This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 51, Jan. 28-Feb. 3, 2007
Monico M. Atienza: A Life Worth Fighting For
His
friends and relatives described Monico Atienza's stubborn will to live, in the
face of a most life-threatening debilitation, as very characteristic of the man.
This kind of courage, they say - together with the man's extraordinary
conviction and abilities - enabled him to live the kind of life he has chosen,
unmindful of the obstacles that came his way.
BY
ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
The atmosphere at the
University of the Philippines (UP) Film Center the night of January 25 was both
light and serious. There were occasional bursts of laughter from the audience as
speakers talked of the man's mood swings and short temper. A serious mood,
however, would be apparent as the speakers discussed the man's unwavering
resolve to serve the people.
“Bugnutin siya, siguro,
dahil masyado siyang maraming iniisip at iniintindi”
(His temper is short,
maybe because there are too many things on his mind), said Prof. Vina Paz, chair
of the UP Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature. “Y'ong pagiging
bugnutin, ganoon na talaga siya mula pagkabata” (He had a short temper even
in his youth), said his nephew Adolfo Atienza.
But even as they made
some fun of the man's having a short fuse, the speakers and the audience were in
awe of the kind of life the man has lived thus far. “Madali siyang maging
inspirasyon, dahil sa kanyang salita at gawa” (It is easy to be inspired by
him because of his words and deeds), said UP Faculty Regent Prof. Roland
Simbulan.
The subject of all these
was activist, writer, and UP professor Monico M. Atienza who was given a tribute
by fellow activists, colleagues, former classmates, students and friends.
Atienza suffered a heart
attack last Dec. 23, while attending the wake of First Quarter Storm (FQS)
activist Selma Salvador at the Bustillos Church in Sampaloc, Manila. An
undetected mass in his throat blocked his breath, leading to successive heart
seizures.
Award-winning playwright
Bonifacio Ilagan, chair of the First Quarter Storm Movement of which Atienza is
president, said that he had noticed that Atienza had difficulty breathing even
as they were in the taxi on the way to Salvador's wake. “Lingon nang lingon
yung drayber, inaalala siguro yung pasaherong hirap huminga.” (The driver
kept turning his head, perhaps worrying about the passenger who had a hard time
breathing.) Ilagan asked Atienza if he was fine, and the latter said that he
was.
At Salvador's wake,
Ilagan said, Atienza was at one point brought to an adjacent room within the
Bustillos Church, in the hope that it would ease his breathing. After a few
minutes, someone told Ilagan that they should bring Atienza to the hospital.
Atienza insisted that he
was still fine and even walked by himself as they went to the nearby Mary Chiles
Hospital, Ilagan said. But when they got to Mary Chiles, Ilagan felt he had to
assist Atienza who lost consciousness a few minutes later.
After a few days Atienza
was transferred to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), also in Manila, where
he remains confined.
During his first few
days of hospital confinement, Atienza was hooked to a respirator. Within a few
days of his transfer to the PGH, however, he was able to begin breathing by
himself. He is also said to be now able to respond to communication: When a few
friends visited him at the PGH one day and told him, “Nick, kung naririnig mo
kami, sumipa ka” (Nick, if you can hear us, throw a kick), he raised his leg
slightly.
“Parang inaaway mo si
Kamatayan”
(It is as though you are fighting Death), said FQSM member Jake Abad in a poem
for Atienza that he recited at the tribute.
His friends and
relatives described Atienza's stubborn will to live, in the face of a most
life-threatening debilitation, as very characteristic of the man. This kind of
courage, they say - together with the man's extraordinary conviction and
abilities - enabled him to live the kind of life he has chosen.
Born to a lower-middle
class family in Cuenca, Batangas (a Tagalog province south of Manila), Atienza
displayed his remarkable abilities early on in life.
“Nick, as he is known
fondly by countless friends, was my classmate in the Far Eastern University Boys
High School (FEU-BHS) up to 1964,” writes journalist-activist Hermie Garcia, a
political detainee during Martial Law who is now based in Canada together with
his wife Mila Astorga, also a journalist-activist. “He was our class president,
valedictorian and student council president. With those distinguished
achievements at a very young age, our teachers predicted he would have a very
distinguished career in whatever profession he would soon choose.”
His graduation as class
valedictorian in 1965 made him a recipient of a scholarship at FEU where he took
business and finance while many of his friends went to UP. He joined the FEU
chapter of the Kabataang Makabayan (KM or Patriotic Youth), and together with a
number of schoolmates went on a two-month visit to China which was then a
socialist country.
Shortly after their
return to the Philippines, Atienza transferred to UP where he took up
literature, and there he joined the Student Cultural Association of the
University of the Philippines (SCAUP), a progressive study group of which he
eventually became president. He also got involved in the broad alliance Movement
for the Advancement of Nationalism (MAN), which had Sen. Lorenzo Tañada as its
chair and then KM Chair and UP Professor Jose Maria Sison as its
secretary-general. In the late 1960s he became the KM's secretary-general, and
was holding this position when the First Quarter Storm – a series of massive
demonstrations against the Marcos administration – happened in 1970.
He went underground
shortly before then President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in September
1972. Sison said that Atienza who became known as Ka (comrade) Togs in the
underground movement headed the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)
National Organizing Committee (NOD) and was also a member of its Central
Committee.
In 1974, Atienza was
arrested and detained by the military. He underwent severe physical and
psychological torture, including an overdose of truth serum. Based on old fact
sheets prepared by human rights groups, Atienza's torture caused him to suffer a
mental breakdown and seriously impaired his health. At one point he had to be
confined at the V. Luna Hospital in Quezon City.
He was detained for six
years. Upon his release he went back to UP to finish his studies and eventually
teach Filipino. He actively helped in the committee campaigning for the release
of Sison who was arrested in 1977 and was also heavily tortured.
Atienza played a
prominent part in founding and organizing the Partido ng Bayan (PnB or People's
Party), a progressive political party which fielded congressional candidates in
the 1987 elections under the Aquino administration.
In an ambush on PnB
leaders by a suspected military death squad in 1987, Atienza was seriously
wounded, together with PnB senatorial candidate Bernabe Buscayno who was a
leader of the New People's Army (NPA) during Martial Law. A shrapnel remains
embedded in Atienza's head and a leg wound he sustained from the attack has not
healed to this day.
In spite of all these,
however, Atienza has remained unfazed. He has continued to propagate progressive
ideas in his work as both a teacher and a writer. In various capacities he has
extended help to several people's organizations.
At the PGH Atienza
continues to fight for his life - and, by all accounts, rightly so, for his is
an extraordinary life worth fighting for.
As Sison said in his
testimonial to Atienza released on Jan. 7:
Alam nating matibay at
palaban si Ka Togs. Hindi tayo magugulat kung makakatawid siya sa kasalukuyang
kalagayan at magpapatuloy sa pag-ambag sa pagsusulong ng rebolusyong Pilipino.
Anuman ang mangyari sa personal na katayuan niya, natitiyak nating makabuluhan
at maningning ang kanyang buhay at papel na ginampanan sa kasaysayan.
(We know that Comrade
Togs is strong and defiant. We would not be surprised if he overcomes his
present condition and continues contributing to the advancement of the
Philippine revolution. Whatever happens to him, we are sure that his is a worthy
and glorious life and role in history.) Bulatlat © 2007 Bulatlat
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