Satur Ocampo
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Satur C. Ocampo (born April 7, 1939) is a Filipino politician, journalist and writer. As a congressman for the Bayan Muna party, he has done work in Human Rights and other areas.
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[edit] Early life
Satur Ocampo was born in Sta. Rita, Pampanga to a family of landless tenant farmers. After studying at the Philippine College of Commerce, Manuel L. Quezon University and Lyceum of the Philippines University, by 1963 he was working as a full-time business journalist for the Manila Times. He was a vice-president of the National Press Club (NPC) from 1970 to 1972.
Ocampo was involved in politics from an early age. In 1964, he was a founding member of the student-youth organization Kabataang Makabayan (Patriotic Youth). Soon thereafter in 1967-68, he was in the National Council of the Movement for the Advancement of Nationalism (MAN). Upon the declaration of Martial Law, he was forced to go into hiding.
[edit] Martial Law
President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law on Sept. 21, 1972 and Ocampo, among others, went into hiding. In 1973, Ocampo co-founded the National Democratic Front, seeking to unite various anti-dictatorship forces.
In 1976, he was arrested and incarcerated as a political prisoner. For the next 9 years he was severely tortured in various prison camps. At one point, he shared a cell with detained Philippine Collegian editor-in-chief Abraham Sarmiento, Jr. Though tried by a military court for rebellion, he was never found guilty. In 1985, while on pass to vote at the National Press Club annual elections, he escaped from the soldiers guarding him and rejoined the underground revolutionary movement.
After the dictatorship fell in 1986, and President Corazon Aquino called for peace talks and Ocampo headed the NDF peace negotiating panel. When the talks collapsed due to the killing of 18 farmers at a rally near the Malacañang Palace on January 22, 1987, Ocampo returned to the underground.
In 1989, he was rearrested together with his wife, Carolina Malay. Three years later in 1992, a year after his wife was released, he was freed. Neither were found guilty of any crime.
[edit] Imprisonment on murder charges
Ocampo was forced once again to go into hiding for murder charges related to a Communist purge in 1984, with charges being brought shortly before the impending May 2007 election.[1] On March 16, 2007, Representative Ocampo was arrested. [2] Face-to-face interviews with Ocampo while he was in custody were forbidden, decided Manila Police District director, Senior Superintendent Danilo Abarzosa. This move, given the pending elections, was criticized.[3] On April 3, 2007 Ocampo was released by order of the Supreme Court on posting of Peso 100,000 bond. [4]
[edit] References
- ^ GMA NewsTV. Satur will emerge out of hiding in 3 days - lawyer.
- ^ Bulatlat. "`Death squad’ democracy: The Arrest of Satur Ocampo". Quezon City, Philippines. Vol. VII, No. 9. April 1- 7, 2007.
- ^ Philippine Inquirer. "Media group slams MPD media ban on Ocampo" 22 March 2007.
- ^ Philippine Inquirer. "SC orders release of Satur Ocampo - P100,000 cash bond set" 3 April 2007.
