UNPOPULAR OPINION | CEGP Must Explain Its Highest Commendation for an NPA Member

The College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) has placed the credibility of student journalism under scrutiny by publicly honoring a former officer whom the Communist Party of the Philippines itself identified as a member of the New People’s Army (NPA).

In its latest statement, CEGP gave its “highest commendation” to Rocha Mae Bihag, describing her as a “people’s journalist and heroine of Northern Mindanao.” CEGP highlighted her history as a campus journalist and former CEGP vice president for Mindanao, as well as her involvement in various political and social campaigns.

But the CPP-North Central Mindanao Region’s own statement identifies Bihag as “Ka Maki” and says she “decided to join the revolution.” It lists her among four comrades killed in an encounter in Esperanza, Agusan del Sur, and describes them as revolutionary heroes. The CPP subsequently confirmed the deaths, while government reporting identified Bihag as a member of the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee’s executive committee.

This creates an uncomfortable question for CEGP: Why is an organization representing student publications giving its highest commendation to someone whom the CPP itself identifies as part of its armed revolutionary movement?

The question becomes more significant because Bihag was not merely a former participant in the Guild. According to CEGP’s own statement, she served as its vice president for Mindanao beginning in 2014 and was re-elected in 2016, remaining in the position until 2019.

A firsthand account by Sinonta places Bihag’s entry into the armed movement in 2016. If these dates are accurate, then her transition into the NPA may have overlapped with her tenure as a CEGP officer. This is not a minor detail. It raises a question not only about what happened after her years in campus journalism, but also about whether her work in the legal student-press organization and the armed movement existed alongside each other.

Bihag is also not the first CEGP leader or member to follow this trajectory.

Antonio Tagamolila, a former editor-in-chief of the Philippine Collegian and national president of CEGP, went underground and joined the NPA after the declaration of martial law. He was killed in an encounter with government forces in Libacao, Aklan, in 1974. His CEGP leadership and eventual entry into the armed movement are recorded even by the Bantayog ng mga Bayani historical archive.

Rachelle Mae Palang was a campus journalist and CEGP vice president for the Visayas before joining the NPA. She was killed with two others during an encounter in Zamboanguita, Negros Oriental, in September 2008. Years later, revolutionary publications openly acknowledged that Palang had joined the NPA and urged the youth to continue in her footsteps. An NPA command in Negros was subsequently named after her.

Other names further illustrate the different ways CEGP figures have become entangled with the CPP and NPA through the years. Kerima Lorena Tariman, a former managing editor of the Philippine Collegian, was killed as an NPA fighter in a 2021 encounter in Silay City, Negros Occidental.

Frenchie Mae Cumpio, a former CEGP Eastern Visayas regional coordinator, was arrested in 2020 and convicted in 2026 of financing terrorism for supporting the NPA.

Benjaline “Beng” Hernandez, who, like Bihag, was also CEGP vice president for Mindanao. She was killed in Arakan in 2002 as a Red fighter of Guerilla Front 53. Nelson Bautista Jr., meanwhile, was a former CEGP alumnus whom the CPP itself described as an “NPA member.” He surrendered to authorities in April 2024.

These cases should not be treated merely as “guilt by association.” They do not, by themselves, prove that CEGP as an organization is part of the NPA or that every Guilder shares the same politics. Neither should legitimate campus journalism, activism and criticism of the government automatically be equated with participation in an armed movement.

But the recurring movement of some CEGP leaders from campus journalism into the NPA cannot simply be dismissed as an invention when revolutionary organizations themselves acknowledge it. At the very least, it raises legitimate questions about the ideological environment within the Guild and how it presents armed revolution to young campus journalists.

Increasingly, however, CEGP, like several of its allied national democratic organizations, has made its own defense against “red-tagging” less convincing. Red-tagging remains a serious concern when accusations are made without evidence or used to threaten legitimate activists.

But when CEGP publicly honors Bihag and other alumni later acknowledged by revolutionary organizations themselves as NPA members, it makes the connection more prominent and increasingly difficult to deny. CEGP cannot dismiss every question about these cases as red-tagging while simultaneously celebrating the individuals’ revolutionary trajectories and remaining silent about their participation in the armed movement.

Student journalists should be able to report on political movements without being perceived as extensions of them. They should also be able to advocate social change without being placed under suspicion merely because of their views. But when an organization representing student publications publicly celebrates a former officer who joined the NPA, and does so without clearly distinguishing her journalism from her participation in an armed organization, it risks undermining that necessary distinction.

CEGP is free to remember Bihag’s work as a campus journalist. It is also free to mourn her death. But describing her as a “heroine” and offering its “highest commendation” without acknowledging the armed role publicly recognized by the CPP makes the tribute appear to celebrate her entire political trajectory.

CEGP therefore owes its members and the public an explanation. Is it honoring Bihag solely for her work as a student journalist, or is it also celebrating the path she took into the armed movement? Does its commendation extend to her life as “Ka Maki”? And how does the Guild explain the previous cases of its leaders who similarly moved from campus journalism into the NPA?

The answer matters because the credibility of student journalism depends not only on having a voice, but also on maintaining a clear distinction between journalism, political advocacy and armed struggle.