The Guerilla is a Poet (and a Woman too): The Life of Kerima Tariman, 1979–2021
“Last year, under the country’s second dictator Rodrigo Duterte, […] the rebel-poet Kerima Tariman, was killed. For a country whose national hero is a poet, such murders are no small irony — nor a great surprise.” — Gina Apostol, 2023
Introduction
Among National Democratic (ND) activists and circles, two names usually emerge on the matter of the guerilla poet: Jose Maria Sison and Emmanuel Lacaba. In The Guerilla is Like a Poet, Sison (2013) simply likens the two occupations as the title hints. Using sensory imagery, he narrates the guerilla and the poet’s shared immersion and awareness of their environments — whether in nature or the political world. The poem ends with the revelation of the whole “protracted” picture painted by his imagery: “The people’s epic, the people’s war.”
However, in his poem An Open Letter to Filipino Artists written during Martial Law, Lacaba (1976) is more direct in his prescription. He stresses the obligation of artists to “transcend [their] bourgeois origins” and to take “the road less traveled.” That is, to join the growing armed revolution led by the New People’s Army (NPA) against Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s dictatorship. His remolding from a bourgeois poet to a radical guerilla is best exemplified by the lines: “His ballpen blown up to a long-barreled gun: / Deeper still the struggling change inside.” and “Though he has been called a brown Rimbaud, / He is no bandit but a people’s warrior.”
Highlighting the very sexes of the authors as male and their consistent use of masculine pronouns in referring to the persona of the guerilla poet, this paper argues that the ND guerilla poet is indeed a historically masculine figure. Although the paper acknowledges that the gender regimes that brought up Sison and Lacaba are patriarchal, the survival of the war being waged by the NPA up to a time of progressive gender politics demands the feminization of the guerilla poet identity. Since the 1990s, the NPA has recorded a spike in the number of its women guerillas, and has integrated the “woman’s question” into its revolutionary educational curriculum through its “Special Course on Women” (Laya 1999).
This paper exercises the feminization of the guerilla poet identity through a short biographical research on the life of martyred guerilla poet Kerima Tariman. It was inspired by Barrios (2022) who encouraged the popularization and scholarly study of Kerima’s works after her death. Primary accounts were collected mainly from Pablo Tariman, father of Kerima, through an interview. The written works of Kerima, Pablo, their colleagues, and other sources were also utilized in the writing of this paper.
From CCP to CPP (1979–1996)
Kerima Lorena Tariman was born on May 29, 1979 in San Roque, Legazpi City to Pablo Arcilla Tariman and Merlita Lorena Tariman. A year later, in 1980, her family moved from a seaside residence to a Bagong Lipunan Improvement of Sites and Services (BLISS) housing unit in Pasig City. This is in line with her father’s work in the public relations department of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). Her mother, meanwhile, is a poet, a Martial Law activist, and a former political prisoner (Gantala Press 2022a).
Pablo sometimes brought the young “Kima,” her family nickname, to his office because the family had no nanny to look after the children. In the CCP, Kerima frequented the library, watched theater plays and orchestras, and took ballet lessons with the conjugal dictators’ youngest daughter, Aimee Marcos-Bernedo.
In a transcribed conversation with Raymundo (2012), Kerima recalled how the CCP became her and her sisters’ “playground,” and how this very playground exposed her to “state-sponsored art forms.” Through her father’s work and personal interest in the arts and humanities, she met Filipino pianist Cecile Licad and Romanian violinist Alexandru Tomescu, among others. Her namesake is Filipina writer Kerima Polotan-Tuvera who wrote Imelda Marcos’ biography, and whose husband Juan Tuvera served as Marcos Sr.’s executive assistant and presidential speech writer (Arcellana 2011 and Macaraig 2011). Among the apolitical or even apologist cultural figures Kerima was acquainted with, it was the activist-artist path taken by National Artist for Film Lino Brocka, her baptismal godfather, that she would follow.
Outside the CCP, Kerima was still surrounded by the arts and humanities. Their BLISS residence was filled with “books on mostly literary figures” that boosted her interest in literature. In 1992, after graduating as a top student from the Pasig Central Elementary School, she attended the state-run Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA) as a creative writing scholar.
In 1996, at the age of 16, Kerima published her first poetry collection Byahe, and graduated from the PHSA as the batch salutatorian (Gantala Press 2022b and Tariman 2022). Her family, friends, and high school professors lauded her as a natural poet (Gantala Press 2022a). Fittingly, Kerima recited a poem as her salutatory address while barefoot, as shared by her friend, fellow writer, and University of the Philippines (UP) professor Rommel Rodriguez:
Pero, maraming salamat
At patnubayan nawa ako ng espiritu
Sa pagbaba ko sa semento ‘tsaka sa rutang pinili ko.
Kasi alam ko ang hindi ko alam
At may mga tanong na kailangang sagutin
Na iiwanan at ipinabaon ng bundok sa amin. (Tariman 2022e)
Kerima would remain barefoot or, as Rodriguez said, “lapat sa lupa” for most of her years as she pursued an unconventional life and art grounded on the material conditions of oppressed farmers in the countryside (Tariman 2022). Her childhood at the CCP and her teenage years in the PHSA “made it easier for [her] to see how art is utilized politically, wittingly or unwittingly” (Raymundo 2012). But it was only in the ND movement, not in state-run cultural institutions that serve as remnants of the Marcos Sr. dictatorship, that she would “understand art in theory and in actual practice” (Raymundo 2012). In 2018, 22 years after she left her high school in Mt. Makiling for UP Diliman, Kerima departed from the cemented urban and returned to the mountains with new questions as a guerilla (Gantala Press 2022a).
Rebuilding Peyups and Kulê (1996–2003)
In 1992, Armando Liwanag (1993) issued the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) document Reaffirm our Basic Principles and Rectify Errors. This marked the beginning of the Second Great Rectification Movement of the NDs that called for stricter adherence to Marxist-Leninist-Maoist thought, and to the analysis of Philippine society as semi-colonial and semi-feudal, among others (Liwanag 1993). According to Pabico (1998), the document created a split between its reaffirmists and rejectionists — a split that seeped into the above-ground student movement centered in universities like UP Diliman.
In 1996, Kerima entered UP Diliman as a journalism major before shifting to the Philippine Studies program (Gantala Press 2022a). She recalled how in her first year at the University, ND activists “were not very popular” and commitment to the “severely discredited” ND line was tagged as “dogmatism” and “naiveté” (Raymundo 2012). Despite the ND line’s unpopularity, Kerima’s poems Ukol sa Sentenaryo ng Rebolusyon, Sa Daang Katipunan and Agosto 1996, both dedicated to and written during the 1896 Revolution’s centennial year, point to her sympathy with the ND revolution.
Both poems paint a picture of how the aggressive urban development and commercialization around her encumbers the masses, drowns out their concerns, and slows down growth, as suggested by the lines from Ukol sa Sentenaryo ng Rebolusyon, Sa Daang Katipunan:
Sa lansangan, sa maghapon,
nakatitig sa komunidad ang mga buldoser
at pison, nilalamon ang mga estudyante
ng mga establisyimentong de-aircon. (Tariman 2022h)
and the lines from Agosto 1996:
at sa trapik ng edsa,
(at maiinit na ulo?)
hindi ko narinig
ang busina ni bonifacio.
[…]
dikit-dikit ang mga bus
na biyaheng monumento,
at umangat nga raw tayo:
mga limang porsyento. (Tariman 2022a)
Both poems also hint at the Second Great Rectification Movement. In Ukol sa Sentenaryo ng Rebolusyon, Sa Daang Katipunan, Kerima writes: “Patalasing muli ang bituin, / at huwag palunod sa ilusyon.” She uses a star being sharpened as a metaphor for the CPP, the vanguard party, undergoing rectification, and uses the word “ilusyon” to represent ideological revisionism. In Agosto 1996, Kerima references the Katipunan’s Kartilya or guidebook as a symbol for the CPP’s rectification document, and its poor reception that led to the polarization of the student movement. Specifically, she writes: “pipi ang alingawngaw / ng kartilya ni jacinto,” and “at ako, isa nga rin sigurong / ‘makamandag na damo.’”
Finally, in both poems, Kerima carries a positive view on the matter of revolution. She argues that celebrating the 1896 Revolution is not enough and that the new generation must continue it. Specifically, she writes: “Hindi sapat, hinding-hindi, / ang pabastang paggunita.” and “marahil ngayon na ang panahon. / bawiin ang kalayaan, / sa tunay na rebolusyon.” By 1997, Kerima grew from an observer and sympathizer of the ND movement who hid behind metaphors, to an actual ND activist. Her more on-the-nose poems Tibak and Pag-aari Ko ang Aking Sarili, both written in 1997, are proof of this claim.
In Tibak, Kerima shares their external activities and experiences as activists: regularly receiving bad news on the country’s affairs, getting rained on or hurt by the police during protests, and painting calls and hanging up posters in public spaces (Tariman 2022g). In a tribute post recalling their memories as members of the ND mass organization League of Filipino Students, Rodriguez (2021) said that Kerima donned a hairstyle as unique as her personality: long hair with an undercut. Rodriguez (2021) also described her as initially quiet and serious-looking but was talkative — “humahalakhak na may kasabay pang pagpalo sa mesa” — once warmed up.
Contrary to Tibak’s external character, in Pag-aari Ko ang Aking Sarili, Kerima explores the internal dilemma of choosing a life of subservience to capitalist labor or a life of service to the masses:
pipiliin ko kayang umalis na sa ‘skwela
o kaya mamawis pa ng dugo sa akademya
para naman maibenta pati thesis ko
para naman sa MNC na ako magtrabaho
at kapag pinili ko na hindi matanggap
kahit kontraktwal sa pagawaan
doon lamang ba dapat na mawala ang alinlangan
na ibahagi ang sarili sa sambayanan? (Tariman 2022c).
Despite thoughts of leaving school to pursue activism full-time, Kerima stayed and became a writing fellow in the UP National Writers Workshop in 1999 with Rodriquez (Tariman 2015). She wrote the poem Umaga sa Bus Papuntang Baguio during her trip on the way to the workshop’s venue. Her poetry was often praised by other writing fellows but she only showed humility — she had “no ounce of arrogance in her body” according to Rodriguez (2021).
From the same year of the workshop until 2000, Kerima served as the Philippine Collegian’s kultura and managing editor (Gantala Press 2022a). It was also in 2000 when she founded and chaired the ND cultural organization Kabataang Artista para sa Tunay na Kalayaan (Raymundo 2012). According to her co-editors’ tribute message, “Kelot,” her office nickname, was quiet but loud with her writings; thin but possessed unwavering courage and stances (Philippine Collegian 2021). She wrote for the Collegian during a time when the publication was shifting toward “advocacy journalism,” a kind of journalism that immerses in the lived reality of the subject matter (Philippine Collegian 2021).
True to her mandate as an advocacy journalist, in 2000, Kerima went to a Basic Masses Integration program in Ilagan, Isabela “to gain [a] better understanding of the peasant situation in that area” (Raymundo 2012). Unfortunately, while living with farmers, she was arrested by the military, detained in their camp, paraded in the media while handcuffed, and charged with illegal possession of firearms too heavy for her build (Tariman 2011). While in detention, Kerima was heavily questioned and practically denied immediate legal aid. She was also given “a minor grenade shrapnel wound, and a major, lingering fear of any man with a golden wristwatch who’d seem to loiter in public places to watch [her]” (Tariman 2011).
Being the witty poet that she was, Kerima channeled her boredom and frustrations while behind bars into writing the parodic the bored’s prayer:
ama namin,
ginigising mo kami
tuwing umaga.
(tuwing sasabihin kong
“ser, iihi ako,”
nangingilo ako
sa irit ng bakal.) (Tariman 2022f)
and the rant-like Hunyo 12, Sa Kulungan:
kailangan kong magbasa
kailangan kong magsulat
kailangan kong makinig
sa mga salita, salita
salitang humihinga
sa loob (at sa labas!)
ng kinakalawang na rehas. (Tariman 2022b)
The first people who saw Kerima while in detention were “a really anxious” Pablo and Ericson Acosta, who “looked like he was in such a hurry to get there he even forgot to shave” (Tariman 2011). She was released on bail after a month of detention and her case was dropped two years later. In the same year, in 2002, Kerima and Ericson were wedded in a civil ceremony in Legazpi City (Tariman 2023a). The two met in the Collegian where the latter also served as literary editor from 1993 to 1995, and in the ND cultural organization Alay Sining where he chaired and composed songs (Tariman 2023a). On March 19, 2003, a year after their marriage, their son Emmanuel was born in Ligao City (Tariman 2023a).
Instead of wallowing in fear after her first direct experience of the state’s “fascism, counter-insurgency and psychological warfare,” Kerima continued her persistent work as an activist and writer (Tariman 2011). She cited the “commitment instilled upon [her]” during the strenuous, post-split rebuilding of the ND student base in UP Diliman as the reason for her survival (Raymundo 2012). Eventually, she left the University and sought and offered her knowledge in the countryside and the underground movement for many years.
Lulubog-Lilitaw (2003–2021)
Due to the nature of Kerima and Ericson’s work, Pablo had to take custody of their son. The young Emman was “used to seeing [his] parents only a few times a year,” and slowly “absorbed his parents’ dangerous life […] defending and protecting the poor.” Despite their absence, he was a “very disciplined boy” and a consistent honor student. He is currently a mathematics major at UP Diliman and performed for the University’s 2022 Martial Law commemoration program with his band.
While serving in the countryside in the 2000s, Kerima bore different names. As Marijoe Monumento, she wrote critical articles on films and books for Pinoy Weekly and Manila Today (Gantala Press 2022b and Tariman 2022). As Ting Remontado, she translated poems and songs from Ilocano, Bicolano, and English, and was published in Ulos, the cultural journal of the ND movement, and Aklatang Bayan, an ND bookstore (Gantala Press 2022b and Tariman 2022). Her 2004 book with Sonia Gerilya Anahaw: Mga Tula at Awit, and 2006 chapbook Peligroso: Mga Tula at Salin were both published in Palimbagang Kuliglig, an alternative printing press (Gantala Press 2022b).
In 2011, after years of underground work in the countryside, Kerima had to resurface in the urban to lead the campaign for Ericson’s release from prison. Akin to his wife’s experience in Isabela, on February 12, 2011, Ericson was arrested by the military in Samar while documenting the militarization in the province, and was slapped with charges of illegal possession of explosives (Amnesty International 2013). While in detention in a military camp, “interrogators threatened to kill him if he did not confess to being a member of the [CPP]” (Amnesty International 2013). On January 31, 2013, the DOJ acknowledged the “‘serious irregularities’ in the military’s handling of [Ericson’s] arrest and detention,” and cleared him of the trumped-up charges (Amnesty International 2013).
In 2013, after the success of the Free Ericson Acosta Campaign, Kerima worked with the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura where she used her background as a journalist and cultural worker in exposing the conditions of farmers in Tarlac and Negros (Gantala Press 2022a). During her integration in Tarlac, she crafted poems about Hacienda Luisita, the 2004 massacre, and seven of its martyrs. They were first anonymously published in the 2017 book Bungkalan: Manwal sa Organikong Pagsasaka, and republished in her posthumous 2021 poetry collection Luisita: Mga Tula. (Gantala Press 2022b). In Sagrado Corazon, she expresses her disappointment over the supposed saint of democracy’s betrayal of farmers:
nasaan po ang inyong puso?
[…]
Nakapanghihilakbot
ang lumang litanya at kanta
ng masa na nanalig at pumusta
sa inyong banal na palayaw:Cory!
Cory!
Cory kami! (Tariman 2022d)
In 2017, High Chair published Kerima’s last poetry collection Pag-aaral sa Oras: Mga Lumang Tula Tungkol sa Bago (Gantala Press 2022b). The following year, after almost two decades of witnessing the oppression of farmers in the countryside, she decided to take up arms as a guerilla of the NPA (Gantala Press 2022a). As Ka Ella, she engaged in the conduct of revolutionary education and propaganda, and assisted in the operations of Nagabagang Duta, NPA-Northern Negros Guerilla Front’s publication (Gantala Press 2022a). Moreover, she also went on fact-finding missions and discovered that “sugar workers [in Negros] received as low as a measly P500 a month.”
While serving in the mountains of Negros in 2020, Sentro ng Wikang Filipino published 50: Mga Binalaybay ni Roger Felix Salditos (Mayamor/Maya Daniel), a collection of poems translated by Kerima. The following year, on August 20, 2021, the NPA-Apolinario Gatmaitan Command confirmed her death after an encounter with the 76th Infantry Battalion (IB) in Silay City, Negros Occidental (Gomez 2021). She was 42.
More than a year after Kerima’s death, on Bonifacio Day 2022, Ericson was killed in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental (Espina-Varona 2022). The 94th IB claimed it was an armed clash with rebels; the National Democratic Front-Negros claimed their consultant was first captured alive, murdered, and then propagandized as a casualty in a fake encounter (Espina-Varona 2022). He was 50.
Conclusion
During Kerima’s tribute at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, Pablo learned that her daughter was “both feared and respected.” For the state, she was a terrorist enemy. For the ND movement, she was a martyred guerilla poet — a hero of the people and revolution. Pablo and Kerima had prior arguments about the latter’s decision to take up arms, but the former learned to accept her decision as destiny (Tariman 2021). He added in the interview: “When you love your daughter, you accept whatever life she has chosen. I love her that much not to get in the way.”
While his grandfather “howled in grief” at the sight of Kerima’s remains, Emman took his parents’ death more calmly with little to no tears nor anger towards them (Tariman 2021). He last saw them alive in 2019 (Tariman 2023b). During the tribute for Ericson, Emman said:
I have nothing against my parents for spending more time with the poor and the oppressed than with me. I believed in what they fought for. There is no rancor in my heart that my parents have other families — the masses. That was made clear to me by Tatay and Nanay. When they were heartlessly killed, the more I believed in their cause. (Tariman 2023b)
On her first death anniversary in 2022, Kerima’s posthumous poetry collection Sa Aking Henerasyon: Mga Tula at Saling-Tula was published by Gantala Press, a feminist press. Mostly biographical, the pieces point to a life well lived. As an Iskolar ng Bayan, Kerima left her relatively comfortable life and chose to practice the motto of “Honor and Excellence” in the countryside with the underserved. As a writer, she took up arms alongside her pen to author the destruction of a system that dispossesses the masses in its violent accumulation of wealth. Finally, as a woman, she left her family to create a just and peaceful future that extends to the whole country and future generations.
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