Joel Rocamora and the Philippine Left

This column is about two books written by Joel Rocamora — “Impossible is Not So Easy: A Life in Politics” (Bughaw, 2019) and “Retrieving the Past: A Memoir” (Bughaw, 2024). Both are the stories of his life, especially his political life. At the same time, these are also the stories of the Philippine Left where Rocamora began as an active member of the National Democratic Front and later became a founding member of the Akbayan, the social democratic party which now counts Risa Hontiveros and Chel Diokno as its leaders. The author’s experience in civil society and governance with the National Anti Poverty Commission and the Center for Popular Democracy allows him to offer more than mere abstract theory.

- ELFREN S. CRUZ

lmpossible is Not So Easy: A Life in Politics” is divided into three parts. His reflections on former president Rodrigo Duterte’s populist governance; essays on the proposal for federalism in the country, questioning whether it truly represents meaningful reform or a mere rearrangement of old power structures; essays on Akbayan and the setbacks and advances of democratic movements.

Rocamora, a Cornell Ph.D. trained former academic turned activist is well-equipped for this dual role as critic and participant. His essays are concise, accessible and steeped in both personal experience and ideological intention.

The book’s intriguing title comes from what appears to be called a wry reflection and rallying cry: “...tilting against powerful political enemies, mobilizing people long mired in passivity... But hey, if it’s easy, it would be boring.”

This sentence acknowledges the spirit of Rocamora’s work, recognizing that the political struggle is far from easy, but a challenge that is always interesting and worth pursuing.

“Retrieving the Past: A Memoir” is a more compact book with just 103 pages, compared to the first book’s 294 pages. It is a personal narrative of his life spent in scholarship, activism and historical memory, resonant narrative of a life spent at the intersection of scholarship, activism and historical memory.