(From a former NPA Member to a Peacekeeper)
“Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” – George Santayana
Mayor Gabino Pangket Ganggangan was born on September 18, 1961 in Sadanga, Mountain Province. He spent his elementary days at Sadanga Elementary School in Sadanga, Mountain Province, and high school days at Saint Vincent High School in Bontoc, Mountain Province. He was then a typical high school student when he first noticed unusual activities in his community. Those observations, to him, was a turning point in his life that pulled him into the people’s struggle for autonomy. His curiosity back then was greatly stirred by the frequent gathering of village elders and leaders in their house. They often discussed the Chico River Dam issue with his father, the vice-mayor then, and an esteemed community leader. He recalls a mass mobilization of community elders in Bontoc in 1977. Community folks were questioning the government’s actions and being part of the community wherein he felt sympathy for the people.
After finishing high school, he joined mass gatherings as a spectator. Then, as he began listening to rallies of student activists, he recognized common ground with them when they spoke on the dam issue.
He spent his college at Saint Louis University (SLU), Baguio City, studying engineering. During his third year in college, he got involved in student activism. He graduated from SLU in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering, took the Civil Engineering board exam in the same year, and passed.
Gabino was an active youth leader that impressed Balweg, the highest officer of the National People’s Army (NPA), to recruit Gabino to join their group. Gabino admitted that he was not sold on the CPP-NPA teachings and was convinced about the issues, not the ideology. He also started to validate what he read about the ideology of the CPP-NPA, especially the teachings from the book, Philippine Society and Revolution, which he considered the bible of the CPP-NPA.
Having already joined the organization, Gabino learned many things happening inside the organization. Around the mid-1980s, some NPA members, especially those from the Cordillera, including Gabino, left the NPA because of its incompetence in pursuing its goals and later formed the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA) headed by Balweg. As a youth leader, Gabino became a member of the joint secretariat at the 1986 Mt. Data “Sipat“ (ceasefire) and actively participated in the ensuing Peace Negotiations that resulted in the issuance of EO220. The executive order created the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). He also pushed and led the Peace Negotiations, which resulted in the 2011 MOA entitled Closure Agreement. This agreement provided for the transformation of the Cordillera Peoples’ Liberation Army into an unarmed Peoples Organization.
In his four (4) term being the Municipal Mayor of Sadanga, one of his accomplishments as Mayor for peace promotion, conflict prevention, and development was his fight against insurgency, communism, and terrorism in which he initiated the following: Municipal Peace and Order Council (MPOC) resolutions and Sanggunian Bayan Ordinance: – MPOC Resolution No. 1, S. 2020; Declaring the Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance (CPA) and other Leftist groups Persona Non-Grata in the Municipality of Sadanga; MPOC Resolution No. 2, S. 2020: Reiterating the Stand of the Municipal Peace and Order Council in Declaring the Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance (CPA) and other Leftist Groups Persona Non-Grata in the Municipality of Sadanga; Municipal Ordinance No. 147, s. 2020 (The Ordinance shielding the people of the municipality of Sadanga against the menace of the CPP-NPA-NDF including the CPA and its Affiliate Organizations and Providing Penalties in Violation thereof). He was also the Signatory to the SP resolution No. 2020-182, which declared the CPP-NPA as Persona Non-Grata in Mountain Province. Also, he penned and posted thru social media (Facebook) exposés and essays to open conversations regarding the activities of legal organizations encouraging insurgency, terrorism, and the like.
On January 29, 2022, the people of Cordillera, especially in Mountain Province, were deeply saddened and shocked at the sudden death of Mayor Gabino, or Mayor “Gabi”. Many have described him as a friend, brother, father, warrior, a good man, and best leader.
Your peace and order legacies will live on, to everyone you have touched. May your soul grant eternal rest Apo Mayor.
Sources: Sadanga LGU & One Cordillera
