in Congress. But if he had his way, the chair of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Central Luzon (Bayan, New Patriotic Alliance) would rather go back to what he loved most—farming.   In August last year, after more than 100 left-wing militants in Central Luzon had either been killed or abducted, the 52-year old farmer-leader from Barangay (village) Tangos, Baliuag, Bulacan was leading protests and was often quoted in media blaming the military and then Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan for the killings.

At that time, media reports told about Palparan, speaking in anti-communist rallies in Pampanga often singling-out Polintan and Anak Pawis party regional coordinator Joseph Canlas as "communists and non-persons."

"Mas mabuti kung mawala na ang dalawang iyan (It's better that these two are gone)," Polintan, in an interview with GLNS last week, recounted Palparan as saying.

Survivor

But the two leaders survived the veiled threats and Polintan saw himself recently named the 7^th of 12 nominees of the Bayan Muna (people first) party in this year's run up to the May 14 congressional elections.

In May 2006, after Manuel Nardo, a Bayan Muna leader and a close friend of Polintan was murdered by motorcycle-riding masked men, all the regional and provincial offices of organizations affiliated with   Bayan-CL were closed and abandoned to evade further attacks.

"We had to adapt to the tight security situation," Politan said. "Our leaders were being killed almost everyday. We would not wait for the killers to come to our offices." By this time, aside from the killings and abductions, Bayan offices in Angeles City and Tarlac City and a people's center in Aurora province had either been set on fire or robbed by armed men suspected to be military agents.

While Polintan took precautions for his safety before the decision to close Bayan offices in the region took effect, he believes that the move, aside from ensuring the safety of leaders, prevented further farm to the organization branded by the military as a "front" of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People's Army (NPA).

When Palparan retired in September last year as commanding officer of the 7^th Infantry Division that covers the seven provinces of the region, some 120 civilians had died in extrajudicial executions and at least 50 were abducted and remain missing. The killings and abductions in the region did not stop after Palparan's retirement but tapered off considerably.

Peasant roots

As a boy, Polintan recalls, he started to work in his grandparents' farm when he was just 13 years old up to when he finished high school in 1976. At a young age, he said, he had been imbued with a strong sense of love of country and for his peasant roots.

His grandfather Nicasio Labao, owner of a two-hectare rice farm in Tangos village was known in the community as "Hapon" for his exploits in engaging the Japanese occupation forces in Baliuag town and elsewhere in Bulacan. In high school at the St. Augustine' College, Polintan supported himself by working in his grandfather's farm.

After his grandfather died in 1976, he went to Manila to enroll at the Far Eastern University as a working student; he took a job in a brokerage firm. After earning a degree in Political Science, his relatives goaded him to be employed even as a teacher but he chose to go back and tend the farm left by his grandfather.

"Wala ka nang hahanapin pa sa bukid. Andito ang lahat ng kailangan upang mabuhay ng matiwasay " (In the farm, you have everything you need to live peacefully), Polintan said.

But his love for the soil will also bring him into political activism. During the martial law years in the late 1970s to early 1980s, students from Manila universities went to their village and held meetings with the farmers. He joined the activities as a matter of course, he said, since their community is a known bailiwick of the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (People's Liberation Army), the forerunner of the NPA.

Reluctant

Polintan was with the Bulacan farmers' delegation in Mendiola, Manila when the massacre occurred on January 22, 1987. Since then, from being a spokesperson of the village chapter of the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Bulacan (AMB or Bulacan Peasant Alliance) he rose to become chairperson of the district chapter and in 1989 was secretary general of the provincial chapter and a member of the regional council of the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon (Central Luzon Peasant Alliance).

In September 1997, he was appointed spokesperson and deputy secretary general of Bayan-CL, assuming a role he was at first reluctant to accept.

"It's an entirely different thing being a leader of Bayan which is a multi-sectoral alliance from being a peasant leader that I originally was. I was not used to talking with politicians and personalities. I am a farmer at heart," Polintan said.

In 1999 he was elected chairperson of Bayan-CL, a position he still holds today. "I have to take up the challenge because this is not for myself but for the people," he said.

He expressed the same reluctance when he was named a nominee of the Bayan Muna party, but with the same selfless confidence.

Threats

He recalls the past two years with undisguised horror. "So many of my friends and comrades were killed. At some point I shed tears even in public because of the inhumanity occurring all around," he said.

The last time he visited his home and his family was in January 2006. He was forced not to go back to his village because of numerous threats to his life. He was told by his family that armed men frequently cased their home looking for him. His family also witnessed intense surveillance in their neighborhood all meant to locate and possibly attack him.

Today, he stays with friends and relatives when busy with desk work and comes out in public only in specific occasions that demand his presence as the region's Bayan leader.

Asked on the military's perception that Bayan and its affiliates are communist fronts Polintan said: "That is an old story used to discredit legitimate people's organizations. They should charge us in court if we are doing anything illegal. If ever (the charges) were true, then people will understand and maybe even be proud if that is what it takes to serve the people completely and wholeheartedly."

Target

Polintan explains that the region's proximity to the national capital region is one of the reasons why Central Luzon bore the brunt of human rights violations in the past two years.

"The Arroyo government wants to silence the mass movement against her rule. Since a bulk of the mobilizations comes from the region during mass actions, it will be for the interest of authorities to paralyze the source of protests, even to the extent of killing civilians," he said.

Another reason, according to Polintan, is the growing number of  supporters Bayan and Bayan Muna enjoys. In the 2001 and 2004 elections, Bayan Muna emerged No. 1 in Central Luzon.

"If ever I will have the chance to serve in Congress, I will serve willingly and remain faithful to the people. My dream of becoming a farmer again can wait," he said. GLNS/Posted by Bulatlat

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