Ruptures 5
or twice in news stories. Standing about 5’10”, the man was darkcomplexioned, had a large frame and wore a serious face that, if he were in military fatigue and brandishing an armalite, would more or less complete the image of a rebel commander.
“This is Ka Jun,” Bilog duced the man. “I said as we shook hands. “ - ing a boyish smile that all at once earlier had of him.
It is customary in the movement that personalities are not known by their legal names nor by their publicized but by their underground aliases. So, I never knew who Ka Jun really was until after a time.
Neither did Bilog tell me who Ka Jun was or what his job in the revolution was. The only instructions that Bilog issued was Ka Jun’s authority to use my house thenceforth. For what intro- purpose was something already obvious but details about which I need not be told.
In the succeeding visit of Ka Jun to my place, he had in tow Ka Charlie, a clean-cut, clean-shaven, average-sized guy who seemed to wear a ubiquitous snicker; Ka Arman, a thin fellow who looked at you like probing your innermost being but who was ready always with a smile as though to distract you from your own probing of his probity once he realized it (and he smoked unceasingly); Ka Ding, tan, tall and much like a boy from Ipanema who did not talk much and, rather than commenting in a discussion, he just let out a shallow snicker, making you confused on whether he agreed or disagreed with a certain point; and Ka Jess, a tall, handsome-looking fellow of scholarly mien, wearing spectacles as a way of highlighting the transparency of his character.
It was Ka Arman who was more forthcoming with information about the group. Ka Jun was Rolando Kintanar, the NPA chief of staff; Ka Charlie, was NPA intelligence chief; Ka Ding was N3 (operations) head; Ka Jess, deputy of Ka Arman, who was N2 (intelligence) head.
The group was the general staff of the New People’s Army.
By golly, I exclaimed to myself, my house is the General Command headquarters!
I was euphoric. I had been booted out of the party once, but now I am back. How nice to have gone full circle in the revolution, going through all the odds, pain - ing over all these.
In discussions with Ka Arman, I got to know how far into the guerrilla war the party had gone,
“We are now into the strategic counter-offensive substage. This is a necessary stage to achieve in order to advance to the strategic stalemate. Once we reach the strategic stalemate, we can now push the strategic offensive onward to victory.”
By authority of the general staff, Ka Arman designated me head of the special intelligence unit (SIU), out intelligence work for the various components of the Kintanar program for city insurrection.
Foremost aspects of the job were: constructing a miniature model of the Batasang Pambansa, particularly detailing the entrances and exits; casing the movements of US troops in and out of Clark Field; monitoring activities in Forbes Park and Dasmariñas Village; studying the details of the operations of the Manila International Airport.
An added task for me personally was a critical component of a fund-raising project.
“How much do we need to raise?” I asked Ka Arman during one consultation. “Enough to fund a whole army.” With those words Ka Arman stared at me, as if asking: “Will you prove equal to the challenge?”