‘Deeper Ground, Darker Shadows: The Making of a Mindanao Rebel’ is the memoir of Eddie L. Quitoriano (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2026). This recently-launched book is the Philippine edition published with special arrangements with the University of Wisconsin Press. It recounts the author’s extraordinary life as a revolutionary political activist and former commander of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA). The book provides an insider account of perhaps the most turbulent period in contemporary Philippine history. It narrates the story of the armed struggle of the CPP-NPA. This is the reason why this book is such a critical reading for any person that seeks to understand modern Philippine history.
The memoir begins with the author’s childhood in Initao, Misamis Oriental on the island of Mindanao. He grows up in a rural community and experiences poverty, inequality and the struggles of the ordinary rural Filipino family. From an early age, he was inspired to seek ways to improve society. Initially, he considered entering the priesthood, believing that serving God would lead to serving the poor. However, as he pursued university education, he became exposed to student activism in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He witnessed the growing gap between the rich and the poor, corruption in government and widespread oppression under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos.
The declaration of martial law in 1972 became a turning point in Quitoriano’s life. Like many young activists of his generation, he came to the conclusion that peaceful democratic means were not enough to challenge authoritarian rule. He was convinced that armed revolution was the only path towards meaningful social change.
Quitoriano became deeply involved in the revolutionary movement and rose through the ranks of the CPP and eventually became a commander within the New People’s Army. He organized rural communities, recruited members, trained guerrilla fighters and helped expand revolutionary influence throughout Mindanao. There are several significant narratives described in the book.
One was the so-called Operation Kampanyang Kahos or Operation Garlic Campaign. This was the infamous Operation Kahos that was launched supposedly to weed out spies that were reported to be ready to take over the Mindanao leadership. This was based on reports that there was widespread military infiltration of the CPP-NPA in Mindanao. According to the book: ‘… Kahos spread widespread paranoia and panic as investigating teams began torturing suspects to induce confessions and summarily executed those who admitted under torture that they were military agents. The purges spread quickly throughout the island, devastating party cells and guerrilla units. In six months, more than 6,000 cadres and activists were killed or resigned from the CPP and its mass organizations – a majority simply abandoned their work while a few surrendered to the military.’
It is said that Operation Kahos ended the dream of turning Mindanao into the spark of a nationwide insurrection.
Another very compelling narrative in the book is the story of the international connections of the CPP-NPA. Quitoriano was assigned as international representative of the revolutionary movement. His work brought him to countries across Asia, Europe and the Middle East, including Nicaragua, Syria, Libya, North Korea, Peru, Brazil and the former Yugoslavia. His mission was to seek political support, military assistance and solidarity from governments and revolutionary organizations sympathetic to the Philippine revolutionary movement.
The book also explores internal problems within the revolutionary movement. The author openly discusses internal conflicts, leadership struggles, ideological disagreements and tragic purges that resulted in the deaths of many members wrongly accused of being government spies.
The memoir also describes the personal sacrifices demanded by a revolutionary life. Quitoriano reflects on the emotional burden of being separated from his family for many years. He missed important family milestones and lived with the constant possibility of imprisonment or death. His narrative reveals the loneliness, uncertainty and psychological strain that accompanied his political commitments. The book is more than just a historical account but also a personal memoir that shows the human side of a political ideological struggle.
Throughout the book, Quitoriano writes of the many different personalities in the movement that he met. First and foremost of course was Jose Maria Sison, who reestablished the CPP-NPA in 1968. There are interesting vignettes of meetings with different personalities like Khadafy of Libya, Nur Misuari of the MNLF and representatives from the Irish Republican Army and the African National Congress.
Quitoriano writes about his meeting with Nur Misuari: ‘So we turned our attention back to Libya and Khadafy’s suggestion that we work it out with Nur Misuari… Misuari was not exactly in the mood to meet with representatives of the CPP-NPA who were lower in stature than he was. He only came to the meeting out of courtesy to Khadafy.’
Among the narratives about Quitoriano’s travels with Joma Sison, one meeting was with Kim Il Sung of North Korea. They discussed the possible shipment of weapons to the Philippines which did not materialize.
Changing political conditions and developments within the revolutionary movement led Quitoriano to leave the underground. He faced detention and imprisonment before gradually rebuilding his life outside the armed struggle.
After his release in 1994, Quitoriano wrote under the pen name Ed Gallardo about the places he had been to like Bucharest and Budapest. He has a simple but dramatic ending to his book: ‘As for my mother, when I finally saw her in 1995, she looked at me and said, ‘I was told you were dead.”