Oct. 10, 1977 was a day of infamy for the whole country. It was the day when Brig. Gen. Teodulfo Bautista, the soft-spoken commanding general of the 1st Infantry “Tabak” Division of the Philippine Army, and 34 of his men, were brutally massacred after they were lured into a “peace dialogue” by local Muslim rebel leader Usman Sali in Patikul, Sulu.
Only one soldier who played possum survived the massacre.
It has been 40 years ago, but this reporter can still vividly recall that day when the earthshaking news about the massacre reached Camp Aguinaldo, the headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in suburban Quezon City.
Defense reporters at that time, led by Joe Vera of the Manila Bulletin, Alex Alan of the now defunct Daily Express, Cecil Arillo of Times Journal, Bert de Guzman of Balita, Tony Seva of GMA Channel 7, Sel Baysa of Radyo ng Bayan (now Radyo Pilipinas), Jun Francisco of Channel reporter, Boy Aguinaldo, Channel 4 cameraman, and this writer, representing the Philippine News Agency (PNA), were shocked by the massacre that happened in broad daylight.
The AFP’s rank and file could not believe that 35 soldiers, including a general and four Army colonels, were massacred in the Patikul public market, just like that.
Martial law was still in effect then and defense reporters could not just write stories like that without clearance from the defense or military hierarchy.
But this time, military authorities allowed defense reporters to write the story of the massacre, giving us all the information the media needed.
Retired Brig. Gen. Arnulfo D. Bañez, then AFP deputy chief of staff for intelligence (J2) and deputy of the Intelligence Service of the AFP (ISAFP), now 94, could still remember the details of the gory massacre.
He said Gen. Romeo C. Espino, then AFP chief of staff, expressed shock upon receiving the news of the massacre.
Espino was in Davao City for a regular inspection of troops when the AFP chief was informed late in the afternoon of Oct. 10, 1977 about the massacre.
“Gen. Espino’s immediate reaction was to rush to Jolo, Sulu that very moment but Col. Tony Lukban, the pilot of the F-27 Fokker plane of the Philippine Air Force, told the general that the Jolo airport has no landing lights and suggested they fly early the following morning,” Banez said.
Piecing together the massacre, Bañez said Sali, the rebel leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Sulu, agreed to meet with Gen. Bautista originally at the headquarters of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, for a peace dialogue, together with 150 of Sali’s men.
But a last-minute decision was made by Sali and proposed to Gen. Bautista that they instead meet at the Patikul public market.
Bautista agreed without second thought of any security threat from Sali. It proved to be fatal.
Bañez said while Bautista and his group were on their way to Patikul, he saw Col. Pangilinan, the AFP adjutant general, his classmate who was conducting a seminar in Jolo.
Bautista told Pangilinan to join him in Patikul for a peace dialogue with MNLF commander Usman Sali.
Bautista, in fact, earlier asked then Lt. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, chief of the Philippine Constabulary and concurrent AFP vice chief of staff that time, who was in Jolo, to join him.
Ramos, however, declined because he had a prior engagement in Zamboanga City.
Bañez said “when Bautista and his men arrived at the Patikul public market aboard two 6x6 trucks in the morning of Oct. 10, 1977, the place was empty.”
“Normally, being a public market, the place is always full of people but this time, not a shadow was seen,” he said. “But still Gen. Bautista did not suspect any bad omen was going to happen.”
“Gen. Bautista went there to have peace with the rebels, no more, no less,” he added. “However, it was weird that Usman Sali and his men did not show up.”
Bañez said after a while, three to four men suddenly showed up as Bautista and his troops sat down on a long table waiting for Sali.
“All of a sudden, a burst of automatic gunfire reverberated all over the area and Gen. Bautista and his officers and men were killed instantly like sitting ducks, unaware of what hit them,” Bañez said with tears in his eyes.
“It was a bloodbath. Worse, Sali and his men hacked the already dead soldiers, including Gen. Bautista. The hapless soldiers sustained hack wounds all over their bodies. It was brutality of the first degree,” he recalled.
Bautista’s son, Emmanuel Bautista, was a plebe at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) when the massacre happened.
The young Bautista rose to become AFP chief of staff later. He is now retired.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1050622
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