A Black Bloody Sunday in Patiacan Elementary School

Teachers are often the unsung heroes of our society as they toil quietly day-to-day giving life lessons and teaching academic skills to our students. Peace is one of the concepts teachers want their students to learn but this has been hindered by real life experiences which show how complex it is to achieve peace – even in one’s own surroundings.

On October 16, 2017, a Sunday, at around 3PM, the Math teachers of Patiacan Elementary School, which is located in a far-flung area where the borders of three provinces meet – Ilocos Sur, Mountain Province and Abra – were giving review lessons to their students, in preparation for the Math Festival of their district, Quirino, Ilocos Sur.

Simultaneously, the school’s basketball team was also practicing in preparation for the Inter-Barangay League, so they invited the soldiers of the army detachment in their barangay to train the youth players, which the soldiers willingly did. So the scenario was, the youth basketball team was playing basketball outside with the Army soldiers, while the Math teachers were reviewing their students in the classroom.
That’s when tragedy struck.

Unidentified armed men suddenly descended on the school launched an attack. One army soldier was shot dead, one was severely wounded and one civilian was slightly injured by a shrapnel. The soldiers did not fight back because they knew that the school was considered a peace zone – where no fighting is allowed.

The teachers quietly signalled their students not to make any noise and they remained in hiding inside the classrooms, while they listened to the gunfire outside. Obviously, they were afraid and fearful that the unknown attackers would know that they were there and train the guns on them, unarmed teachers, students and some civilians who ran for cover.

The trauma and the impact that incident was immense and up to now, the students and teachers remember that day with fear and dread, knowing how they barely escaped death. It was a good thing, that their teachers, were quick in thinking on what to do and did not panic when the incident occurred.

The next day, the policemen from the poblacion came to the school to investigate what happened. They had an inkling it could be the NPA who attacked the school but that conclusion could not be confirmed.

The students and the teachers feel sad for the soldier who died and the one soldier and one civilian who were wounded. It is unconscionable how such violence can happen in a peace zone like a school.

To the unknown perpetrators of that attack, your actions are unacceptable because the consequences of what you did, especially if teachers and schoolchildren were killed, will be blood in your hands, and your organization or whoever you are – will have to live with that embedded in your consciences forever.

In solidarity with our community, we, the teachers and pupils of Patiacan Elementary School condemn the cowardly act and wish that it should never happen again.