BUSCAYNO'S ATTEMPT at reconfiguring his life after 1986 was not really unique, given that the Left in general had faced a renewal of sorts after Edsa 1. Once dominant, the Left of the national-democratic variety found itself in a serious crisis--ideologically, strategically, and militarily. The Party would even turn on its own members, undergoing a bloody internal purge that resulted in the killing of many cadres.

	BERNABE BUSCAYNO Photo by Lilen Uy

Then in 1992, the CPP Central Committee issued a document that drew the line between those who continued to abide by the theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought (the "reaffirmists" or RAs) and those who did not (the "rejectionists" or RJs). Not long after, the Ras and RJs themselves would get fragmented. In the last decade, comrades who broke away from the main group have been assassinated, among them Filemon Lagman, Romulo Kintanar, and Arturo Tabara.

The NPA, which is estimated to have 10,000 guerrillas today, is still considered a serious threat by the government. But the communist movement itself has been unable to regain the strength it once had. Even Buscayno says, "It has really weakened."

That's even if what he calls the "fundamental struggle" remains "correct" to this day. "The dream to free the Philippines from poverty or outside intervention, to have it become an independent, progressive, and admirable nation? That's my dream, too," he says.

But he no longer believes in the primacy of armed struggle, which he says is "futile and suicidal." Military might, he says, is simply too strong for the rebels. "They keep on going to the hills, and they just keep getting killed," he says. "There's no moving forward."

He says he had already realized this even before he was captured by the military. For the longest time they had tried "surrounding the cities from the countryside," yet still failed to capture state power.

The Left, however, has since extended its struggle to the electoral arena. Through the party-list system, prominent Leftists have snagged seats in Congress, which is why ex-detainee and former NDF spokesperson Satur Ocampo now sits in the same hall as his ex-military torturer, Amado Espino.

BUSCAYNO, FOR his part, remains concerned with the ills that continue to plague the country: graft and corruption, crime, poor leadership, underdevelopment. He says life has gotten worse for many families. To help out in his small corner of the world, in 2000 he set up the Tarlac Integrated Agricultural Modernization Cooperative (TIAMC), which seeks to promote the mechanization of farmwork, from sowing the seeds to harvest.

He believes that "Filipinos should remain vigilant in protecting the rights they had regained (after the revolution). This was their Edsa reward."

But he has also been busy with his own farm, which he shares with other family members, including brother Juanito. In 1999, the Department of Agrarian Reform awarded them certificates of ownership for the seven-hectare plot, on which they have since been growing mangoes, bananas, and sugarcane. It is with pride that he shows his calloused hands. Just this December, Buscayno also opened a modest family resort.

"I have been so lucky," he declares. Aside from the 1987 ambush, he had had five other serious brushes with death, four of them while he was still a rebel. The fifth came in 1995, when the furnace exploded in the brick-making facility he co-owned, burning his face, ears, nape, and arms. He jokes, quoting an old saying, "Bad grass never dies."

Today he revels over being able to do what he wants and being with his family. And while he sometimes speaks of being old — "my hair's gone white, my memory's failing" — he looks forward to doing more.

His bliss is obvious as he pedals his old, rickety bicycle around his farm. One sees it, too, when he speaks of growing tilapia. "I love it when the fingerlings have to be transferred from the nursery to the growing pond," says Buscayno. "I put them all in the trap, then I lift it while they wiggle, I put them down there, and tell them, 'Okay, you'll be getting big there.'" He allows no one else to do the work; it is his alone. Buscayno says it is fantastic — "ang sarap."

He hardly contacts former comrades, and has kept friendships with very few of them.

In Capas, the wonders of simple living have conquered the heart of former Kumander Dante. — Vinia M. Datinguinoo