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 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 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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Part of the series The Ministry Years (chapter 26 of 48)
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