By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson
International League of Peoples’ Struggle
Friday, May 28, 2010 at 1:14am
The UNHOLY ALLIED MOUNTAINS by RUDY D. LIPORADA has a highly significant content. It is truly a novel of and about the New People’s Army. It tells the story of an entire people, mass activists and revolutionary cadres whom I have known. It celebrates their heroism and inspires us all now and in the future to serve the people and carry the revolution forward.
It focuses on the concrete circumstances and experience of the leading character, his revolutionary commitment since university days, his active role in the struggle of the people of Cordillera, torture in the hands of the fascist dictatorship, the pain of being steadfastly committed in theory but separated from the revolutionary mass movement for decades, the ever insistent need for return to and vindication in the Cordillera and the attainment of vindication through a successful tactical offensive of the people’s army. The personal narrative is at the same time a collective one, unfolding the revolutionary struggle of the people of the Cordillera, the perseverance and growth of the revolutionary forces on a regional and national scale and the vibrant fact of international solidarity.
The novel is well-written. The author is an excellent story teller. He succeeds in building up the theme of personal and collective vindication or redemption, one by the revolutionary himself and by the revolutionary movement. He presents well the tensions and contradictions and brings them to a fulfilling resolution. He is served well by his personal experience and by his skills as a feature writer. He is good at building up his scenes with graphic images and the actions of his characters. He is economical with dialogue and prefers the terse expressions of people in real life. The novel reads like a movie script and can be easily turned into one.
I urge comrades and friends in the movement for national liberation and democracy in the Philippines and abroad to read the novel. It is a significant contribution to creative writing on the Philippine revolution. On the pages of this novel, the revolutionary struggle of the people of the Cordillera and the Philippines comes to life though believable characters and realistic situations and struggles. The novel is inspiring. It lays bare the oppression and exploitation of the people, underscores the justness of their revolutionary struggle and points to the bright future of the people because of their struggle for national and social liberation.###
