Subversive Lives

Ohio RIS Southeast Asia Series #130

by Susan F. Quimpo, Nathan Gilbert Quimpo

"Written as a family history, 'Subversive Lives' furnishes us with powerful testimonies on the era of Ferdinand Marcos and Jose Maria Sison, along with narratives on the vicissitudes of the revolutionary movement. Each Quimpo sibling bears witness to the events they and others did so much to shape. From aborted attempts to smuggle weapons for the NPA to heady times organizing 'spontaneous uprisings' and general strikes in Mindanao, from the cruel discovery of the cause of one brother's death at the hands of a 'kasama' (comrade) to the near hallucinatory tales of imprisonment and torture at the hands of the military, these stories remind us of the personal costs and the daily heroism of those who joined the movement. But they also bring forth its messy and unresolved legacies of sons alienated from their father; daughters abused and victimized by the military and deluded by a religious cult; brothers lost to the war; friends betrayed, comrades purged, and revolutionary affection soured and then destroyed by intractable ideological differences. Such stories are much less about an unfinished revolution as they are about an inconclusive one.

"To read these accounts, each so rich and distinctive in its tone, is to hear the rhythm of the revolution."

From the Foreward
by Vicente L. Rafael
Professor of History, University of Washington (Seattle)

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Unfinished

468 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Edwin B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This autobiography of the Quimpo family, written by siblings, is the story of young people who joined the Philippine revolutionary movement and the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship in the 1970s and 80s. Despite political repression and military brutality under the regime, it became a story repeated countless times over, beginning when the "First Quarter Storm" of 1970 spilled university students into the streets, and pitted them against the police machinery of the state, in protests against social injustice and government corruption and ineptitude.

These youth of the National Democratic Front went on to fight "imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism" - the three "evils of Philippine society" - in the underground, in the open mass movement, in the countrysides and islands of the archipelago, in the peasants' fields and the workers' factories, and in the shantytowns of the urban poor. They defied arrest, torture and summary execution at the hands of government agents, and matured into professional revolutionaries and cadres of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

But the Quimpo family story is also unique in the sheer number of siblings who joined the cause (seven out of ten siblings), and in how their collective stories of two decades of struggle magnificently chronicle the march of the revolution from a galvanizing vision for change to a shattered ideology. Through it all, the Quimpo family story portrays the greatness of their generation of activists, who gave it all for the people.

[Bianca Nagac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not an easy read due to some of its grueling stories and intensity of emotion. A book that is written through the test of time. Surely, it is both painful and fulfilling as the Quimpo siblings narrate their experiences before, during, and after the Martial Law.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive yet deeply intimate portrait of life under Philippine martial law from the Quimpo family, in which 7 out of 10 siblings were deeply involved in anti-Marcos activism, the NDF, and the CPP. Each of the Quimpo siblings' perspectives deepened my understanding of the period, with all its attendant victories, sacrifices, joy, and pain. I was lucky enough to see Susan Quimpo at a performance of Los Desparecidos at Ateneo de Manila, but I wish I had been aware of this book before I saw her talk.

[Jodesz Gavilan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It struck me then that, despite the failed revolution and the fragments of sad and bitter memories that remained, here on slips of paper, now tainted with melting wax, were the names of young heroes and martyrs who represented the best of that revolution. Here were the names of the activists and the young cadres, many in their teens or early twenties, most of whom had no wealth, no political influence, no aspirations for public office. And because they had nothing, they gave only what they could – their lives."
———
In SUBVERSIVE LIVES, readers are given a layered and intimate view of Martial Law not just as a sweeping chapter in Philippine history, but as something lived and survived within the walls of a single family.

Told through the eyes of the Quimpo siblings, the memoir unravels how they navigated ideology, activism, and survival under the Marcos dictatorship. Each chapter –written by a surviving sibling – carries the weight of lived experience, including the exhilaration of political awakening, the quiet grief of loss, and the difficult choices demanded by dictatorship. It is a book that reminds us that Martial Law was not only a national tragedy, but also a deeply intimate disruption in the lives of countless families.

What struck me most was how Subversive Lives shows the personal within the political. Many accounts of the Martial Law years are framed in the grand arc of history, but the stories in this book are granular. We see how arrests, underground work, and ideological debates played out in the dynamics of a family, how the weight of politics reshaped relationships, and how convictions were tested in the smallest and most personal ways. While I’ve read many testimonies and historical accounts of activists from that period, this book felt fresh because it refuses abstraction. The Quimpo family lived these histories and they allowed us to see the shades and contradictions that other texts rarely capture.

But as much as this memoir is about Martial Law, it is also an insider’s chronicle of the communist movement in the Philippines. We see how the the members operated day-to-day, including how they recruited, survived in hiding, handled betrayals, and argued over direction. It’s equally a story of what held the movement together and what eventually frayed its edges. I’ve read a lot about Asia's longest-running insurgency, but what made this account stand out was its clarity. The Quimpos went beyond ideological gymnastics to show readers both the passion and the pitfalls of a movement that carried so much weight in our history. Perhaps writing it decades later gave them the benefit of hindsight. You actually feel that time allowed them to process what happened and to see the movement’s strengths alongside its failings.

I found myself pulled in completely. Subversive Lives reads like both memoir and history, but it’s the honesty that makes it compelling. Each sibling’s voice adds something new — contradictions included — and it makes the book feel alive. It's not like a neat narrative of good versus evil but a tapestry of real people making impossible choices. It was the kind of book that made me pause, reread passages, and think about how memory and history often collide in uncomfortable but necessary ways.

And maybe that’s the gift of Subversive Lives for today’s generation. It’s a reminder that history is not just dates and decrees, but families torn apart, choices made under duress, and convictions tested by love and fear. This memoir insists on nuance, insists on memory, and insists on truth at a time when Martial Law is being whitewashed. It can help us understand not just where we’ve been, but also what kind of future we want to build, as long as we just let it.

[Karlo Mikhail · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gathers the life-stories of 10 Quimpo siblings who grew up during the dark years of the Marcos dictatorship and social revolution in the 70s and 80s. Seven of the 10 siblings became activists before eventually joining the underground movement against dictatorial rule. The book unpacks both personal dimension of the Quimpos’ involvement in the underground and their critical perspectives on revolutionary debates in the 1980s. While they have all become disillusioned with their prior radical commitments, their narratives exemplify the experiences of a generation who gave the best time of their lives to the struggle.

[Matthieu Huang · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of the Quimpo family living through the time of Ferdinand Marcos. The story follows the different children who were in the communist party of the Philippines. They were placed in all parts of the movement, from a leadership role brushing shoulders with Joma Sison himself to a guerilla fighter in the mountains. This family went through jail time, life in the underground, torture, and the death/ disappearance of family members. This book is interesting as it gives you a glimpse into CCP's machinery instead of the life of a single person.

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've come to realize that our country's history is a history of continuing struggle. I hope to have the tenacity and knowledge to write a compilation of the many struggles, revolutions, and insurrections done by early Filipinos up to the present. Lol let's see. I wish more Filipinos could read and absord this piece.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Malambot ang puso ko sa usapang pamilya at politika. Sa katunayan, ito ang naging introduksyon ko sa aktibismo sa tulong ng ‘Dekada ‘70’ ni Bautista. Marami nang nasabi tungkol sa diktadurya ni Marcos at sa kahayupan ng impeng US, pati na sa mga pagkakamali ng kilusan at ng mga tao sa likod nito. Nakakalungkot isipin na hindi nagtagumpay ang rebolusyon nung 1986, pero nangyari na ang mga nangyari. At ang magagawa na lang ngayon ay patuloy na pag-aralan ang lipunan, mag organisa, at lumaban at matuto sa mga pagkakamali ng mga nagdaan, hanggang mabuo at magpagtagumpayan ang rebolusyon.

Common theme para sa mga magkakapatid ang bahid ng pagsisisi. In a way, no one can blame them. Truths and truths, I guess.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

In an attempt to revitalize the Filipino spirit amongst the poor and turn the systems upside down, the Quimpo siblings magnificently out poured their stories into a heartfelt and insightful memoir. The pacing between each siblings’ writing and the different perspective in terms of religion, class, disabilities that amounted from the Communist uprising was superb. I think this book is one to be read by all Filipinos in order to understand not just the technicality of Communism in the Philippines but also to connect to those who have been directly in opposition against the Philippine government and state. Reading this provides an opportunity that is often thrusted in the book, that one must experience the conduct of whom you fight for, and here in the book we see just that.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Writing is bland and repetitive

[Fey Corpus · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Wag na huwag makakalimot.