DAVAO CITY, Philippines—The College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) honored its former officer Rocha Mae Bihag, one of four New People’s Army (NPA) rebels killed in a military operation Sept. 12 in Esperanza, Agusan del Sur.
In a statement, the CEGP described Bihag, known to colleagues as “Rocha,” as a “people’s journalist” and “heroine of Northern Mindanao.” She was a staff writer at The Cursor, the official student publication of the College of Information Technology at Mindanao State University-Marawi.
She served as vice president for CEGP Mindanao in 2014 through the guild’s 77th Congress in 2019 after being elected and reelected. She consolidated Mindanao-based student publications in campaigns for campus press freedom and the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.
According to CEGP, Bihag was among student journalists who criticized political issues during administrations of former President Benigno Aquino III and Rodrigo Duterte, including the pork barrel scandal and Duterte’s war on drugs.
She also participated in youth campaigns addressing destructive mining, Indigenous peoples’ rights, martial law in Mindanao and calls for peace following the Marawi siege.
Clash
The Communist Party of the Philippines-North Central Mindanao Region (CPP-NCMR) identified the four fatalities as Bihag, alias “Ka Maki”; Julia Cagadas-Lastimosa, alias “Ka Rida”; Tiloy Basahon, alias “Ka Doydoy”; and Ringo Lindayo, alias “Ka Kikoy.”
Cagadas-Lastimosa was a senior cadre involved in the communist movement since the early 1980s. She was from Barangay Bugo in Cagayan de Oro City and had worked as an organizer among youth, workers, urban poor communities and farmers.
The Philippine Army’s 4th Infantry Division said the four people were killed in an encounter in Barangay Bakingking, Esperanza. The operation involved troops from the 403rd Infantry Brigade, including the 1st Special Forces Battalion and the 8th Infantry Battalion.
The first clash occurred at about 5:30 a.m. after troops received information about the presence of suspected NPA members in the area. Soldiers from the 1st Special Forces encountered members of the NPA’s Headquarters Force Neo of NCMR, the army said.
A second clash occurred at about 12:20 p.m., after by pursuit operations by the Special Forces troops.
The CPP-NCMR later confirmed the identities of those killed, but did not provide operational details of the encounter or report casualties among government forces.
The military described Cagadas-Lastimosa’s death as a significant loss to the leadership of the NCMR committee.
‘Ka Maki’ and the road less traveled
Bihag’s friends will remember the questions she courageously asked, the people she chose to stand with and the society she dreamed of helping build.
“To those who dehumanize you, we understand that they may have fallen short of comprehending the realities you courageously confronted. Perhaps they lacked the courage to look directly at the poverty, oppression, and injustice you could no longer ignore. Unlike those who chose to look away, you were a brave young woman with a deeply compassionate heart – a heart you wholeheartedly dedicated to the Filipino masses,” part of a tribute to Bihag read.
Another friend and fellow guilder described Bihag as a witness who taught him to open his eyes to reality.
“I will remember you as the journalist who cared about stories, the colleague who walked with us in the streets and the friend whose life eventually took a path I could no longer accompany. I don’t know where your journey finally led you, I only know that it led you toward people, and that you gave yourself to the life you had come to believe in. ”
SOLIDARITY MISSION. Rocha Mae Bihag speaks to Lumad children during the Pakighiusa Solidarity Mission to the Manobo-Pulangihon tribe, a member of the Tribal Indigenous Oppressed Group Association or TINDOGA in Barangay Butong, Quezon, Bukidnon, in 2014. The mission followed reports of strafing in the community.
CEGP said Bihag’s legacy would live on among the student journalists, Indigenous communities and young people with whom she worked.
“Until she breathed her last, she remained a people’s servant in the tradition of Antonio Tagamolila, Emmanuel Lacaba, Evelyn Pacheco, Maria Lorena Barros, and other guilders who left comforts of their privileged lives to trek the road less traveled.”
The guild recognized Rocha’s selfless service to the Filipino people, shaped by years of witnessing their hardships and struggles. It described her decision to dedicate her life to marginalized communities in Mindanao as an example of service to the people.
“More than the spark of words, she mobilized people to assert their rights to land and life. No state or military propaganda can diminish the legacy of Rocha’s service to the people,” the guild said. It added that her name would remain in the memories of those who worked with her and supported the causes she championed. (davaotoday.com)
