Chapter 26
Coronacion Chiva (Commander Walingwaling) & Her
Revolutionary Struggles
In October 13, 1971 I went to Alibunan, Calinog, a hinterland barangays/
village were Jalaur River passes at the foot
of the mountain. I went there to meet
Coronacion Chiva, known as Commander Waling-Waling, a former woman fighter of
the Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (HUKS), during the 2nd World War.
After the war, in 1950’s, they re-organized their fighters as the new People’s Liberation Army (PLA), under
Guillermo Capaducia, member of the Central Committee of Partido Komunista nga
Pilipinas (PKP). He was assigned by the
PKP Central Committee, under Jesus Lava,
Chairman to build, the PKP in Panay Island. ,
Their task was to liberate the
country from the evils of feudalism, bureaucratic capitalism and US imperialism
by defeating and destroying the Armed Forces of the Philippines. I went to
interview Mrs. Coronacion Chiva. I
was a
Commentator of “People to
People’s Program”, aired daily over
Radio DYRI in Iloilo City in 1970.
Coronacion Chiva (Commander Waling-Waling) and her husband, Fernandito/Andres Togonon (Comnander Guevara), have returned to their home in Alibunan, after serving there prison terms of some 10 years, for rebellion from the national penitentiary, in Muntinglupa.
During my visit, they were both officers of
the Philippines Association of Nationalist Employees, Laborers and Farmers
Union (PANELFU), a labor organization headed by Atty. Nicolas Centino, Legal
Counsel for Peasants and Atty. Cesar Biloria, Legal Counsel for Labor.
She told me: “She
was only 14 years old when she joined the HUKS to fight the Japanese that
invaded the country”.
“We have fought with the Japanese for nearly 3 yeaars in the
different areas here in Calinog, Lambunao and Januiuay.
“When the Americans came in Iloilo, our battalion was part of the forces,
that joined the Americans in the deadly
battles for the liberation of Panay from the Japanese.
Many of our forces have fallen.”
It was during the Japanese
American War that she met Fernandito Togonon, who became her partner in life. They were married in the communist
wedding. Their friends, and fellow
fighters, stood witness to their solemn wedding ceremony. They lived together. They were not married in the church ceremony.
Fernandito
Togonon, told me that when he met Coronacion, she was still young. He decided
to marry here. He did not lost time. He courted her. He courted her with strong obsession to make her his life's partner. “I
did not allow other men to court her. She belongs to me.” They lived together for life. They proved to
be true to each other, when they were fighting with the Japanese, when they
were members of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), when they were separated
after his capture, when they were reunited after her capture. They were together, when they were in prison in Muntinglupa.
She said: “After the 2nd World War,
I joined the PLA, a revolutionary
army to fight and liberate the people from oppression caused by feudalism, an
evil economic system headed by the elites that enslaved majority of the
peasants and farm workers in poverty.
“ The vast tracts of land, sources of life for the people were
owned and controlled by the rich and powerful few. We continued armed struggle
in the 50’s and 60’s were caused by witnessing the deep poverty of
the people and our
experiences of tyranny and abuses by military
personnel and the elites in the
countryside.”
I finished only Grade 11
due to poverty. My parents could not
send me to school.”
Coronacion Chiva was beautiful, intelligent, sharp, eloquent and
decisive. Through the movement, she learned and understood social, economic and
political views. She learned to understand and speak English.
She was a determined and formidable guerilla fighter committed to liberate her
oppressed and exploited people.
“I rose from the ranks
to become Commander of our unit
in the People’s Liberation Army. My unit, was operating in the hinterlands of
Panay Island, along the mountain ranges of Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan and Antique. We challenged the forces of the government for
years. The HUKS helped build the social, political and revolutionary
consciousness of the people in the mountains.”
With every death of a guerilla commander, Commander Walingwaling rose to higher
leadership in the rebel movement. She
waged fierce battles against the military. She led raids
and ambushes in different encounters. Commander Walingwaling became a byword, that stirred the the minds
of the peasants.
Coronacion Chiva said: “In the countrysides where out forces operate, thievery and robbery were minimized. Cattle rustling were stopped. Gambling and heavy drinking were reduced. The
people were organized for self-help. Feudalism
was being diminished, as land owners and their trusted persons stopped
going to the mountain villages to
collect rentals.”
A determined and fearless
fighter, Commander Walingwaling gained the respect, even of the military.
During the hottest part of the military campaigns in the mountains of
Panay, in the late 60’s , even when pregnant, she was in the hills leading her people’s army, fighting the
Philippine Army.
After their prison terms were
finished and freed, they decided to go
back to Calinog. The built their
home in Alibunan, a beautiful
place at the foot of the high mountains, where Jalaur River passes
down to the sea. They lived peaceful
lives. They were respected by the people of the municipality. They were called,
always to speak during coronations of the Beauty Queen of the village.
They plant rice, corn,
vegetables, banana, coffee and cacao. They raised chickens and ducks. The have
some goats. There eldest son, born while they were in prison was now in grade
school.
When Martial Law was declared by
President Marcos in September 21, 1972, Coronacion Chiva was arrested and
detained in a military stockade in Camp Delgado. She was
detained for 6 months together with student activists, peasants, workers and
some professionals. A Baptist Pastor, Rev. Delfin Dianala of Katipunan Baptist
Church in Tapaz, Capiz, then about 68 years old,
was also imprisoned.
In August 17, 1977, at the age of
51 Coronacion Chiva was assassinated in cold blood, and broad daylight while walking with some women
on their way home from their home from Calinog. They went to the market, where the
brought food supplies for their 4 children studying in the town.
Three soldiers who rode with them in the passenger jeepney crossed her path near the
river. They came to her with drawn guns. According to a fellow villagers, she was able
talk to the soldiers. “Mga Toto, ano man
ang sala ko?” (Sons, what was my fault?).
She was shot. Coronacion Chiva
fall on the riverbed. Two bullets pierced her breast. She died with her
unfulfilled dreams –the liberation of her people from tyranny, oppression,
injustice, feudalism and imperialism.
After her death, her husband,
Fernandito Togono, (Andres), decided to join the New People’s Army full
time in 1977. Why? He had no other
choice. The military would kill him. They raided his home during the
nights several times. He cannot remain anymore as a civilian and unarmed.
He joined the NPA even when he
was already 68 years old and have suffered stroke twice. His new task, was to revitalize the communist movement in Iloilo’s coastal villages. He
continued in this task for several years, until he died fighting the military.
When the Peace Talks, that was revived by President Rodrigo Duterte,
in early 2016, which for some times gone
on effectively in Oslo, Norway between
the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
We joined in
the call for its support, so the long
wars that have killed more than 50,000 people in in the Philippines since 1968 may be ended with peace, equality and justice
for all. But the Peace Talk was stopped by President Duterte.
Another unfortunate
event in our search of peace with
justice.
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