Humanitarian Work that Serves Two Masters

In the third quarter of 1998, Elena received a Party assignment. As a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), she was designated as a cadre tasked with helping lead an NGO operating in Western Mindanao. On paper, the organization focused on disaster preparedness, disaster management education, and measures designed to reduce the impact of natural and human-induced disasters. Its programs targeted remote communities in the region's hinterlands, areas often exposed to typhoons, flooding, armed conflict, and food insecurity.

If you had visited these communities at the time, you would have seen volunteers conducting disaster preparedness workshops, organizing local committees, establishing early warning systems, and distributing farm inputs to communal farms. You would have heard residents talk about food security projects, evacuation planning, and community resilience.

The Assignment 

Elena was deeply involved in these efforts. She traveled regularly to isolated villages, worked with farmers' organizations, coordinated local activities, and helped expand the NGO's reach. The programs attracted support because they addressed real needs. Communities benefited from training, agricultural assistance, and disaster-response planning.

She understood the NGO's place within the revolutionary movement from the moment she accepted her assignment. Under the direction of its executive director, Ate Vergie, the organization functioned as more than a humanitarian institution. It helped organize communities aligned with the revolutionary movement's objectives. It served as a venue for political consolidation. It supported campaigns pursued by Party-affiliated organizations. It also provided logistical support to revolutionary forces operating in the countryside.

The Work

Elena worked closely with Ate Vergie in carrying out these activities. Together, they oversaw programs and services directed toward communities that the movement considered part of its organized mass base. The work advanced development projects in the countryside while strengthening structures that the Party regarded as important to its long-term objectives.

At the time, Elena accepted this arrangement without hesitation. For her, serving the communities and helping the New People’s Army are the same.

The Audit

Years later, Elena participated in an internal audit that examined several of the NGO's most successful projects. The review covered community food programs, emergency supply systems, agricultural initiatives, and local communication networks.

The audit did not shock her. She already knew how these programs fit into the movement's plans. She knew why certain communities received sustained attention. She knew why decentralized food reserves were encouraged. She knew why remote villages were developed into self-sustaining support networks.

What affected her was seeing the full picture laid out in reports. The projects had created reliable channels for resources. Food production programs generated supplies that could be accessed beyond their stated humanitarian purpose. Community networks facilitated communication in areas where guerrilla units operated. Emergency stockpiles increased the ability of local support structures to sustain activities in isolated locations.

The Realization

As Elena reviewed the records, she saw how resources obtained through humanitarian appeals moved through systems that also benefited the New People’s Army.

Donors believed they were helping vulnerable communities prepare for disasters. Community members believed they were participating in programs intended to improve daily life. Many volunteers believed they were serving humanitarian causes.

For years, Elena had viewed this as part of a larger political struggle. But in that moment, she thought about the funding proposals that emphasized helping poor farmers. She thought about the supporters who contributed money believing it would reach communities facing hardship.

The resources reached those communities, but they also reached terrorists that caused armed conflict. That realization stayed with her.

The Mirror

It would have been easy to tell herself that responsibility belonged elsewhere. The documents in front of her made that impossible. She had helped establish programs. She had helped oversee implementation. She had helped expand networks that served both humanitarian functions and revolutionary objectives.

The truth was uncomfortable because it involved her own decisions.  Over time, Elena chose to leave the movement. She concluded that communities facing poverty, disaster, and insecurity deserved assistance free from political exploitation. She came to believe that humanitarian work loses its purpose when resources intended for vulnerable people become part of an armed struggle.

Accepting her own role in that process was painful. It required more than acknowledging mistakes made by others. It required acknowledging her own participation.

Today, Elena carries a lesson shaped by experience.