Antonio Zumel
[4] In 1990, he was elected Chairperson of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in absentia, and was a senior adviser to the NDFP negotiating panel from 1994 until his death in 2001.
[2] In 2016, Zumel was honored by having his name inscribed on the wall of remembrance at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, which, after an extensive vetting process, posthumously recognizes the individuals who fought against the authoritarian regime of Ferdinand Marcos.
[6] He described his father as having a "relatively good law practice," which allowed him to send his children to a private school, the Holy Ghost Academy, for elementary education.
[7]: 312 In 1947, Zumel moved to Manila to study high-school in the Far Eastern University,[1] while living with "a spinster aunt" who ran a boarding house.
[7]: 312 At one point, Zumel worked at a construction job where he performed physical labor such as running errands, mixing cement, and assisting carpenters and masons.
[8] This gave him the opportunity to continue on to college, working the day shift at the Herald while attending night classes at the Lyceum of the Philippines University.
[7]: 313 During this time, Zumel observed the editors, copy readers, and reporters working at the Herald while continuing to perform menial tasks and reading up on journalism books that he bought.
In response, the new Herald management created a company union and affiliated it with the Philippine Transport and General Workers' Organization, headed by Roberto S.
[7]: 315–16 Zumel took an active role in leading the strike, and one point, laying down on the road with fellow journalist Rey Veloso to block delivery vehicles from going out.
[6] Herald management, on the other hand, hired "armed goons from Bulacan and criminal elements from the urban poor community in Intramuros to create trouble at the picket line."
During and after the First Quarter Storm of 1970, the NPC served as a refuge for mass leaders from police and military assault, and as an open space for press conferences.
[7]: 319 When President Ferdinand Marcos suspended the writ of habeas corpus in 1971, Zumel helped form the Movement of Concerned Citizens for Civil Liberties alongside personalities such as Senators Jose W. Diokno and Lorenzo Tañada in protest.
[7]: 320 On September 22, 1972, Zumel received a call from Joe de Vera that Minister of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile had been ambushed.
That same night, he was drinking beer with friends at the National Press Club bar when soldiers locked down mass media offices, including the Bulletin.
Once underground, he assumed the nom de guerre of Ka KP and began working with the staff of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines' publication Liberation as early as October 1972,[7]: 320–21 as well as its news agency,[6] Balita ng Malayang Pilipinas.
[3] As early as July 1976, Zumel was slated to take on the reins of the CPP's official news publication, Ang Bayan and replace Sison as its editor-in-chief.
However, complications including the arrest of New People's Army commander-in-chief Bernabe Buscayno in August 1976 hindered the formation of a new editorial staff.
[10]: 54 Ang Bayan also began featuring human interest stories and letters to the editor during Zumel's time as editor-in-chief.
[1] In 1989, following threats to his family, Zumel was assigned to the Netherlands to undertake international relations work on behalf of the NDFP,[11]: 322 as well as to seek medical assistance.
However, in 1990, Philippine authorities caught wind of Zumel's activities and, after much publicity, fearing arrest should he return to the country, sought political asylum in the Netherlands.
"[9]: ix He kept his sense of humor as a revolutionary; one of his noms de guerre was KP, short for "katawang pangromansa" (born for romance), deprecating his lead, thin chest with a modest beer belly.
The anthology includes articles from his time in the Philippines Herald and Manila Daily Bulletin, his writings while in the revolutionary underground, and selected works while in exile in the Netherlands.
[18] In 2016, his name was added to the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, recognizing his role as a veteran journalist and key personality in the NDFP.
