Patikul massacre

Memorial to AFP Brig. Gen. Teodulfo Bautista and his 34 men who were killed in Danag, Patikul, Sulu

Date	10 October 1977
Location	Patikul, Sulu, Philippines Coordinates: 6°03′47″N 121°06′08″E / 6.0630°N 121.1023°E / 6.0630; 121.1023
Result	Decisive MNLF victory

Belligerents

Philippine Army

Moro National Liberation Front

Commanders and leaders

Brig. Gen Teodulfo Bautista

Usman Sali aka. Osman Salleh

Units involved

1st Infantry Division

unknown

Strength

36 officers and men

150 men

Casualties and losses

35 killed

none

The Patikul massacre refers to an event that took place on 10 October 1977 in Patikul, Sulu province in the Philippines. Thirty-five officers and men of the Philippine Army were killed by elements of the Moro National Liberation Front under Usman Sali. Among the dead were Brigadier General Teodulfo Bautista, commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division, Adjutant General of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Col. Gabriel Pangilinan and four lieutenant colonels.

Usman Sali, the leader of a group of MNLF rebels, had earlier agreed to meet with Gen. Bautista at the headquarters of the 1st Infantry Division in Jolo for a peace dialogue. At the last minute, Sali changed his mind and proposed to meet Gen. Bautista at a public market in Barangay Danag, Patikul. Bautista agreed and on the way to Patikul, was accompanied by Col. Gabriel Pangilinan, his classmate at the Philippine Military Academy. Earlier, Bautista had invited Fidel V. Ramos, then Chief of the Philippine Constabulary to join him but the latter demurred due to a previous engagement in Zamboanga City.

When the General and his troops arrived at the market aboard two army trucks, the place was deserted. Sali was not there to meet Bautista, so the General and his men sat down at a table to await his arrival. At that point gunfire broke out and Bautista and his men were mowed down. The bodies were later found to have sustained hack wounds. All of the Army soldiers died, except for a sergeant, the group's radioman, who survived by playing dead.

Although some reports indicate that Usman Sali died during subsequent government operations, others state that he escaped to Sabah, Malaysia after the incident.

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Wikipedia