FAILED REBEL ARMS SHIPMENTS IN THE PHILIPPINES

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

Unknown to many Filipinos, rebel forces and even the burgeoning First Philippine Republic, also called the Malolos Republic, engaged in failed arms smuggling to bolster their forces, but they had failed. Because of their inability to procure arms, their revolutionary efforts did not generate steam to defeat enemies. Two failed arms shipments are prominently mentioned: the 1899 arms shipments from Japan to help the Filipino revolutionary forces fighting the invading American forces; and the 1972 MV Karagatan episode where arms shipments from China were stopped by state troopers.

In the book “Mariano Ponce y Collantes: Dangal ng Lahing Pilipino,” which was edited by historian Jaime Balcos Veneracion, former chair of the UP Department of History, historian Resil Mojares wrote Mariano Ponce, whom Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, president of the First Philippine Republic, named as Philippine ambassador to Japan, quietly worked with Japanese right-wing activists for some arrangements so that he could smuggle arms shipments to the Philippines.

A few notes about Mariano Ponce: He was one of the three pillars of the pivotal Propaganda Movement in Spain, the other two were Marcelo H. el Pilar and Dr. Jose P. Rizal. He went to Spain in 1887 to complete his medical studies. He became a medical doctor two years later but not without becoming part of the Comite de Propaganda, which spearheaded the Propaganda Movement in Spain.

He worked with del Plar and Rizal in the La Solidaridad, the newspaper that contained ideas of the reform movement that sought greater latitudes of Filipinos and the Philippines as a Spanish colony. He was with del Pilar from 1887 until he died and the newspaper closed shop in 1895 for lack of funds.

Mariano Ponce moved to Hong Kong in 1896, when the war for independence against Spain was raging. He led in the creation of the Comite de Central de Filipino, or the Hong Kong Junta composed of overseas Filipinos, who worked to collect funds for the revolutionary forces and seek recognition for the about to be formed revolutionary government.

Mariano Ponce announced the death of Jose Rizal by issuing a press statement that contained his poem “Mi Ultimo Pensamiento.” He was Aguinaldo’s secretary in Hong Kong when Aguinaldo and his fellow revolutionaries went on exile there in 1897 as a condition for the cessation of hostiities under the Pact of Biak na Bato. Aguinaldo returned to the Philippines on May 17, 1898.

The Hong Kong Junta assigned Mariano Ponce to Japan mainly to get support from the Japanese government. On June 29, 1898 he landed in the port city of Yokohama, where he established his base. Dr. Mariano Ponce was an avid letter writer and he made friends with many revolutionaries, including those leading leaders of the revolutions in Puerto Rico and Cuba. He wrote them letters and had healthy correspondence with them.

Dr. Mariano Ponce had befriended many Japanese leaders, including those in the right-wing fringes. But the most outstanding friendship he made was with Dr. Sun Yat-sen, reputedly the father of modern China and president of the first Chinese Republic. It was Sun who helped him in the arms smuggling to the Philippines, as the latter gave him the Japanese contacts.

According to Mojares, Dr. Sun Yat sen introduced Dr. Mariano Ponce to two former Japanese samurai – Toten Miyazaki and Shu Hirayama – to build up a network to help the Fiolipino revolutionaries. Ponce also met Japanese intellectuals, who were advocates on the Pan-Asiatic movements there. They included Inukai Ki, who networked with Haizan Nakamura, a member of the Japanese Diet, who eventually made arrangements for the arm shipment to the Philippines.

Together with his Japanese contacts, Dr. Ponce bought a tugboat – Nunobiki Maru, for use in the arms smuggling. On July 19, 1899, the tugboat sailed from Japan en route to the Philippines bringing 10,000 Murata rifles, six million bullets, six machine guns and some pieces of artillery and three Japanese volunteers, who would teach Filipino revolutionaries on their use.

The tugboat sank after it encountered a storm near Saddle Islands, 100 miles from Shanghai in China. The sinking of the tugboat disheartened Dr. Ponce and the Japanese supporters and the arms smuggling project was immediately stopped.

Dr. Ponce offered to resign to the Hong Kong Junta but it was not accepted. Dr. Sun calmed him down saying “it was all part of the revolution.” Relentless and committed, Dr. Ponce planned to smuggle arms to the Philippines anew in January 1900.

But it did not materialize after one of the Japanese contacts – Nakamura – was said to have pocketed the money. It created ripples among the Japanese supporters because they were firm adherents of honesty and transparency in their networking activity.

It was on the 4th of July 1972, when Tony Gomez, a logger and businessman, spotted a ship anchored opn the coast of Palanan in Isabela. Riding in a light plane, Gomez noticed men unloading cargoes in small boats and boxes along the beach. He reported it to the Philippine Constabulary provincial command and a contingent of constables including LT. Edgardo Aglipay, who rose to become PNP chief, was among the small team.

The PC team searched for the ship and they could it moored in Digoyo Point in Isabela. When they boarded the vessel, they were fired by rebels of the New People’s Army (NPA), military arm of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines. The ship was later untowed and a raging typhoon threw it out into the open ocean. Aglipay and his men had to stay three days in the open sea.

The ship was later identified MV Karagatan. It brought crates of arms shipments from China and ammunition mainly to sustain the revolution against the Marcos government. Aglipay and his team survived the ordeal and returned to their bases, where they planned with the Army an attack to the rebel forces who hid in the jungles of Isabela.

The state troopers attacked and in the ensuing gun battle that lasted for days, the rebels retreated leaving behind the arms shipment. Government troopers initial;ly recovered more than 100 M-14 rifles and ammunition. Further operations led to the capture of more than 500 M-14 and Garand rifles firming beliefs that the arms shipment could be sizable.

Marcos played up the MV Karagatan failed arms smuggling in mass media. It served as one of the bases for the September 21, 1972 declaration of martial law. In his book, Gaston Ortigas identified the owner as MV Karagatan – the family of Allan Jazmines, who is now believed to be one of the members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Because of the MV Karagatan failed arms smuggling, the Chinese Communist Party had rejected overtures for another arms shipment. Netizen Dick Malay has narrated this story in one of his posts in this social networking site.