The NPA Arms Landing that Might have Changed the Course of the Marcos Regime

[Ayoshi]

See Also:
* Martial Law Anniversary (1972)
* The legacy of Martial Law

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How one ship might have changed the course of the Marcos Regime
Dec 11 2018

Editor’s note: Jose Maria Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New Peoples’ Army, asked for arms and monetary support from China’s communist Chairman Mao Tse-Tung. Famed geologist and left-wing revolutionary Rolando Peña navigated the MV Karagatan, a wooden-hulled boat consigned to carry arms from Fukien to the Philippines in 1972. The arms landing was intercepted by the Philippine military. A second arms landing was undertaken in 1974, this time aboard a ship called the MV Andrea. Peña was aboard the ship when it hit the Pratas reef near Hong Kong and Taiwan, and a series of almost comical misfortunes befell the beleaguered crew. Below is his account of events as they unfolded.

(Rolando Peña, arguably the country’s most important geologist and a key figure in the Communist movement against Ferdinand Marcos, passed away on November 30, 2018.)

We were on a boat towards the Asian Mainland, this reef on the South China Sea. There were strong winds, and gray skies. The captain got seasick on the second day, and we were left on our own to steer the boat to its destination, but were told especially not to touch the reefs. But there seemed to be a siren song borne by the winds that blew us smack into the Pratas reef, 170 nautical miles southeast of Hong Kong. Only a siren song—no sirens. Ulysses would have been disappointed. This jolt engineered by the gods was probably meant to cure the captain of his seasickness because he was suddenly up and about.

We were advised not to touch the reefs. Especially not the [Pratas] reef, a dot on the map! The boat was tilted precariously on the edge of the reef—we could hardly walk fore and aft, starboard and port.

As fate would have it, a scavenger ship from Hong Kong came by to get steel plates from a big wreck on Pratas reef. So, we were installed in a corner of the Falcon while the Hong Kong crew cut the steel plates away. One day, as they cut away with an acetylene torch, they ignited a fuel container and a gust of wind set a fire whirling through the hull. We all scampered to safety. When the fire subsided, a few of us went aboard to check our things. But another gust of wind set off corridors of fire. I ran across and hid in what used to be a bathroom. When the wind died down, we all fled back to safety. No injury, but I lost my eyelashes and I was spitting black mucus for a couple of days.

When the Hong Kong crew was nearing the end of their work, a ship appeared into view. There was a flash, and then a thud. They must be taking pictures. Then another flash, and another thud. They were firing cannons! As the Falcon neared, the ship started firing its machine guns. The Hong Kong crew panicked. As they tried to run for their lives, one or two got wounded. The incoming ship was the supply vessel of the Taiwanese Navy which has a base on the other side of the Pratas reef. They were doing target practice, so we were told to hoist a white sheet aboard the Falcon to let them know that there were civilian people in the wreck. The incoming ship turned back and the engineer and interpreter of the Hong Kong ship went to the Taiwanese naval base to complain. On their return, they started packing up and told us to wait for them, as they would be coming back for us. As the sun went down, we took down a lifeboat and let the sea currents take us somewhere—maybe Vietnam. But the Hong Kong crew came back and we were taken to Hong Kong.

The story for us to tell was that we were adrift in the sea because our vessel sank and we were picked up by a rescue ship. We stayed in Victoria Detention Centre in Hong Kong for a few days and were later taken to mainland China as asylum seekers.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/12/11/18/how-one-ship-might-have-changed-the-course-of-the-marcos-regime

[Ayoshi]

The NPA arms landing that convinced Marcos to declare Martial Law

NPA fighters trekked through the Sierra Madre to Digoyo Point in Isabela where a grand arms landing was about to take place from aboard the MV Karagatan. Out of seeming nowhere, the Philippine military arrive to intercept their efforts. Rolando Peña writes about what happens next.
Dec 12 2018

https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/12/12/18/the-npa-arms-landing-that-convinced-marcos-to-declare-martial-law

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I-Witness: Pagbabalik sa Karagatan

GMA News
Aug 4, 2012
Howie Severino and his documentary team travel to the remote, roadless northern Sierra Madre to search for the MV Karagatan, the boat that would have changed the course of Philippine history. They are accompanied by Victor Corpus, the legendary NPA commander and military defector who led the rebel force that met the ship and was assigned to receive the arms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSqnXMnxW4Y


I-Witness: ‘Ang Pagbabalik sa Karagatan’ dokumentaryo ni Howie Severino

GMA Public Affairs
Feb 9, 2017
Aired: July 30, 2012

Sa ilalim ng karagatang Pasipiko, matatagpuan ang isang barko na sumimbolo sa naging sagupaan noon ng mga militar at mga rebelde sa pamumuno ni dating President Ferdinand Marcos. Kasama si Howie Severino, ating alamin ang naging kontribusyon ng barkong ito sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas.

Watch ‘I-Witness,’ every Saturdays on GMA Network. These GMA documentaries are hosted and presented by the most trusted broadcasters in the country like Kara David, Sandra Aguinaldo, Howie Severino, Jiggy Manicad, Chino Gaston, Jay Taruc, Cesar Apolinario, and Howie Severino

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjqx0IhCG9E

[Ayoshi]

https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/12/12/18/the-npa-arms-landing-that-convinced-marcos-to-declare-martial-law


A T-34 Mentor jet plane possibly confusing the captain of the MV Karagatan by circling around the trawler.
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The MV Karagatan hits a rock, damaging the hydraulic system and causing the boat to spin in circles.
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Arms carried by the MV Karagatan from Fukien are successfully intercepted; pictured here are then-head of the Philippine Constabulary Fidel V. Ramos and then-Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile.
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Juan Ponce Enrile surveys the intercepted arms landing—a haul that included automatic rifles, ammunition, bazookas, mortars, and anti-aircraft guns.

Photographs from Francis Karem Elazegui Neri via abs-cbn.com

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See also: OPFOR: Communist Movements