{{Short description|Group of abducted Filipino activists}} {{Use Philippine English|date=April 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}} The '''Southern Tagalog 10''' was a group of activists abducted and "disappeared" in 1977 during martial law in the Philippines under Proclamation No. 1081 issued by President Ferdinand E. Marcos. Of the 10 university students and professors who were abducted, only three, Virgilio Silva, Salvador Panganiban, and Modesto Sison, "surfaced" later after being killed by suspected agents of the state.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://seldapilipinas.wordpress.com/tag/southern-tagalog-10/|title=Southern Tagalog 10 {{!}}|website=Samahan ng mga Ex-detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto|language=en|access-date=March 31, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Olea 2018">{{Cite news|url=http://bulatlat.com/main/2008/09/20/the-cruelty-of-enforced-disappearances-an-abhorrent-crime-against-humanity/|title=The Cruelty of Enforced Disappearances: An Abhorrent Crime Against Humanity|last=Olea|first=Ronalyn|date=September 20, 2008|work=Bulatlat|access-date=April 2, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> Two of those who surfaced were apparently summarily executed.<ref name="Faustino 2018">{{Cite web|url=https://www.afad-online.org/voice/april_03/nf_no_closure.htm|title=No Closure 'til Justice is Achieved|last=Faustino|first=Joey|date=April 2003|website=AFAD - Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances|access-date=March 31, 2018}}</ref> The rest were never found.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://seldapilipinas.wordpress.com/tag/southern-tagalog-10/|title=Southern Tagalog 10 {{!}}|date=October 22, 2012|website=SELDA|language=en|access-date=April 2, 2018}}</ref>

== Background == The victims, most of them in their early twenties,<ref name="Faustino 2018" /> all belonged to a network of community organizations in the Southern Tagalog region.<ref name="Ilagan 2018" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2002/12/10/the-presidents-day-december-10-2002/|title=The President’s Day: December 10, 2002 {{!}} GOVPH|work=Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines|access-date=March 31, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> They were abducted in late July 1977 at the Makati Medical Center in Metro Manila.<ref name="Bulatlat">{{Cite news|url=http://bulatlat.com/main/2008/09/20/the-cruelty-of-enforced-disappearances-an-abhorrent-crime-against-humanity/|title=The Cruelty of Enforced Disappearances: An Abhorrent Crime Against Humanity - Bulatlat|date=September 20, 2008|work=Bulatlat|access-date=April 2, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>

The incident is believed to be the single biggest case of involuntary disappearance during martial law.<ref name="Olea 2018" /><ref name="Ilagan 2018">{{Cite news|url=http://www.manilatoday.net/resonance-the-southern-tagalog-10/|title=Resonance: The Southern Tagalog 10|last=Ilagan|first=Bonifacio|date=December 6, 2016|work=Manila Today|access-date=March 31, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/931895/martial-law-victims-find-no-justice-in-moving-on|title=Martial law victims find no justice in ‘moving on’|last=Enano|first=Jhesset O.|date=September 20, 2017|work=Inquirer|access-date=March 31, 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tinigngplaridel.net/features/2016/ground-zero-remembering-truths-of-a-past-forgone/|title=Ground zero: Remembering truths of a past forgone|last=Boado|first=Krysten Mariann|date=November 11, 2016|website=Tinig ng Plaridel|language=en-US|access-date=March 31, 2018}}</ref> Bonifacio Ilagan, brother of one of the victims and vice chair of Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (an organization that works for the welfare of political detainees),<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://seldapilipinas.wordpress.com/about/|title=About SELDA|date=July 11, 2010|work=Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto|access-date=March 31, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> described the abduction as "the single biggest case of involuntary disappearance and summary execution perpetrated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the entire history of the Marcos martial law in the Philippines."<ref name="Ilagan 2018" />

== Members == The ten individuals known as the Southern Tagalog 10 are:<ref name="Bulatlat"/> *Cristina Catalla *Gerardo "Gerry" Faustino * Rizalina Ilagan * Ramon Jasul * Salvador Panganiban *Jessica Sales * Emmanuel Salvacruz * Virgilio Silva * Modesto “Bong” Sison * Erwin de la Torre

The names of Catalla, Faustino, Rizalina Ilagan, Jasul, Sales, and Sison are included on the Bantayog ng mga Bayani's Wall of Remembrance for martyrs and heroes of martial law.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ang Mamatay nang Dahil sa 'Yo: Heroes and Martys of the Filipino People in the Struggle Against Dictatorship 1972-1986 (Volume 1)|last=Malay and Rodriguez|publisher=National Historical Commission of the Philippines|year=2015|isbn=9789715382700|location=Manila, Philippines}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bantayog.org/martyrs-heroes/|title=Martyrs and Heroes|website=Bantayog ng mga Bayani|access-date=March 31, 2018}}</ref>

== In popular culture == The play ''Pagsambang Bayan (People’s Worship),'' written by Bonifacio Ilagan, is dedicated to the members of the Southern Tagalog 10. It was first staged in September 1977 at the University of the Philippines (U.P.) by the U.P. Repertory Company under the direction of Behn Cervantes.<ref name="Ilagan 2018" /> Its staging led to the arrest of Cervantes and the play's musical director.<ref name="Amadís Ma 2018">{{Cite news|url=http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/268175/landmark-martial-law-play-pagsambang-bayan-now-musical/|title=Landmark martial law play ‘Pagsambang Bayan’ now a musical|last=Amadís Ma.|first=Guerrero|date=July 15, 2017|work=Inquirer|access-date=May 6, 2018|language=en}}</ref> The play won the Palihang Aurelio V. Tolentino and has since been performed hundreds of times.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/239853/14-essential-plays-on-martial-law/|title=14 essential plays on Martial Law|last=Dennis N.|first=Marasigan|date=October 8, 2016|work=Inquirer|access-date=May 6, 2018|language=en}}</ref> The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) cites the play as a "major work in Philippine theater."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://philippinereporter.com/2017/10/27/powerful-play-tackles-martial-law-and-ejk/|title=Powerful play tackles martial law and EJK|last=Astorga-Garcia|first=Mila|date=October 27, 2017|website=The Philippine Reporter|language=en-US|access-date=May 6, 2018}}</ref> A musical version of the play was staged in 2017 by director Joel Lamangan at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and the CCP.<ref name="Amadís Ma 2018" />

On television, actress Bianca Umali played Rizalina Ilagan in the GMA Network docudrama ''Alaala: A Martial Law Special,'' which first aired on September 17, 2017.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://cnnphilippines.com/life/entertainment/television/2017/09/25/alaala-adolfo-alix-alden-richards.html|title=How Alden Richards became the face of a martial law documentary|last=Cabato|first=Regine|date=September 25, 2017|work=CNN|access-date=May 6, 2018|language=en|archive-date=May 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505001817/http://cnnphilippines.com/life/entertainment/television/2017/09/25/alaala-adolfo-alix-alden-richards.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/entertainment/showbiznews/news/33987/look-alden-richards-rocco-nacino-and-bianca-umali-umani-ng-papuri-para-sa-docu-drama-na-alaala/story|title=Look: Alden Richards, Rocco Nacino, and Bianca Umali, umani ng papuri para sa docu-drama na 'Alaala'|last=Ilaya|first=Felix|date=September 18, 2017|website=GMA Network|access-date=May 6, 2018}}</ref>

== See also == * Bantayog ng mga Bayani

== References == {{reflist}}

Category:Southern Tagalog 10 Category:Enforced disappearances in the Philippines Category:Presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Category:History of the Philippines (1965–1986) Category:Martial law under Ferdinand Marcos Category:Marcos martial law victims Category:Political repression in the Philippines Category:University of the Philippines Los Baños people honored at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Category:Manila during the Marcos dictatorship Category:1977 in the Philippines