Tribute to a Farmer-Leader

Here's a short video tribute for Reneto "Ka Rene" Penas that Ditsi Carolino and I made a few days after he was murdered. Ka Rene was the leader of the Sumilao farmers who walked from Mindanao to Manila to "reclaim" the land awarded to them thru the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

Pag-alala kay Ka Rene 1/2

Pag-alala kay Ka Rene 2/2

I first met Ka Rene when I assisted Ditsi in shooting their march while they were in the Bicol area. He was cheerful but a strict and disciplined leader and his enthusiasm was contagious. Despite often wearing a brief over his head (to sun-dry it) during the march, his co-farmers respected and followed his orders.

He was a funny man. I remember him - when I visited them at their camp in front of the Department of Agrarian Reform - telling me that he needed to go to Eunilane to buy some briefs. He said, while comically scratching his head, that his wife sent him his clothes from Bukidnon but she failed to include his underwears.

The last time I saw him was during the Red Carpet screening of Ditsi's film Lupang Hinarang. He asked me, as he always did everytime we met, why he no longer saw me in their protests. I told him I was helping in the editing of Lupang Hinarang. Then I asked, pointing to Diether Ocampo who was posing by the photo-op wall, if he already had pictures with the celebrities who were present. He said yes. I joked, "but not with me yet." And it was the last time I saw him laugh.

This video was shown during the vigil at the Dela Stradda Chapel along Katipunan Ave. and before the funeral march in Sumilao. The clips in the video are from Lem dela Cruz's footage of the Banasi farmer's march from Bicol to Manila which was also led by Ka Rene. Some are excerpts from Lupang Hinarang.