The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines bestows the highest honors to Julia Cagadas-Lastimosa, revolutionary leader of North Central Mindanao Region (NCMR). The thousands upon thousands of workers, peasants and Lumad people knew her as Ka Rida, Ka Toyang, Ka Kayuka, Ka Tanya―whom they deeply loved for her simplicity, determination and dedication to serve all the oppressed and exploited.

Last Saturday, September 12, Ka Rida, 66, breathed her last. She fell in combat along with three other Red fighters of the New People’s Army, in an armed encounter with the fascist troops of the 26th Infantry Battalion, in Barangay Bakingking, Esperanza, Agusan del Sur.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to the children, relatives and loved ones of Ka Rida. We also offer our sympathies to the friends and families of Ka Maki (Rocha Mae Bihag), Ka Doydoy (Tiloy Basahon) and Ka Kikoy (Ringo Lindayo). For having dedicated their lives to the cause of national liberation and true democracy, they are all heroes of the Filipino people. Their names are now forever etched in the walls of the people’s pantheon.

We extend our deepest condolences to the revolutionary forces of NCMR, many of whom crossed paths with Ka Rida as she mentored and guided countless young revolutionary activists and cadres. Ka Rida was among the leading cadres of the Regional Party Committee who led the growth of the revolutionary movement in NCMR over the past two decades.

Ka Rida hailed from a middle-peasant family in Barangay Bugo, on the outskirts of Cagayan de Oro City. She finished secondary school. She joined the Party in 1979 at age 19, and served as an organizer among workers and student youth. She later served as secretary of an armed partisan unit during the 1980s.

She was twice imprisoned by the enemy, but never for one moment bowed before the oppressors. In August 1989, she was arrested during the height of workers’ struggles in the country. Less than two months later, she joined others in a jailbreak, and swam across the mighty Cagayan River to freedom. She was arrested again by the enemy in 2003. She spent two years in the enemy’s prison, organizing fellow detainees to fight for their rights. She gained freedom as trumped-up charges against her were dismissed one after another.

Ka Rida firmly upheld the Second Great Rectification Movement in the 1990s to correct errors of military adventurism and urban insurrectionism. She later assumed the role of secretary of a front committee, and later served as secretary of a subregional committee (covering Misamis Oriental and parts of Agusan provinces).

In the early 2010s, she was elected to the Regional Committee and its Executive Committee. Along with other cadres, she conscientiously studied Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and assiduously applied it to revolutionary practice. It was during this time that the revolutionary forces in the region grew steadily, reaching historic levels of strength.

In 2016, she attended the Second Congress of the CPP. She was elected to the Central Committee and subsequently participated in its inaugural plenum. In October 2023, she assumed the position of secretary of the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee. In 2024, she was designated as a member of the CC’s Political Bureau.

Over the past decade, the revolutionary forces in NCMR and other regions across the country suffered losses as a result of internal weaknesses and shortcomings, amid a sustained armed offensive of the reactionary armed forces since 2017. As in the 1990s, Ka Rida firmly upheld the call for a rectification movement to correct errors and shortcomings.

In recent years, she personally led the revolutionary forces in conducting mass work to deepen and expand the reach of the Party and NPA. Under her leadership, the NPA conducted political education and propaganda to rouse the people to wage revolutionary struggles amid heightened fascist attacks and threats of imperialist war and plunder.

For close to a decade, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has spent billions of pesos on widespread armed offensives in NCMR, occupying peasant and Lumad communities and placing these under military rule. Employing its armed minions, the Marcos regime has subjected the local population to psywar and disinformation, surveillance and harassment, and carried out combat operations combined with relentless aerial bombardment. The objective of the AFP and the puppet Marcos regime is to crush the people’s resistance in order to pave the way for the entry of foreign capital.

Gloating over their killing of Ka Rida and believing they have succeeded in snuffing out the armed revolution in NCMR, AFP officials proclaimed that “development can now begin,” publicly and explicitly saying that mining companies can now expand their operations in the region. In doing so, they are inadvertently teaching the Filipino people that their revolutionary armed resistance has for many years preserved the country’s wealth and patrimony, and protected it from foreign plunder.

The declaration comes at a time when US imperialism is pushing aggressively to seize control of Philippine critical mineral and other resources. It is funding the AFP to intensify its counterinsurgency drive and establishing military rule in areas where mining companies operate or plan to operate. The killing of Ka Rida and other NPA fighters is now being offered by the Marcos regime and its armed forces on the altar of the Pax Silica, the economic and military scheme of US imperialism.

The Marcos puppet regime, its armed forces and their US imperialist masters believe that killing Ka Rida will halt the people’s armed resistance. They are utterly mistaken. The sacrifice of Ka Rida and other revolutionary fighters will only strengthen the resolve of the Filipino people to wage a just war in defense of their land and the country’s patrimony, and to attain their aspiration for genuine national freedom and democracy.

Long live the memory of Ka Rida and the martyrs of Agusan del Sur!

Carry forward the protracted people’s war!

Defend the country’s patrimony and fight for national freedom and democracy!

Long live the New People’s Army!

Long live the Communist Party of the Philippines!

Long live the Filipino people!

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