Every 10th of October also dubbed as Double Ten, my memory recalls the massacre of Brig. Gen. Teodulfo Bautista and 34 of his men during a “peace dialogue “ with Muslim rebel leader Usman Sali in Patikul, Sulu on that fateful day.
As a Defense reporter for the Philippine News Agency, I was shocked to learn about the merciless killing of soldiers, who were lured to go to Patikul, a rebel stronghold at that time, supposedly for a peace dialogue to resolve the long-standing insurgency war in Mindanao.
At that time Gen. Bautista, the soft-spoken commanding general of the Ist Infantry “Tabak” Division, was looking forward to talk with Usman Sali and was confident of a successful outcome of the peace talk.
But sad to say, the outcome was the opposite. Gen. Bautista and 34 of the men were massacred during the dialogue with only one survivor, PFC Oliver Calzada, the radioman of the army unit, who played possum.
Forty-six years had passed, but this reporter can still vividly recalls that day when the earth-shaking news about the massacre reached Camp Aguinaldo, headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in 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 and Boy Aguinaldo of Channel 4, and this writer were shocked to learn about the massacre that happened in broad daylight.
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, we were allowed to write stories about the bloodbath to the last detail, giving us all the information we needed.
We were told that the meeting between Gen. Bautista and Sali was to take place at the headquarters of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, 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. Bautista and his group were on their way to Patikul when he saw Col. Pangilinan, the AFP adjutant general, his classmate at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) who was conducting a seminar in Jolo, and invited him to go to Patikul
Earlier, he asked then Lt. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, then chief of the Philippine Constabulary and co current AFP vice chief, who was in Jolo, to join him. Ramos, however, d clined because he had a prior engagement in Zamboanga City.
When Bautista and his men arrived at the Patikul public market aboard two 6×6 trucks in the morning of Oct. 10, 1977, the place was empty.” Normally, being a public market, the place was always full of people but this time, not a shadow was seen. “But still Gen. Bautista did not suspect any misfortune was going to happen.”
Gen. Bautista went there to have peace with the rebels. However, it was weird that Usman Sali and his men did not show up.
After a while, four men of Sali suddenly showed up as Bautista and his troops sat down on a long table waiting for Sali.
But all of a sudden, a burst of automatic gunfire reverberated all over the area and Gen. Bautista and his officers and men were killed like sitting ducks,
It was a bloodbath. Worse, Sali and his men hacked the already dead soldiers, including Gen. Bautista.