Warriors, Poets, Friends

Tales From the Front #3

by Joven Obrero

Joven Obrero’s “Warriors, Poets, Friends” is a powerful collection of poems, letters and vignettes, describing the day-to-day life, struggles and triumphs of a lifetime in the Mindanao mountains spent immersed with the people and waging a people’s war for national liberation.

“The thrill that this book brings to the reader comes from the news that out there in the valleys and the hills, away from Duterte yabang and round-up of tambays, comrades are doing revolution! […] The struggle is protracted and the joy in seeing its glorious completion when the dawn of liberation breaks upon our country is exciting to contemplate. Read this book and be part of the struggle!”
—Bien Lumbera
National Artist for Literature

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

Published March 17, 2023

Reviews

[Florenz Blancaflor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heavy while news about the Negros 19 continues to come out.

[Anna Guieb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always been fascinated by Philippine history, as evidence shown by me doing a project on Jose Rizal in 2nd grade :P

I’ve found out about EDSA and the Philippine’s People Power Revolution soon after that, and more and more became informed about the semi-feudal, semi-colonial era the Philippines has soon become.

These collections of letters, journal entries, poems, capture the essence of hard life of Filipino peasants in Mindanao specifically… but lots of these stories can be related to any part of the archipelago.

My only qualms (and this comes with a lot of politically idealized ideas) is calling the other side “the enemy” or “a tyrant.” While Marcos I, Duterte, and rulers of the like who suck the U.S’s cock are terrible,terrible human beings… they are not the enemy. They are not a tyrant. We merely want them on our side, as much as we want the proletariats, the petty bourgeoisie, and the higher ups.

I believe in the people’s democratic revolution, armed force, and that the power should be in the hands of the people. But our enemy is not our foe, just merely misinformed. Perhaps I’m just too optimistic :p

Non-the-less, this book sparked lots of nostalgia, made me shed some tears, and helped me learn and gain more perspective!

[A, Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring, pretty interesting poems and ideas, feels like a smaller part of a larger book and can sometimes be a little disjointed at times. its less then a story but a collection of recollections of the peoples struggle in the Philippines.

[dolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book!!!!!!

[Sunny]

fragments of an interesting life gleaned from exceptionally uninteresting writing

[ernst · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sehr interessante und vielgestaltige Texte. Man bekommt einen sehr ehrlichen Einblick, was es heißt, heute als Frau, als Mutter, eine Revolutionär:in zu sein. Da werden auch die Zweifel, die Probleme, die Schattenseiten und Strapazen behandelt. Und es ist auch tatsächlich ein literarisch wertvolles Werk.

Spannend fand ich beispielsweise die Einblicke in die Mutterschaft als Revolutionärin, den Einfluss der modernen Informations- und Unterhaltungstechnik, der in dem Zusammenhang angeschnitten wird, die Hingabe und Opferinganbereitschaft für die Massen, die kämpferischen Trauergedichte über gefallene Genoss:innen, usw.

Sehr lesenswert.