Tribute to Rita Baua, Lifelong Activist and Internationalist
Bayan renders its highest tribute and most militant salute to Rita Taguinod Baua, our longest serving official, who passed away last February 3, 2022 after a long battle with illness. We mourn her loss but at the same time we celebrate her many contributions to the Filipino people’s struggle and the international anti-imperialist movement. We thank her for the decades-long service to the oppressed masses here and abroad. We take comfort in the outpouring of sympathy from different parts of the world, and in the fact that Rita touched so many lives during her stint in Bayan.
Rita took a long route in getting to be a national democratic activist. She was raised in the Catholic School of St. Joseph’s in Quezon City. In the early 70’s she worked with the farmers in Negros and Mindanao as part of the Federation of Free Farmers and the youth group Khi Rho. In visiting the picket lines of the striking Victoria sugar workers she came into contact with other church-based activists. Rita was living proof that it is the conditions of our people, not so-called “brainwashing” and “conspiracy”, that produce activists and revolutionaries.
There is an urban legend that Taritz was a former nun before becoming a full-time activist. According to her brother Jose, growing up, Rita indeed wanted to be a nun. Rita’s political involvement though did have its roots with different church groups that resisted the US-backed Marcos dictatorship. She previously taught in St. Joseph’s College and St. Scholastica’s College. In St. Joseph, she would eventually become an ND activist through her interaction with progressive nuns. She would go to Rome as part of the International Documentation and Communication Center. She would work with the Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace and the Ecumenical Partners for International Concerns.
Rita’s journey towards activism would take her from church solidarity formations to the anti-dictatorship alliances such as the Nationalist Alliance, and eventually Bayan. She would also be a volunteer with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines secretariat during the 1986 peace negotiations.
Rita would do international solidarity work from the time of the Marcos dictatorship up to the present. She would also be elected as a member of the National Executive Committee of Bayan as its National Treasurer and would become its longest serving staff and officer, being part of the early years of the alliance up to the present.
Rita was a strong and constant presence in the various Bayan national offices, from the FMSG building, the Sikatuna office and the current Erythrina Building. She was the unofficial welcoming committee for visitors from abroad. She would often provide the orientation and national situation for Filipino activists and solidarity allies from other countries. Her work with Filipino-American activists in the early 2000’s was helpful in training the young leadership of the newly-established Bayan USA, our first overseas chapter.
In international work, Rita would ensure that our comrades and allies were always updated on the latest situation in the Philippines and of the need for support for the Filipino people’s struggle. It was the constant updates, from e-mails to Facebook chats, that helped sustain relations with other progressives across different time zones. Rita would work late into the night just to be able to chat with folks from the other side of the world. Her dedication to her work, even in the late years of her long and fruitful life, was exemplary. She made sure we represented well the Filipino peoples’ struggles in various events, often reminding us to ensure the Bayan flag is raised high during mobilizations. She herself would proudly carry Bayan’s flag in these protest actions.
Rita was well-known to many sectors because as part of Bayan, she kept in touch with and checked on the different member organizations during mass actions and many organizational meetings. She would inquire regarding sectoral targets and provide feedback after mobilizations. She paid particular attention to youth activists, from the 80’s onward, because she knew that the youth were the future of the Philippine struggle for national and social liberation. Whatever good practice and habits she learned as an activist, she made sure to share and impart this to the younger batch of activists. Taritz “students” from different generations of youth activists would go on to be leaders and organizers of the national democratic movement.
It is also well known among activists that Rita’s demeanor was intense — the so-called ‘grim and determined’ kind. As a speaker in rallies, she had an extraordinary fire. When she held the microphone with both hands, chanting with the crowd, she was the very definition of “fierce”. Those who have worked closely with her however know that she is also a softie deep inside. She enjoyed the company of comrades, had a soft spot for kids, lived simply and enjoyed the simple pleasures in between the hectic schedules of activist life. As an advocate of healthy living, she would jog around the UP academic oval, with an endurance that could put younger joggers to shame.
Taritz approached life and activism the same way she approached running around the academic oval. She wasn’t running a sprint to reach the finish line first. Hers was a very long marathon to national liberation. For more than five decades, she ran this great marathon with tremendous endurance and a steady pace, serving the people with all her heart. Rita’s spirit remained strong until the end. In her final days, she tried to sit on the hospital bed and raise her fist, as if telling us that she continues to fight. The time has come for our dear Rita to rest and to pass the baton to us, most especially to the youth. Her legacy will live on in our hearts and in the vibrant and militant mass movement that will continue the struggle until victory.
Long live the memory of Rita Baua!
Long live the struggle of the Filipino people!
Long live international solidarity!
