Gallery of Heroes and Martyrs

Rhyme "Ka Reming" Petalcorin

Rhyme "Ka Reming" Petalcorin hailed from Barrio Mainit, Nabunturan, Davao del Norte (which is now a part of Compostela Valley). He was tall, dashing and good-looking. "Ruggedly handsome" was how they called him then. He was an excellent guitarist. He liked to wear berets. He cut an iconic Che Guevara-like figure.

Ka Reming came from a landlord family. He dropped out in his first year in a Catholic college in Nabunturan. He attended school intermittently because he was a happy-go-lucky fellow. But he became a serious person when he came into contact with the revolutionary movement and was recruited.

He was among the first batch of recruits from Davao del Norte in 1973. His recruiters were FQS activists who had recently joined the New People's Army.

The comrades first assigned him to do activist work in his home village of Mainit for almost a year. He would accompany Red fighters in conducting expansion work, social investigation and other tasks.

When he became a fulltime NPA guerrilla, he led a team that conducted breakthrough expansion work, connecting Davao del Norte to Davao Oriental. His team worked its way from Mainit in Nabunturan to the mountainous areas of New Bataan all the way to Calatagan in Lupon, Davao Oriental in a matter of months. They crossed the Sumlog River, one of the Lupon's major rivers. Ka Reming became well-known for his speed and expertise in conducting expansion work.

After regrouping with his unit in Mainit, he led another expansion team, this time towards Compostela valley, working mainly in the banana plantations in this area. With his deep knowledge of the places where he conducted breakthrough expansion work, he accompanied consolidation teams and served as their guide in 1974.

In 1975, he joined an Armed Propaganda Unit which was composed of an oversized squad operating in the Nabunturan-Compostela-New Bataan area.

Aside from his expertise in expansion work, Ka Reming integrated well with the masses. He got along well with them, whether they were Lumad or Visayan settlers. He was also good at acupuncture and herbal medicine.

He also became famous as a revolutionary composer. He composed many revolutionary songs from the time he was an activist. He would use popular melodies and compose new lyrics for them. Among his compositions were "Buhay ng NPA" (sung to the tune of "Buhay Siklista"); "Ang Bahandi sa Nasud ta Karon" (sung to the tune of Historia de un Amor); "Alimakoy" (sung to the tune of an old Visayan song); "Amado Guerrero"; "Rebolusyon ang Uso sa Ngayon"; "Jingjing pala jingjing" and many others. He composed around 50 songs. The masses and the comrades liked his songs so much and his compositions helped in the Red army's expansion work.

He was martyred in the last quarter of 1975 when his unit which was then based in Mainit was raided. The raiding party was led by no less than his uncle (surnamed Bugas), a rabid ICHDF element who owed many blood debts to the masses and the revolution. When his unit was surrounded, he opted to stay behind to pin down the enemy and enable the other comrades to withdraw safely. His only weapon was a carbine. He was only in his twenties when he was martyred.

Ka Reming's areas of operation in Compostela Valley is known as Front 27. The NPA command operating in this guerrilla front has been named the Rhyme Petalcorin Command in his honor.


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