Soledad Saslvador: A Life of Adversity Worthy of Admiration

By 1984, the Catholic priest-turned revolutionary Nilo Valerio was transferred to Ilocos Sur for his organizing work for the New People’s Army (NPA). Previously assigned in Abra, his group had successfully demonstrated the justness of their cause to the native Tingguians and proved their commitment to the people’s cause in defending their ancestral lands. More and more became encouraged to join the revolutionary movement. With the NPA’s growing membership and capable younger leaders prepared to continue the struggle, Valerio accepted his reassignment to another guerrilla zone, leading a small group of freedom fighters.[5]

Salvador became part of this small group of eight as they continued their work while avoiding troopers of the Philippine Constabulary (PC), the Integrated National Police (INP) and the Civilian Home Defense Force (CHDF), which abounded Marcos’s hometown and its neighboring localities. The group was eventually transferred to Benguet to continue their work there.[6]

As the life of rebels, the group usually remains hidden, eluding the attention of military forces, which had significantly increased in Benguet due to heavy militarization. As they did in Abra and Ilocos, to gain the trust of the native Kankanaeys, the NPA rebels must justify their cause to bear arms and convince them that they mean well. Valerio and his comrades were able to do so with the residents of Kayapa in Bakun as early as 1984. The guerrilla group taught the locals to plant bananas and introduced them to acupuncture treatment for illnesses. They also encouraged them to petition for a soil technician to determine the best crops for their land and to form a cooperative so they could sell their crops and buy food and supplies for the best prices.[7]

The residents accepted the eight freedom fighters into their community and assisted them in their endeavors. They would let them rest and sleep for the day in their own homes, and they would even warn the group if there were approaching military troops in the area and help them escape.[8] It was thus no surprise for the villagers of Sitio Beyeng when on August 23, 1985, the group paid them a visit. They were no strangers to the residents for they had already visited the distant sitio previously, traversing the dangerous mountain trails beginning from Kayapa to visit the home of some 20 Kankanaey families. They had likewise given advice on the residents on how to best handle their farming and their crops as well as given them acupuncture treatments.[9]

Valerio’s group was there to seek refuge, forced to find a place to stay the night because one of their comrades fell ill. Salvador, Valerio, and Fernandez, known to the people as Ka Gina, Ka Bobot, and Ka Senyang, along with their comrades, were accommodated in two adjacent houses. They again provided acupuncture treatments for their hosts, who in turn kept them safe for the night.[10] The following morning, however, the villagers had been quietly going about their morning business and chores when gunfire disturbed the peace. Some twenty soldiers had fired upon the houses occupied by the resting guerrillas. Panicked, the group was not able to properly retaliate and amidst the mayhem, Salvador was shot while attempting to escape, allegedly in the forehead. Valerio and Fernandez were also shot dead, while their other five comrades were able to escape.[11]

What happened in Sitio Beyeng that day became subject to much debate and controversy. Due to its remoteness, news of the incident took some time before it painted the headlines of national dailies. Initially, the newspapers ran the story based on the report by Brig. Gen. Tomas Dumpit of the Region I Unified Command, who confirmed that an encounter took place between the PC and the NPA, resulting in casualties. However, soon after, a letter from a “concerned Igorot” was forwarded to the Cordillera News Agency, providing horrific details on the incident.[12]

After the incident, the bodies of Ka Gina, Ka Bobot, and Ka Senyang were dragged off by the military and reportedly beheaded by Sgt. Henry Dayag and Sgt. Jose Panganiban.[13] The head of Ka Gina — Soledad Salvador — was even allegedly used by the PC soldiers for target practice because it was “too ugly.” The heads were then placed in a plastic bag tied to a pole, which the soldiers have three men carry and parade around the neighboring sitios to terrorize and intimidate the residents.[14] The bodies were then buried in Sitio Beyeng, though some ways away from the location of the incident, while the heads were buried in the neighboring Sitio Sadel.[15]

These were the gruesome elements of the case that were detailed to the family of Salvador by a human rights worker in September that same year. According to Melchor Salvador, brother of Soledad, the family was invited by said human rights worker to the fact-finding mission being organized by the Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace (EMJP) and the families of Valerio and Fernandez, the other two victims, to verify the reports and to retrieve the body to give them a proper burial. Unfortunately, the Salvadors had no financial means to join the fact-finding mission and regrettably begged off, opting to just quietly offer their well-wishes and wait for the results of the investigation.[16]

Upon the return of the fact-finding mission, it confirmed what had been reported initially. The victims were indeed Fr. Nilo Valerio, Resteta Fernandez and Soledad Salvador. However, what they did not expect was to discover the gravesites empty. They were not able to exhume the bodies and heads of the victims, and the holes in which they were supposedly buried in showed signs of having been hastily dug up and covered back up. Residents told the team that they witnessed a helicopter and a military jeep in the vicinity of the gravesite some three days before they arrived, and the mounds on the site which signified something was buried underneath had been leveled off.[17]