Perchance forgotten but in 1985, Jose A. Santos, a diehard pro-Marcos publisher of the defunct Davao Star, was held by the armed unit of the communist rebels, the New People’s Army (NPA), for six hours until the family paid a token amount as ransom money for his release.
On September 10, 1985, the eve of the sixty-eighth birthday of President Ferdinand E. Marcos, at 4:00 p.m., Santes was held hostage by insurgents at his 34-hectare sugar cane plantation in sitio Balabag, Matti, Digos City. He and his companions were about to leave the farm when twelve NPA guerrillas flagged their vehicle, which was owned by Digos mayor Rogelio Barba. Four of his companions, including the driver, were released before twilight.
Santes, known for his verbal spats against then Davao City mayor Luis T. Santos, was accused of paying meager salaries to his farm hands and for ejecting tenants from his property.
News of the hostage promptly reached Jonathan, the scribe’s son who also managed the family paper, through his father’s buddies. He volunteered to negotiate for his safety and release.
Through intermediaries, a meeting was set between the hostage-takers and Jonathan who showed up under heavy rain in the appointed location. He arrived at the agreed place with the same driver who was earlier held hostage with his father.
After finding that nobody was still around, Jonathan told his driver to put on the vehicle’s light. Thirty minutes later a boy showed up holding a white cloth by the roadside, apparently signaling the arrival of the rebels. They were nearing the kid when two armed men appeared, followed by another eight minutes later. The band immediately asked if they had military escorts.
Later, two more rebels showed up and engaged Jonathan in a long conversation. Jonathan pleaded with them not to harm his father and asked that if there were issues needing resolution, these could be corrected without harming his father. The rebels retorted: ‘Your father is okay. We do not mistreat people.’ Less than an hour later, Santes was brought out by the guerrillas to the area where Jonathan and the driver were waiting.
After hearing the grievances and feeling at ease with each other, Jonathan produced an envelope with P3,000 inside, which the leader of the band accepted. He said the amount was a ‘contribution’ to their cause. In response, the rebel head said the money would not be for personal use but for the people. It was 10:05 p.m. when Santes was eventually released.
Interviewed later by the People’s Daily Forum and Davao Intermedia Guild, the aging journalist described his ordeal, saying that when he was confronted by the guerrillas, he told them that he was also defending the NPAs from being blamed for all the killings when some of these were committed by criminal elements.
The 67-year-old Santes, formerly from Cauayan, Negros Occidental, also related that the rebels demanded two things: (i) a stoppage of militarization and extrajudicial killings and (ii) abolition of ‘hamletting,’ an arbitrary form of herding of people, and military checkpoints.
In his interview by the Philippine News Agency (PNA), Santes was candid in saying the rebels scolded him, even calling him a loudmouth. Asked if he was not afraid of the rebel’s gun, his curt reply was: ‘Why should I be afraid? I am a Bataan March veteran. I am resigned to my fate should you harm me.’
In an unexpected frankness, the rebel leader told him that the reason he was abducted was that the NPA thought he had money as a sugarcane planter. But Santes was straightforward in saying: ‘I am not earning much from this farm. Besides, it is now in the name of my children.’ Fortunately, he was released unharmed.
