Revolutionary Specialists,Strongmen,and the State: Post-Movement Careers of CPP—NPA Cadres in a Philippine Province,1990s–2001

Abstract

Across the Philippines, many thousands of former cadres of the nationwide guerrilla movement CPP–NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines–New People's Army) are leaving their mark on provincial society and politics long after they left the underground movement. Tracing the careers of ex-cadres in the province of Negros Occidental, this paper explores how they are changing the provincial power configuration by passing on their skills and networks to strongmen, non-violent social movements, and the state. Concerning those who are still active in the political arena, it suggests the following trends. (1) A significant number of former specialists in violence are employed by provincial strongmen and the military. (2) Former political cadres, in turn, contest the power of local strongmen through progressive NGOs, social movements, and cooperatives, and push for poor people's direct access to state resources independent of strongmen control. (3) The rule of local strongmen (related to the district-based, winner-take-all electoral system) is still the pivot around which former cadres position themselves – as contestants, allies, or dependants. (4) However, as former cadres fuel this non-revolutionary power contest on opposite sides, they contribute to a marked change in the configuration of state, strongmen, and citizens.