Madalas ay kinakamusta ko na lang sa pinsan ko tuwing tumatawag ako sa kanila kung ano na ang kalagayan ng bukid doon. Pero sabi niya, “Wala nang bukid. Dagat na.”

One line from Atom Araullo's graduation speech at UP Baguio this week hit me harder than I expected. "You don't have to kill your dreams in the name of service. Just make sure your dreams don't require you to kill your conscience."

For former rebels who spent years organizing in labor and peasant communities, the issue is not as simple as choosing between government praise and leftist rejection.