Anak ng Rebolusyon | The Long Road from Inherited War to a Reintegrated Life

TULUNAN, COTABATO — Belly Berana Jr. was raised in a family where the revolution was not something distant or abstract. It was part of their everyday life. And long before he carried a firearm as a fighter of the New People’s Army, he had already inherited the war of his parents.

He and his three siblings grew up under the care of their grandmother while their parents worked underground as cadres of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the NPA. Their community in Pantukan, Davao de Oro was then heavily influenced by the armed movement, and for Belly, life inside that environment felt normal.

As children, he and his siblings regularly visited NPA units during school breaks to spend time with their parents in the mountains. At a young age, they were already introduced to ideological studies such as PADEPA, one of the movement’s political courses.

“Kanunay ming ginapahinumduman sa among mga ginikanan nga inig human namo og hayskul, pwede na mi mosampa [sa NPA,]” Belly recalled. (Our parents always reminded us that once we graduate from high school, we can already join the NPA.)

His two older brothers (and, eventually, even their youngest sister) eventually became members of the armed movement in different NPA units under the CPP’s Southern Mindanao Regional Committee. By then, Belly already understood what was expected of him.

Still, parts of his childhood looked no different from that of many boys growing up in Mindanao’s mining towns. They studied in Pantukan, helped with small-scale mining work, and spent time with friends in the community. Ironically, some of those friends were children of soldiers assigned nearby.

“Naa may kampo sa militar sa among lugar, kanunay mi makauban sa mga sundalo. Mag-inom mi uban sa among mga silingan nga parehas namog edad. Ang ubang anak sa sundalo, barkada ra pud namo,” he said. (Because there is a military camp in our area, we often spend time with the soldiers. We drink together along with our neighbors who are the same age as us. Some of the soldiers' children are also part of our friend group.)

Looking back now, Belly says he never really saw contradictions in those experiences. In communities shaped by decades of conflict, soldiers, civilians, and revolutionary families often lived side by side.

But after graduating from high school in 2009, the direction of his life became clear. One week after graduation, his mother arrived to fetch him.

“Ulahing bahin sa Abril 2009, nisaka na kami ni mama sa Front 75 sa Far Southern Mindanao Region,” he said. [Late April 2009, my mother and I went up to Guerrilla Front 75 of the Far South Mindanao Region.]

He was only 16 years old.

Learning war

Life inside the armed movement quickly stripped away whatever romantic notions he may have carried about revolutionary struggle. The adjustment was immediate.

“Sa unang adlaw pa lang, nabati gyud dayon nako ang grabeng sakripisyo,” Belly said. [From the very first day, I could already truly feel the intense sacrifice.]

He underwent political and military training almost immediately. His mother also encouraged him to review PADEPA* lessons to deepen his understanding of the movement’s principles. After only a few months, he was selected for medical training in another guerrilla front.

The training lasted three months, followed by a second level of medical instruction later that year. Over time, Belly rose steadily within the organization. He became a squad medic, later a platoon medic, then a platoon leader. Eventually, he was appointed vice commanding officer of a regional operational command and later became secretary of the Regional Sentro de Grabidad (the main armed unit of the region of Far Southern Mindanao).

For more than a decade, the movement became his entire world.

But the longer he stayed inside, the more he witnessed the human cost of the war.

One of the moments he says he can never forget happened on January 26, 2011, during an armed encounter where he, his brother, and their father fought together for the first time.

His father did not survive.

“Dili masukod ang akong kasuko adtong panahona,” he said. “Unang higayon nga nagkauban mi sa pamilya sa gubat—ang akong kuya, among amahan, ug ako—ug mao pa gyud to ang nahitabo.”

The loss stayed with him for years. But it was not the last tragedy he would witness inside the movement.

On December 22, 2020, an air strike hit a gathering of cadres and fighters during a plenary of the regional leadership of the CPP. Five people were killed, including a 10-year-old girl and the woman taking care of her.

“Daghan gyud ang naigo sa among han-ay,” Belly recalled. [A lot of people on our side were hit.]

By that point, Belly had spent more than ten years in the armed underground. The exhaustion was no longer only physical. The constant movement, armed encounters, deaths, and years away from ordinary civilian life had begun taking their toll.

He said he slowly realized that he wanted a different future for himself.

Reintegration

On November 9, 2021, Belly decided to surrender to the government.

Today, his life looks very different from the one he once imagined as a teenager climbing into the mountains with his mother.

Now living with his family and reintegrated into his community, Belly is currently taking up Bachelor of Public Administration in Cotabato as a second-year college student. Instead of attending clandestine meetings and military trainings, he spends much of his time attending classes and working with fellow former rebels.

He also serves as president of the SOCCSKSARGEN Peace Advocates for Nation-Building and Development (SPAND), a regional federation composed of former members and cadres of the CPP-NPA-NDFP in Region12 who advocate for reintegration, peacebuilding, and community development.

According to Belly, the organization hopes to help former rebels rebuild their lives and become productive citizens after years spent in armed struggle. “Sa pagkakaron, padayong kong gigakus ang kalinaw.,” he said. [At present, I continue to embrace peace.]

For Belly, however, his story is not simply about surrendering or leaving the movement behind. It is also about growing up inside a conflict that shaped nearly every part of his identity from childhood and the inevitability of his taking part in it.

Now, years after leaving the mountains, he says he is still learning what it means to build a life outside it.

*PADEPA (Pambansa-Demokratikong Paaralan) is the Communist Party of the Philippines’ ideological and political education course designed to train recruits and members both in the aboveground and underground in the principles, history, and strategies of the national democratic movement. Former rebels describe it as one of the foundational study programs used by the CPP-NPA to shape political consciousness and prepare members for organizational and revolutionary work.