CPP/Ang Bayan: Political prisoner dies in detention in Samar

Propaganda article from the English language edition of the CPP online publication Ang Bayan (Oct 7): Political prisoner dies in detention in Samar

A political prisoner died of severe illness after state authorities neglected to provide her with regular medical attention. Nila “Ka Edna” Montes, 57, a Party cadre in Eastern Visayas died on August 15 while in detention in Guiuan, Samar. She was arrested by the military in Guiuan on July 4, 2013 while on the way to her doctor for a check-up for a kidney and liver ailment.

Born in Sta. Margarita, Northern Samar, Ka Edna was a college student in Manila when she was organized as an activist during the Marcos dictatorship.

Ka Edna made major contributions to the advance of people’s war in Eastern Visayas. First assigned to the Political Department of the region’s NPA battalion, comrades admired her for the example she set in remolding and facing sacrifices and personal trials.

She took it hard when her husband was killed in a gunbattle. Nonetheless, she strove to overcome her loss and performed tasks in regional propaganda and education in the early 1990s. She was one of the anchors of the revolutionary program Radyo Katalwasan (Radio Liberation) aired over VHF radios.

During the Second Great Rectification Movement, she was one of the comrades who assiduously ensured the reproduction and distribution of rectification documents.

In 1996, she took on the challenge of recovery work in Southern Leyte, facing an extremely difficult situation since the deviations from the correct line had grave effects on the mass base. But Ka Edna shouldered the necessary political tasks and not long after, their efforts bore fruit with the recovery of the mass base and the NPA’s expansion in their area.

Because of her exemplary performance, she was appointed to the Leyte Island Party Committee in 2003 and the Provincial Committee in 2005. In 2010, she was appointed deputy secretary for education in the Southeast Samar Committee.

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/publications/ang_bayan/20141007/political-prisoner-dies-in-detention-in-samar