11/12/2024
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"Big Red Book"
From Toinette Raquiza, The Crisis of the Maoist Strategy, Debate: Philippine Left Review, Issue no.9, March 1994, pp. 7-8:
The "Big Red Book" was distributed for an internal readership, with little fanfare and no ceremony. Nevertheless, immediately after its publication in 1993, the "Big Red Book" was an ubiquitous presence within activist circles. The volume itself is untitled. Printed on die cover, in both English and Tagalog, are tire following aphorisms: "Crisis of Socialism Strategies of Action and Internal Democracy," "Study, Debate, Discussion, Summing-Up" and "Profound Re-examination and Revitalization." This paper will, following what seems to be emerging usage, refer to the volume as tire "Big Red Book”.
The book, a compilation of polemical papers, letters and commentaries, is so far the most consolidated response to the "Reaffirm" document. The publishers endeavored to bring together different positions on the issues raised by the "Reaffirm" document, thus covering more ground. The volume also contains treatises and appeals written by the concerned party organs and units. These collective (rather than individual) bylines lend weight to the arguments.
The "Big Red Book" perhaps is also unparalleled in providing an unalloyed view into the debate in 1992 and early 1993 when positions were not yet as polarized as they currently are. The opposition papers, featured in the book also, largely confined their discourse to issues raised by the "Reaffirm" document. By publishing papers produced in that particular period, the "Big Red Book" imposes a temporal parameter on the debate; the time period is of crucial importance, since it predates much of the currently strident and occasionally ad hominem exchanges.
The main body of the book contains 18 articles written by party elements and units critical of the "Reaffirm" document; notably, the Standing Group-Visayas Commission (SG-VisCom), the Metro Manila-Rizal Regional Committee (MMRRC), members of the NPA General Command and General Staff, concerned Mindanao cadres, the Middle Forces Department and the National Peasant Secretariat. Recognizing that these papers are but a counterpoint to official policies, the publishers have also included nine papers (e.g., "Reaffirm") and memoranda, of the Executive Committee-Central Committee (EC-CC) as appendices.
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