ABDUL ULAP

The Taking of Sadanga

 

THE NIGHT’S DARKNESS covered them well, a mass of men in arms, moving silently but surely toward their objective.  It was the 9^th of February [1985], and comprising the armed men was a large contingent of full-time NPA guerrilla units and more than a hundred people’s militia, composed of local tribesmen from the surrounding areas. Their objective: the town of Sadanga, Mountain Province.

Nestled on top of a high mountain, Sadanga has a commanding view of the nearby barrios and mountain trails, as it is located on the borders of Mountain Province and the sub-province of Kalinga, and on the mountain route leading to Abra.  Because of its strategic location, the area tops the list of towns targetted for control under the counter-insurgency program being implemented by the PC Provincial Command.

For a long time, revolutionary forces in the area had found it difficult to penetrate the town because of the presence of several  well-armed PC and CHDF detachments.  Since Sadanga was crawling as well with civilian informers employed by the military, revolutionary organized had to meet with the NPA outside town for their own safety.  The local population suffered from numerous human rights violations at the hands of the military.

For these reasons, the NPA decided to conduct a raid on the town to “open up” the area, and enable cadres to conduct more systematic political work among the people.   There was also the further prospect of beefing up the NPA’s supply of weapons through arms confiscation that would follow in the course of the operation.  With this in mind, the Red fighters continued their journey to Sadanga.

The NPAs reached their destination at midnight.  They divided into two company-size formations, one group heading for the town plaza beside which the PC and local police were sound asleep, and the other for the town proper located just below the municipal hall, where the houses of the CHDFs were.

Everything had been meticulously planned.  Two months earlier, the district guerrilla unit had begun clearing the surrounding areas of civilian informers and others forces hostile to local revolutionaries.  Those who somehow escaped their fate at the hands of sparrow units  were paralyzed with fear.

The NPA had also patiently conducted a detailed investigation of the area, and drawn an accurate map indicating the different trails leading to the town.  They had checked and counter-checked the numbers of enemy troopers and their weapons, had anticipated everything that could happen during the raid, and planned for every eventuality.  From all indications, the raid was certain of success.

It took only 30 minutes to encircle the are.  A “blocking force” was quickly set up along the major roads and exits to deter any enemy reinforcements that might arrive.  All vehicles heading for Bontoc, where the PC headquarters were located, were stopped, while vehicles heading in the opposite direction were allowed to pass.

By 3 a.m., the raid began.  The NPA group surrounding the town plaza made their presence known to the PC and police by shouting at them to surrender.  Shocked awake, the enemy troopers shouted back, cursing the guerrillas.  All the shouting made the dogs bark and howl, and the noise was deafening. The “shouting war” went on in the wee hours of the morning, when suddenly the enemy opened fire on the NPAs. The latter answered with gunfire from the BARs, M14s and M16s.  It seemed as if the municipal hall would fall to pieces as bullets riddled the walls and shattered the glass windows.

Meanwhile, consolidation teams took the town residents to areas of safety, calmly explaining to them what was going on, and what the purpose of the entire operation was.

Back at the town plaza, the enemy guns fell silent, and signals of surrender were tendered.  “Come out!” Don’t be afraid.  You will not be harmed,”  the Red fighters called out.  Slowly the PC and police came out of the wrecked municipal building, half-naked and shaking with fear.  They were taken prisoner and their arms confiscated.

It was 5 a.m. when the second NPA group surrounding the town proper began their operation.  They had already surrounded the mayor’s house, and those of the other local officials and CHDFs. They convinced the mayor to surrender, and he in turn ordered the CHDF to lay down their arms. Seeing that they were outnumbered, the CHDF surrendered to the raiding party.

There was one last thing to do.  The town’s ex-mayor had to be captured.  He had committed many crimes against the people, making use of his office to extort money from the townspeople and engaging in petty graft and corruption. On numerous occasions, he had abused women.  His most serious offence was to willingly guide the military into the areas under his jurisdiction during the regime’s large-scale military operations   in the Cordilleras in July 1984.  His activities had caused untold suffering among the masses.

The Red fighters found him hiding in his house with the chief of police, but despite entreaties from the NPA, he refused to surrender at first. After a while, however, he surprisingly offered his Garand rifle as a gesture of surrender.  The Red fighters knew that he owned more than one firearm, and demanded:  “Is that all?  Where’s the other one?”  He then surrendered his M16, which belonged to the chief of police.  Aware of the trick, the Red fighters threatened to shoot him on the spot and if he did not stop deceiving them.  Reluctantly, the ex-mayor gave up his other firearm.

By 12 noon, the disarming operation were completed.

The whole town population, with the local officials, PC, police and CHDF, were then assembled for a mass meeting and cultural presentation courtesy of the NPA.  The latter explained the reason for the raid, and condemned oppressive local officials and the military.  They urged corrupt officials to reform.   They called for the overthrow of the US-Marcos regime, and exhorted the townspeople to join the national democratic revolution, and to wage armed struggle.

The guerrillas also convened a people’s court to try the town’s former mayor.  They presented their findings to the masses, and explained why he should be punished.  The NPA contingent condemned him to die, but respecting the people did not agree with the death verdict, but said, “If he commits grave crimes again, we will take care of him ourselves.”

After teaching the people a few revolutionary songs, the Red fighters left.

The masses in the nearby consolidated areas celebrated the successful raid with feasting, singing and dancing.  The number of rifles seized in the raid constituted one of the largest hauls in the Cordilleras: 43 assorted firearms and 1,260 rounds of ammunition, as well as cash, paper, typewriters, office equipment, and others. On their side, the NPA had used up 207 bullets, averaging one bullet per fighter.  More importantly, they were able to open up yet another strategic area for the revolution.  In the process, they also brought to the fore the weakness and vulnerability of the regime’s armed minions in a place touted as a showcase of the government’s counter-insurgency program.

The raid, the result of patient and persistent work, also showed the massive popular support of the national minority masses for the NPA.  The red fighters were able, for example, to mobilize more than a hundred local tribespeople to support them in this tactical offensive.  They were able to move in and out of Sadanga with ease, because their eyes and ears—their great rear, the masses—were always with them.

On the other hand, the local troopers were isolated, so stricken with fear, that they were only to report the incident the next day.  They exaggerated the number of raiders to cover up their ineptitude, reporting to the Bontoc PC headquarters that the reason they could not possibly fight back was that they were encircled by 1,000 NPA guerrillas.

Later, the military offered to set up more military detachments in the area.  The residents flatly rejected the offer, saying that this would create more chaos and trouble in the town.   They bluntly told the military:  “If you want to capture the NPA, look for them in the mountains and set up your detachments there, not here!”

The military, however, continues to maintain its oppressive presence ands sow fear among the tribal residents.  This prompted the people to send a petition to Brig. Gen. Tomas Dumpit, RUC 1 Commander, asking him to pull out the military and abolish the ICHDF in Sadanga.  During Dumpit’s visit to the town after the raid, the people fearlessly protected against the military abuses.

Reinforcements came after the raid: 300 men from different military units accompanied by chemite tank and helicopter for air support—even though these did not encounter the Red fighters, who had long made good their retreat.  A military vehicle carrying the advance guard of the enemy troopers fell off cliff while negotiating a difficult passage along the mountain highway.  It seemed yet another grim symbol of the fate that befalls the people’s enemy.