The Life and Death of Edgar Jopson
On September 20, 1982, the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Martial Law declaration, Edgar Gil M. Jopson was shot and killed during a military raid in Davao City. Jopson, fondly called “Edjop” by his friends and colleagues, had been one of the more outspoken student leaders during the First Quarter Storm of 1970. A brilliant young man with a well-to-do background, Jopson turned away from a future of luxury and affluence to fight for his vision of a better Philippines. We look back on his life as he led the life of a moderate student leader, but died for his cause as a rebel years later.
The Early Life of Edgar Jopson
“We welcome the new, purposeful militancy and dynamism of our youth and students. We must enlist their energies, their talents, and their idealism to the cause of orderly progress and change, to the cause of expanding freedom and welfare for all our people.”
This was what Ferdinand Marcos had to say about student activism during his 1969 State of the Nation Address (SONA).[1] Marcos was reelected that year, amid tensions between the studentry and the government. Student demonstrations became more and more frequent during the later years of his first term and the nascency of his second. Students demanded for school reforms, the stoppage of tuition and school fee increases, as well as for the government to address economic inequality and police brutality. Indeed, students have often been met by police forces and demonstrations often end in violence.
Edjop in his campaign photo for the Ateneo student council elections, 1969. Photo from the Jopson Family Collection. Uploaded by user Altheooo on Wikimedia Commons on April 29, 2016. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Retrieved on September 11, 2021 at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edjop_in_his_campaign_photo_for_the_Ateneo_student_council_elections,_1969.jpg.
At the time, Edgar “Edjop” Jopson, was a senior college student of Mechanical Engineering at the Ateneo de Manila University. He was born on September 1, 1948 to Josefa Mirasol-Jopson and Hernan Jopson.[2] Though his parents and siblings struggled financially initially, especially after the war, they were able to turn a modest sari-sari store into a bustling self-service supermarket, the first in the country. Through their successful entrepreneurship ventures, they were able to send their children to prestigious schools;[3] Jopson was sent to Ateneo, where he finished grade school and high school, the latter as the batch valedictorian in 1966.[4] In Ateneo, Jopson blossomed as a student leader and played more active roles in protests.
Marcos, in his SONA, asked the Department of Education “to intervene in student and youth strikes and demonstrations and explore ways and means of realizing their constructive and reasonable demands.”[5] Despite these pronouncements, the situation worsened. The 1970s opened with more student demonstrations and civil unrest. These movements came to define the period and catalyzed what became known as the First Quarter Storm (FQS).
Students of differing political persuasions led calls for massive changes. Radical student groups and organizations, the national democrats, marched the streets along with the more moderate ones, the social democrats. The two sides called for similar reforms they believed to be achievable through different means. Among the leaders of the radical groups was Nilo Tayag, head of the Kabataang Makabayan (KM), who led the calls of armed struggle and systemic change.[6] The moderates, on the other hand, who believed in achievable political reforms to effect change, were led by Jopson.
The FQS began on January 26, 1970, as a massive rally was planned to coincide with the opening session of the Seventh Congress and Marcos’ first SONA for his second term. Of particular concern for the protesters was the Constitutional Convention. Many people feared that the Convention was being manipulated to enable partisan politics and the circumvention of constitutional provisions to help politicians perpetuate their stay in power. While the session was ongoing, students massed in front of the Congress building, and they demanded governors, mayors, congressmen and senators to inhibit from the Convention and allow for non-partisan deliberations.[7]
Police shielding the limousine of Marcos as students threw projectiles following the end of his SONA. Photo by United Press International. Retrieved from Vera Files at https://verafiles.org/articles/marcos-and-first-quarter-storm-part-i-paranoia-and-pretense.
The event was organized by the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), of which Jopson was president. As the penultimate speaker of the program, his time at the podium coincided with the end of the opening session. The students came face to face with politicians exiting the Congress building. As Marcos came out, students threw in his direction a cardboard coffin and papier-mache crocodile as symbols of their disdain. AFP Chief Fabian Ver hurriedly instructed the Marcoses to enter their limousine as more projectiles were thrown their way.[8]
Jopson speaking during a student demonstration. Photo retrieved through the archives of the Human Rights Violations’ Victims Memorial Commission.
Tensions rose and violence escalated over the coming days. More demonstrations were staged as more students boycotted their classes as a sign of solidarity. On January 30, 1970, Marcos accepted an audience and summoned Jopson for a dialogue at Malacañang Palace. Said meeting was also attended by other leaders, news reporters and some Malacañang personnel, intently listening and looking on while the young activist raised the demands of the students to Marcos himself.[9]
The crux of his visit, however, was to obtain an assurance from Marcos that he would not seek a third term by circumventing the existing Constitution through the Convention. Marcos guaranteed him that he had no intention to do so, but Jopson wanted this to be binding, and asked Marcos to sign a document promising the same. Marcos was infuriated by this request and had to be placated. The dialogue thus led nowhere.[10]
Perhaps one of the more iconic photos of Edgar Jopson, as he speaks with Ferdinand Marcos inside the Malacañang Palace on January 30, 1970 as protests erupt outside. Photo retrieved from the Bantayog ng mga Bayani at https://www.bantayog.org/the-edjop-center-and-the-gawad-edgar-jopson.
Jopson nonetheless continued leading the moderates’ faction of the movement. He partnered with lawyer Charito Planas and set up the Citizens National Electoral Assembly (CNEA) in 1970, recruiting several student council presidents and leaders to act as poll watchers for the delegate elections of the Constitutional Convention. Despite their efforts, he could only be described as disenchanted after relatives of active politicians were still elected despite the non-partisan ban.[11]
Laying Low and Going Underground
Despite his disappointment over the result of the delegate elections, Jopson finished 1970 on a high note. He received the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM) award, and was reelected president of the NUSP. While continuing to immerse himself in the movement of workers and laborers, he completed his studies and graduated in March 1971 as cum laude, and even received a leadership award from his school.[12]
Rather than pursuing a career aligned with the degree he obtained, Jopson worked with the Philippine Association of Federated Labor Unions (PAFLU) and also became part of Garments, Textiles and Cordage Alliance (GATCORD).[13] He continued helping people as part of his later pursuits. Jopson helped escort and house residents of Ora East and Ora West, two barrios in Ilocos Sur which were burned down allegedly by people of a local political clan who had lost heavily in the elections of 1971. He continued working by 1972, but it was clear that Jopson had been increasingly disappointed with the lack of concrete results of his actions. He slowly disappeared from the public eye as Martial Law was declared in September that year.[14]
The government viewed the imposition of Martial Law as the driving force which “saved the country from the clutches of national disintegration.” It ascribes September 21 as the genesis of the New Republic, going so far as to proclaim the day as National Thanksgiving Day.[15] On the contrary, with many opposition leaders, critics, politicians and journalists within hours of the declaration, many feared martial rule. Those who managed to evade immediate capture went into hiding, and some of them continued their pursuit as part of the underground movement.
Jopson was among those who went underground, opting to continue working with the labor movement. He joined the national democratic revolutionary movement as a low-level cadre. Through his effectiveness and hard work, he rose through the ranks of the movement.[16] He helped organize the workers’ strike of La Tondeña in 1975, a landmark event as it was one of the first organized mass protests of laborers under Martial Law.[17] During his time underground, he married his long-time partner, Gloria “Joy” Asuncion, with whom he eventually raised three children.[18] He was eventually persuaded by Jose Maria Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) to become the head of the Preparatory Commission of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).[19]
Jopson continued working with the CPP, the NDFP, and the armed struggle until his arrest on June 14, 1979. He was apprehended with 15 others by 20 officers of the 5th Philippine Constabulary (PC) Security Unit. The officers forced their way inside the house where he was, despite lacking an Arrest, Search and Seizure Order (ASSO). As everyone was made to lie on the floor, the house was ransacked, and the military forces confiscated money, mattresses, appliances and clothing.[20]
Jopson was brought to the headquarters in Camp Crame where he was struck repeatedly on his chest, and for days, was beaten, stripped, strangled and shocked. He wrote a detailed testimony on the torture he underwent, including details of his torturers. One of the men he had a dossier on was Col. Rodolfo Aguinaldo, a short but muscular man. Jopson managed to convince Aguinaldo that he had turned informer, which helped him escape jail just ten days later.[21] Following his escape and return to the underground movement, a P180,000 bounty was placed on his head. Jopson laid low, away from the bustling capital of the country, and headed south to Mindanao.[22]
Col. Rodolfo “Agi” Aguinaldo (center) capturing the Philippines News Agency (PNA) during the People Power Revolution in an about-face against the Marcos dictatorship. Photo taken by Sonny Camarillo and retrieved from Robles, Raissa. Marcos Martial Law: Never Again. Quezon City: Filipinos for a Better Philippines, 2016.
By 1982, Jopson had been staying at a safehouse in Davao City while conducting his activities. He had been residing at this safehouse, located at No. 10 San Vicente Street in the Skyline Subdivision, since November the previous year. He presumably opted to remain in Mindanao to strengthen the CPP’s presence in the area following the capture of Benjamin de Vera, considered the second-in-command of the entire CPP operation in Mindanao, earlier in June.[23] Though the military initially had no inkling on Jopson’s whereabouts, they later managed to obtain intel on where he was.
Death
In the evening of September 20, the eve of the 10th anniversary of Martial Law, Jopson, riding a motorcycle, escorted a nondescript jeepney which boarded his colleagues, covertly entered the subdivision after having gone out, and discreetly returned to their safehouse. It was then that three seven-man military squads, which had surrounded the group’s hideout for quite some time, closed in and ordered the occupants to surrender.[24] The military troopers initially introduced themselves under the pretext that they had been looking for robbers,[25] but, immediately after, two bursts of gunshots were fired.[26]
Four of his companions, the priest-turned rebel Fr. Orlando Tizon, Beatriz de Vera, the wife of Benjamin de Vera, as well as Elisa Arnejo of the membership committee and Nathaniel Arnejo, were all taken under arrest and detained at the house. Jopson, along with his companion Roberto “Ted” Martinez, managed to evade the initial spray of gunfire and escaped to the back of the house. Both tried to jump over the cement fence. Ted was hit by a bullet from the pursuing troopers but managed to clear the fence. Jopson, however, was unable to do so as he was hit on the leg and fell back down.[27]
The four arrested during the raid remained at the house until the following day, after which they were brought to Camp Catitipan and made to face Brig. Gen. Pedrito de Guzman, Regional Commander of the local Philippine Constabulary and Integrated National Police (PC-INP) forces. Tizon alleges that he overheard Capt. Josefino Cataluna, one of the leaders of the raiding team, talking about Jopson with his men during their detention some days later. Cataluna reportedly remarked that Jopson was strong, putting up quite a struggle despite having been wounded.[28]
De Vera also attests to the same. At about 11:30 PM during the raid, she overheard Maj. Nelson Estares, another one of the raid leaders, receiving a report from his men that Jopson had been captured with a gunshot wound in the leg. Estares ordered his men to then bring him to the hospital for treatment.[29] Thus, both Tizon and De Vera were greatly surprised when they were later informed that he had been killed during the raid.
According to Brig. Gen. de Guzman, the military had already been plotting an assault as early as July, as they obtained declassified documents allegedly detailing a plot called Operation Skylark. The plot involved blowing up incendiary bombs placed in several military installations and urban centers throughout Mindanao to liquidate prominent civilians and government officials on September 21, when some events were being conducted to commemorate the National Thanksgiving Day. When the military received reports of the location of the hideout, it was placed under surveillance until September 20, when they finally decided to go on the offensive and preempt the plot set for the following day.[30]
In a news report, de Guzman claims that Jopson and his comrades engaged in a shootout with the raiding team before he was killed attempting to scale a concrete fence.[31] However, just the following day, he claims that Jopson was not even able to fire his revolver as he tried to escape.[32] De Guzman briefed AFP Chief Ver on the incident for the latter to report to Ferdinand Marcos, who was visiting the United States at the time. The government had also taken an interest in Jopson, a student leader during the FQS who eventually joined and rose in the ranks of the CPP, eventually becoming the head of the Party’s National Instructor Bureau and, effectively, one of its highest ranking members in Mindanao. Ver eventually reinforced the military troops in Mindanao in the event of a retaliation from the New People’s Army (NPA). He also promptly promoted the 21 men responsible for the death of Jopson and capture of several others.[33]
There were also reports that Jopson was taken alive and wounded for interrogation at a PC Camp, where he was eventually killed for refusing to cooperate.[34] Despite the conflicting reports on whether Jopson died in the shootout while trying to escape or died in police custody some time later due to his gunshot wounds, one thing remains clear: he was killed by the raiding party. A medico-legal necropsy report shows that Jopson sustained eight gunshot wounds; five on the left middle portion of his chest, forming a line beginning in the left breast area and ending close to the navel; two on the right arm, near the elbow; and one on his right foot. He also has a macerated wound on the inside of his left thigh.[35]
Jopson’s body was recovered and mourned by his friends, families, colleagues and sympathizers at the La Funeraria Paz in Quezon City. It was transferred to the UP Catholic Chapel on September 30, then to the Ateneo University chapel the next day, for necrological services and Requiem Mass, respectively, before it was laid to its final rest at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina on October 1.[36]
Reactions and Legacy
The Government and Armed Forces hailed the death of Jopson as an immense achievement that blew to pieces the “backbone of communism in Southern Philippines.”[37] The public’s reaction however manifested that of immense shock and regret. Many were dismayed that such a bright young man met his end in such a way. Journalist Ninez Cacho-Olivarez wrote a piece in Bulletin Today questioning the necessity of killing Jopson. She expressed perplexity as to why the military, who had confessed to surveilling the safe house for months, waited until the very last day to raid the area and thwart the alleged terrorist attack. She also questioned if it was necessary to kill Jopson and a few others when there were reportedly 21 armed troopers fully prepared to close in on the targets.[38]
Arlene Babst wrote hers in Bulletin Today deeming Jopson’s death as a tragic loss, as she viewed him as one who actively pursued his ideals for his country, who tried, worked hard, was backed into a corner, was forced to change from his moderate stance to a more radical one and died for it.[39] Atty. Humberto Basco also laments that dynamic and idealistic students who merely possess an intensity in bettering their country are being targeted by the government, wondering if it had indeed ceased its tolerance of youth activists.[40]
Eminent writer Joaquin “Chino” Roces penned a poignant poem for Jopson entitled “A Tear for Edjop.” Roces expressed his anger over the vilification of Edgar Jopson as a “terrorist,” when he merely challenged the excesses and atrocities of the government. “They could not buy your mind, so they put a price on your head” and “they did not want you to survive to avoid having to face you alive” were lines that summarize how Roces believed the government saw Jopson. He closes with a wistful prayer that “one day, who really knows, we will no longer be decorating Filipino soldiers for killing fellow Filipinos.”[41]
Opposite how the government believed the imposition of Martial Law to be the impetus of the improved New Republic, many Filipinos viewed it as the beginning of the withering of democracy in the country. Similarly, though the administration treated Jopson as a high-ranking communist rebel, many still fondly recall him from his student days, unrelentingly leading the student cause and championing their visions of a better Philippines. After the assassination of Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino the following year, nationwide demonstrations grew in size and became more and more frequent. Thousands flocked during his funeral march on August 31, 1981, as protesters shouted, chanted, and carried banners and placards. They also carried a huge mural depicting five notable victims of “military terrorism” which included Aquino, Kalinga tribal leader Macli-ing Dulag, Dr. Bobby de la Paz and Dr. Johnny Escandor, and of course, Jopson.
The parents of Edgar Jopson were also unmistakably supportive of their son, even during his days of hiding. The father was able to visit his son in prison during his brief capture in 1979. The mother was even able to spend a few days with him in the safehouse in Davao City, days before he was killed. The death of their son prompted both Hernan and Josefa to play more active roles in the anti-dictatorship movement by the mid-1980’s and beyond. Hernan served on the board of a left-leaning political organization while Josefa became a founding member of Mothers and Relatives against Tyranny (MARTYR), which dedicates itself to help families of political violence victims.[42]
Huge mural showing victims of political repression and military terrorism, which includes Edgar Jopson, during the funeral march of Ninoy Aquino, August 31, 1983. Photo from the FGN Photo Collection accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Victims’ Memorial Commission.
Jopson did not come from extreme poverty, nor was he a direct victim of police brutality, human rights abuse. On the contrary, at the height of his public exposure, he was well-off, had a bright prospective career, a car, lofty lodgings, and a loving partner. He could have easily turned his back on the cause of the student movement and lived a quiet life, but he chose not to, he could not. He had an ideal — a vision — for his country. For this vision, he led student demonstrations, crossed paths with Marcos himself, and eventually joined the armed struggle. Jopson held on to this vision until his death.
An epitaph for Edgar Jopson may have perfectly embodied the sacrifice he chose to make: “Ang magbuhos ng dugo para sa bayan, ay kagitingang hindi malilimutan. Ang buhay na inalay sa lupang mahal, mayaman sa aral at kadakilaan.”[43] His friend, Alfredo Salanga, also perfectly captured the weight of his life, struggle and death. In his eulogy for Jopson, Salanga wrote that Jopson’s friends, colleagues and countrymen “may not agree with what [he] died for,” but can unanimously agree that he “died a brave man, a just man and a good man, [who] died believing in what [he] lived for.”[44]
During the 1970 meeting between Jopson and Marcos, after the former insisted that the latter sign a document to make binding his promise that he will not influence the Constitutional Convention to be allowed a third term, the usually composed Marcos lashed out at Jopson and derided him. “Who are you to tell me what to do? You’re only a son of a grocer!” yelled Marcos.[45] This exchange captured what Edgar Jopson was capable of. At that moment, Marcos, the eventual dictator who would wield unlimited power and lead the unhindered pilfering of the country’s coffers, was incensed, cornered by a twenty-year old, and acted in stark contrast to his message to youth activists in his 1969 SONA. On the other hand, Jopson, a small, unassuming student and a “mere” grocer’s son, but at the time carried the sentiments and hopes of thousands of Filipinos desperate for change, stood taller than his peers and seemed larger than life.
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References:
Babst, Arlene. “Edgar Jopson: In Memoriam.” Bulletin Today, Vol. 119, No. 29, September 29, 1982. Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
Basco, Humberto B. “Khomenistic?” Bulletin Today, September 24, 1982. Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
“Bio-data.” Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
Cacho-Olizarez, Ninez. “Death of a rebel.” Bulletin Today, Vol. 119, No. 29, September 29, 1982. Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
Chua, Michael. “Two martyrs.” The Manila Times, September 14, 2019. Accessed September 14, 2021. https://www.manilatimes.net/2019/09/14/opinion/columnists/two-martyrs/615996.
De Vera, Beatriz. “Affidavit” (Case No. 2014-14-13752, Quezon City, 2014). Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
De Vera, Jose. “Ver sends report on Jopson.” Bulletin Today, September 24, 1982. Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
“Edgar Jopson Hailed as a Revolutionary Hero.” Ang Katipunan, November 1982. Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
Gaviola, Encarnita F. “Edgar Jopson: His Life and Times.” FOCUS Philippines, October 16, 1982. Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
“Jopson, Edgar Gil “Edjop” Mirasol.” Bantayog ng mga Bayani, October 21, 2015. Accessed September 14, 2021. https://www.bantayog.org/jopson-edgar-gil-mirasol.
“Jopson, ex-student leader, killed.” Tempo, Vol. 1, No. 73, September 22, 1982. Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
“Jopson buried Friday.” We Forum, Vol. VI, No. 24, September 29, 1982 – September 30, 1982. Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
Juvida, Sol. “Edjop, Nilo, FM, etc.” Tempo, Vol. 1, No. 81, September 30, 1982. Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
Marcos, Ferdinand. “Fourth State of the Nation Address: New Filipinism: The Turning Point.” The Official Gazette, January 27, 1969. Accessed September 14, 2021. https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1969/01/27/ferdinand-e-marcos-fourth-state-of-the-nation-address-january-27-1969.
“Medico-legal Necropsy Report.” Office of the City Health Officer, Davao City. October 12, 1982. Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
Parale, Mel. “Jopson’s death aborts terror plot.” Daily Express, September 24, 1982. Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
Philippine News Agency. “Communist backbone in south broken.” Times Journal, Vol. X, No. 336, September 23, 1982. Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
Pimentel, Benjamin. “The 60 year saga of a Filipino couple – together even in death.” ABS-CBN News, April 12, 2008. Accessed September 14, 2021. https://news.abs-cbn.com/pinoy-migration/04/11/08/60-year-saga-filipino-couple-together-even-death.
“Proclamation No. 1180, s. 1973.” Official Gazette, August 30, 1973. Accessed September 14, 2021. https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1973/08/30/proclamation-no-1180-s-1973.
Reyes, Miguel Paolo P. and Joel F. Ariate, Jr. “Marcos and the First Quarter Storm Part I: Paranoia and Pretense.” Vera Files, March 10, 2010. Accessed September 14, 2021. https://verafiles.org/articles/marcos-and-first-quarter-storm-part-i-paranoia-and-pretense.
Robles, Raissa. Marcos Martial Law: Never Again. Quezon City: Filipinos for a Better Philippines, 2016.
Roces, Joaquin P. “A Tear for EDJOP.” We Forum, Vol. VI, No. 47, October 4, 1982 – October 5, 1982. Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
Salanga, Alfredo Navarro. “Eulogy for my friend, Edjop.” Mr. & Mrs., October 12, 1982. Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
___________________. “The short public life of Edgar M. Jopson.” Philippine Panorama, October 10, 1982. Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
Sison, Jose Mari. “Edgar M. Jopson.” The Philippine Collegian, Year XXXVIII, No. 13, October 8, 1982. Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
Tizon, Orlando. “Affidavit” (Case No. 2014-14-13752, Quezon City, 2014). Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
[1] Ferdinand Marcos, “Fourth State of the Nation Address: New Filipinism: The Turning Point.” The Official Gazette, January 27, 1969. Accessed September 14, 2021. https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1969/01/27/ferdinand-e-marcos-fourth-state-of-the-nation-address-january-27-1969.
[2] “Bio-data,” accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission. This was submitted by the wife of Edgar, as part of their claim to the Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board.
[3] Benjamin Pimentel, “The 60 year saga of a Filipino couple – together even in death,” ABS-CBN News, April 12, 2008, accessed September 14, 2021. https://news.abs-cbn.com/pinoy-migration/04/11/08/60-year-saga-filipino-couple-together-even-death.
[4] “Bio-data.”
[5] Ibid.
[6] Sol Juvida, “Edjop, Nilo, FM, etc.” Tempo, Vol. 1, No. 81, September 30, 1982, accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
[7] Alfredo Navarro Salanga, “The short public life of Edgar M. Jopson,” Philippine Panorama, October 10, 1982, accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
[8] Miguel Paolo P. Reyes, and Joel F. Ariate, Jr., “Marcos and the First Quarter Storm Part I: Paranoia and Pretense,” Vera Files, March 10, 2010, accessed September 14, 2021, https://verafiles.org/articles/marcos-and-first-quarter-storm-part-i-paranoia-and-pretense.
[9] Salanga, “The short public life of Edgar M. Jopson.” Encarnita F. Gaviola, “Edgar Jopson: His Life and Times,” FOCUS Philippines, October 16, 1982, accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
[10] Salanga, “The short public life of Edgar M. Jopson;” Gaviola, “Edgar Jopson: His Life and Times.”
[11] Salanga, “The short public life of Edgar M. Jopson.”
[12] Ibid; “Bio-data.”
[13] “Bio-data;” “Jopson, Edgar Gil “Edjop” Mirasol.” Bantayog ng mga Bayani, October 21, 2015. Accessed September 14, 2021. https://www.bantayog.org/jopson-edgar-gil-mirasol.
[14] “Jopson, Edgar Gil “Edjop” Mirasol;” Salanga, “The short public life of Edgar M. Jopson.”
[15] “Proclamation No. 1180, s. 1973,” Official Gazette, August 30, 1973, accessed September 14, 2021, https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1973/08/30/proclamation-no-1180-s-1973.
[16] “Edgar Jopson Hailed as a Revolutionary Hero,” Ang Katipunan, November 1982, accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
[17] “Jopson, Edgar Gil “Edjop” Mirasol;” Michael Chua, “Two martyrs,” The Manila Times, September 14, 2019, accessed September 14, 2021, https://www.manilatimes.net/2019/09/14/opinion/columnists/two-martyrs/615996.
[18] “Bio-data.”
[19] “Jopson, Edgar Gil “Edjop” Mirasol;” Sison, Jose Mari. “Edgar M. Jopson.” The Philippine Collegian, Year XXXVIII, No. 13, October 8, 1982. Accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
[20] Arlene Babst, “Edgar Jopson: In Memoriam,” Bulletin Today, Vol. 119, No. 29, September 29, 1982, accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
[21] Chua, “Two martyrs;” Raissa Robles, Marcos Martial Law: Never Again (Quezon City: Filipinos for a Better Philippines, 2016), 95. Jopson built a psychological profile on Aguinaldo, whom he knew was highly distrustful of his fellow officers, and knew he would not reveal much to them. Aguinaldo is credited with the capture of CPP founder Jose Maria Sison and activist Satur Ocampo during Martial Law. He played a key role in the capture of the Philippines News Agency in 1986 and was infamous for leading a coup attempt against the Cory Aquino administration. See: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1987-10-25-8703200186-story.html.
[22] Other sources place his bounty at just P125,000.
[23] Philippine News Agency, “Communist backbone in south broken,” Times Journal, Vol. X, No. 336, September 23, 1982, accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
[24] Jose De Vera, “Ver sends report on Jopson,” Bulletin Today, September 24, 1982, accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission. According to Orlando Tizon and Beatriz de Vera, there may have been around fifty men during the raid.
[25] Beatriz De Vera, “Affidavit” (Case No. 2014-14-13752, Quezon City, 2014), accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
[26] Orlando Tizon, “Affidavit” (Case No. 2014-14-13752, Quezon City, 2014), accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
[27] Tizon, “Affidavit;” Philippine News Agency, “Communist backbone in south broken.”
[28] Tizon, “Affidavit.”
[29] De Vera, “Affidavit.”
[30] Mel Parale, “Jopson’s death aborts terror plot,” Daily Express, September 24, 1982, accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission; De Vera, “Ver sends report on Jopson.”
[31] “Jopson, ex-student leader, killed,” Tempo, Vol. 1, No. 73, September 22, 1982, accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
[32] Philippine News Agency, “Communist backbone in south broken.”
[33] Parale, “Jopson’s death aborts terror plot.”
[34] “Jopson, Edgar Gil “Edjop” Mirasol.”
[35] “Medico-legal Necropsy Report,” Office of the City Health Officer, Davao City, October 12, 1982, accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission. The autopsy was conducted in the morning of September 22.
[36] “Jopson buried Friday,” We Forum, Vol. VI, No. 24, September 29, 1982 – September 30, 1982, accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
[37] Philippine News Agency, “Communist backbone in south broken.”
[38] Ninez Cacho-Olizarez, “Death of a rebel,” Bulletin Today, Vol. 119, No. 29, September 29, 1982, accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
[39] Babst, “Edgar Jopson: In Memoriam.”
[40] Humberto B. Basco, “Khomenistic?” Bulletin Today, September 24, 1982, accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
[41] Joaquin P. Roces, “A Tear for EDJOP,” We Forum, Vol. VI, No. 47, October 4, 1982 – October 5, 1982, accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
[42] Pimentel, “The 60 year saga of a Filipino couple.”
[43] Gaviola, “Edgar Jopson: His Life and Times,” accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission. These words were also used in a marker dedicated to the Escalante Martyrs of 1985, albeit in Cebuano.
[44] Alfredo Navarro Salanga, “Eulogy for my friend, Edjop,” Mr. & Mrs., October 12, 1982, accessed through the archives of the Human Rights Violations Victims’ Memorial Commission.
[45] Chua, “Two martyrs.”