{"id":5777,"date":"2024-04-04T23:27:06","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T15:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.350.org\/philippines\/?page_id=5777"},"modified":"2024-04-21T12:18:41","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T04:18:41","slug":"sintang-lakbay-prudente-ambush-site-at-altura","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/world.350.org\/philippines\/sintang-lakbay-prudente-ambush-site-at-altura\/","title":{"rendered":"Sintang Lakbay: Fearless Educator: Assassination attempts on PUP\u2019s Doc Prudente"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reginald Reginaldo and Renato Redentor Constantino\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nemesio Prudente remains a towering figure in Philippine education despite his passing\u00a0 in 2008. Friends and colleagues called him Doc, and so great has been his contribution\u00a0 to nation-building that he was inducted in the Bantayog ng mga Bayani [Pantheon of\u00a0 Heroes] on the very year of his death.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The memorial to Doc extolled the qualities of Prudente as teacher, mentor, patriot and\u00a0 humble Filipino; he \u201c<\/span>was that rare brand of educator and administrator who was able to <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>combine order with change, establishment and activism, and reform and revolution. He <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>was as tireless as the freshest activist in fighting for democracy in his country, <\/span>even as\u00a0 he led what would eventually become, under his administration, the country\u2019s largest state\u00a0 university.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Prudente was a tireless university president who \u201chounded Congress for a bigger PCC\u00a0 budget\u2026 built structures for the PCC Main Library, and for the engineering and mass\u00a0 communication colleges. He found space to hold the graduate school and the college of\u00a0 hotel and restaurant management. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Prudente, an educator, nationalist, and revolutionist stamp design by Ara Alejo<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prudente was appointed president of the Philippine College of Commerce (PCC) in 1962,\u00a0 a post he held up to 1972, when Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law and Prudente\u00a0 went into hiding. Doc was imprisoned when Marcos suspended the writ of habeas corpus\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

in 1971. He was eventually released, then went into hiding when Marcos instituted martial\u00a0 law in 1972. From the underground, Prudente \u201chelped build the resistance network\u00a0 against the dictatorship.\u201d He was eventually captured and detained in a number of military\u00a0 camps and safehouses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Doc was behind bars when the Marcos government collapsed. In 1986, after Prudente\u2019s\u00a0 release in the aftermath of the EDSA uprising, he was immediately reappointed by the\u00a0 new government to head the PCC, which would be renamed the Polytechnic University\u00a0 of the Philippines or PUP.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Nemesio Prudente portrait. Source: Bantayog ng mga Bayani<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The fall of the dictatorship meant new possibilities. Doc believed the new democratic\u00a0 government would continue to support human rights and Prudente became active once\u00a0 again in the public arena, leading, for instance, the Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban\u00a0 sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (SELDA) while serving as president of PUP.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the country would swiftly realize <\/span>the extrajudicial habits of the country\u2019s armed <\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>forces would prove to be among the most difficult to alter <\/span>despite the fall of Marcos in\u00a0 February 1986. <\/span>Labor leader Rolando Olalia<\/a> was slain by military elements in November <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>1986<\/span>, and several human rights lawyers were killed in July 1987, <\/span>j<\/span>ust two months before <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the murder of student leader Lean Alejandro<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

A broad coalition of civil liberty advocates condemned the killings while raising concerns\u00a0 that police and military were behind the attacks. This was the exact same period when\u00a0 Prudente survived two attempts on his life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Newspaper photo captions\u00a0 Dr. Nemesio Prudente and Fr. Edicio de la Tore leaves the Ipil Political Detention camp, where they had been detained under Marcos Sr.’s regime. Source: Bantayog ng mga Bayani<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

On 10 November 1987, Prudente had called for a meeting with Manila\u2019s then police chief,\u00a0 Brig. Gen. Alfredo Lim in the Sta. Ana home of Manila 6<\/span>th <\/span>District Rep. Pablo Ocampo, Jr on Lamayan Street. Accompanied by a driver and two associates, including PUP lawyer\u00a0 Atty. Alex Marteja, Prudente wanted to discuss armed raids conducted illegally in PUP\u00a0 after police stormed the university\u2019s Mabini campus and arrested 39 peasants who had\u00a0 sought refuge in the school from rightwing vigilante groups. Doc wished to directly discuss\u00a0 with Gen. Lim the importance of academic freedom and the sanctity of the university,\u00a0 which Prudente was prepared to uphold come what may.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When Lim failed to appear in Lamayan, Doc and his companions left the Lamayan\u00a0 residence to return to PUP. Around two minutes after leaving Ocampo\u2019s house, they were\u00a0 met by gunmen on Lambingan Bridge. <\/span>The ambush killed Atty. Marteja.<\/a> Prudente was <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>wounded in the arms and thigh but survived the attack. <\/span>His driver, Ramon Tacda, was\u00a0 seriously injured and, paralyzed, would die years later.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A second assassination attempt on Prudente took place in the underpass along Manila\u2019s\u00a0 railway track, below Magsaysay Bridge (since demolished) in Sta. Mesa, Manila on 30 June 1988. This time the ambush claimed more lives but Doc, severely wounded, survived the slay try yet again. Among those killed were Prudente\u2019s driver and bodyguard,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Filoteo Salazar and Alfredo de Guzman, and Emmanuel \u2018Butch\u2019 Guevarra, the brother of\u00a0 Dante Guevarra who would become PUP presiden from 2005-2011. Prudente\u2019s other\u00a0 bodyguards – Manuel Decena, Romulo Ranin, and Ernesto Gobres, also survived but his\u00a0 driver, Remegio Buenaflor, lost his right arm (Guevarra, 2019).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Three days later, Emmanuel Mendoza, a PUP professor, human rights advocate, and\u00a0 lawyer was also killedin the same area where Prudente was ambushed. In 1999, or 11\u00a0 years later, five policemen were convicted for the second ambush.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bantayog ng mga Bayani memorial recounts succintly the kind of person Prudente\u00a0 was: <\/span>\u201cDoc\u2019s courage, passion and ideals were no secret to PUP students, and many of <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>those who were students during his administration vow that these qualities are \u201cforever <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>embedded\u201d in them because of his sterling example.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDoc\u2019s writings include \u201cThe Revolutionists\u201d and the \u201cQuest for Justice,\u201d sharp <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>commentaries that help raise awareness and give insights about the gravity of the <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>problems besetting the Philippines.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEven as he grew older and sicker, Doc Prudente kept his life simple and his needs basic.<\/a> <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Knowing he was sick, he had left instructions on how he wanted to go. There was to be <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>no pomp, no ceremony, not even a wake. He wanted to be cremated wrapped in a mat,<\/span> not confined in a coffin. Honoring his request in spirit if not in form, when he died from <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>complications arising from [an] operation, his family had him cremated, wrapped in a\u00a0<\/span>shroud and [placed] in a cardboard box the day after he died. No wake was ever held. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Doc was 81.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Sintang Lakbay<\/a> is a historical walk and bike ride to promote inclusive mobility by facilitating active interaction with urban landscapes, restoring working-class memory in national history, and mobilizing public contributions to remembering through art and research. It is a collaborative project by The Polytechnic University of the Philippines, 350 Pilipinas, and the Constantino Foundation
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reginald Reginaldo and Renato Redentor Constantino\u00a0 Nemesio Prudente remains a towering figure in Philippine education despite his passing\u00a0 in 2008.…<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1187,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5777","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSintang Lakbay: Fearless Educator: Assassination attempts on PUP\u2019s Doc Prudente | 350 Pilipinas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.350.org\/philippines\/sintang-lakbay-prudente-ambush-site-at-altura\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sintang Lakbay: Fearless Educator: Assassination 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