Victor Corpus | |
|---|---|
_-_Flickr.jpg) Corpus in 2008 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Victor Navarro Corpus (1944-10-04)October 4, 1944 |
| Died | April 4, 2024(2024-04-04) (aged 79) |
| Alma mater | Philippine Military Academy |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Philippines New People's Army |
| Branch/service | Philippine Army (GRP) |
| Years of service | 1967–1970; 1987–2004 (PA) 1970–1976 (NPA) |
| Rank |  Brigadier General (PA) |
| Commands | Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines |
Victor Navarro Corpus (October 4, 1944 – April 4, 2024) was a Filipino military officer and public official best known for his 1970 defection from theArmed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to theNew People's Army of theCommunist Party of the Philippines during theauthoritarian regime ofFerdinand Marcos,[1][2] for his defection from the NPA in 1976, his return to the AFP after the 1986People Power Revolution,[3] and his later role as chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).
A member of thePhilippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1967, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General of the AFP in May 2003,[4] and retired with that rank when he reached retirement age in October 2004.[5][6]
Corpus was born on October 4, 1944, inSan Pablo,Laguna. His father was Col. Vicente Corpus of the AFP Medical Corps. He took his elementary and high school studies at De La Salle University, and then on his father's insistence, entered thePhilippine Military Academy (PMA) in 1963.[7] Corpus eventually graduated from PMA as part of the "Dimasupil" class of 1967.[7]
Corpus entered thePhilippine Army, where he received Airborne and Special Forces training. He later transferred to the Philippine Constabulary. Disgruntled by corruption in the armed forces, he opted for an assignment as instructor at the PMA.[7]
On December 29, 1970,[8] Corpus formally defected to theNew People's Army (NPA) and led a raid on the PMA armory. Timing the raid when most cadets were out on Christmas vacation and the PMA's senior officers including its Superintendent, General Ugalde had left the camp to meet PresidentFerdinand Marcos upon his scheduled arrival in nearbyBaguio.[9]
Corpus, who was PMA's designated officer of the day (OOD), guided the NPA raiding team which managed to escape with Browning automatic rifles, carbines, machine guns, and various other weapons and ammunition.[10]
Corpus oversaw the failed operations of the New People's Army to receive armaments from China in 1972. The Philippine military intercepted the weapons loaded into the ship MVKaragatan along the coast ofPalanan,Isabela.[11]
Disgruntled with theCommunist Party of the Philippines, Corpus decided to surrender to government in July 14, 1976,[8][9] due to disillusionment over the organization citing the 1971Plaza Miranda bombing which the NPA is alleged to have a role in committing.[11] He would spend the rest of theMarcos dictatorship in prison. After Marcos was deposed in the peaceful 1986EDSA Revolution, Corpus was granted clemency by PresidentCorazon Aquino.
During theGod Save the Queen Plot against PresidentCorazon Aquino in November 1986, theReform the Armed Forces Movement's chief propagandist, Captain Rex Robles, leaked to the media a letter from Corpus, in which he claimed to have witnessed the CPP leadership planning thePlaza Miranda bombing in 1971, which prompted him to surrender to the government. He later reported the plot toPhilippine Constabulary chiefRenato de Villa, which led to its unraveling.[12]
In 1987, Corpus was reinstated into the Armed Forces of the Philippines, with a rank of Lieutenant Colonel.[9] On June 7, 1989, he launched his book titledSilent War at theManila Polo Club, with then-National Defense SecretaryFidel V. Ramos in attendance.[13] He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General of the AFP in May 2003,[4] and retired with that rank in October 2004.[5][6] He retired four years beyond than the mandatory retirement age of 56 due to a special arrangement with the administration of PresidentGloria Macapagal Arroyo.[8]
Corpus died on 4 April 2024, at the age of 79.[14]
Gringo Honasan, a formerPhilippine Army officer who had ledvarious coup attempts against theCorazon Aquino administration in the 1980s, was a student of Corpus in political science at the PMA, and once stated that "[Corpus] was, in fact, our class advisor. Most of the radical thinking of our class was his influence."[15]
A biographical film about Corpus titledOperation: Get Victor Corpus, the Rebel Soldier was released in January 1987, where he is portrayed byRudy Fernandez; it was later offered for international distributors at the1987 Cannes Film Festival film market in May.[16]