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Satur Ocampo
PERSONAL INFORMATION - Full Name: Saturnino Cunanan Ocampo
- Nickname: Ka Satur
- Birthdate: April 7, 1939
- Birthplace: Sta. Rita, Pampanga
- Spouse: Carolina S. Malay, retired UP journalism professor
- Journalist turned communist leader turned congressman. Satur Ocampo, a Manila Times reporter and founding member of the radical group Kabataang Makabayan, went underground when the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972. He became one of the founders of the National Democratic Front (NDF) a year later. He was captured in 1976 and detained until 1985, when he escaped and rejoined the rebels. After the EDSA Revolution, he surfaced and headed the NDF peace negotiating panel. When the talks collapsed, he went underground again. In 1989, he was rearrested with his wife. After Ocampo was freed in 1992, he worked with people’s organizations and wrote columns and commentaries. In 1999, he became president of Bayan Muna, a party-list group formed by leftist legal organizations. Ocampo represented Bayan Muna in Congress when it topped the 2001 and 2004 party-list elections.
- Communist purge. The Arroyo administration and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have been accusing Ocampo and other leftist leaders of masterminding a purge of suspected military spies within the revolutionary movement in the 1980s. In August 2006, a mass grave was reportedly dug up at Sapang Daku, Caulisihan village in Inopacan, Leyte. The military claimed that the remains belonged to victims 1980s purge in the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). On March 5, 2007, months after the reported discovery of a mass grave in Leyte, a Hilongos, Leyte court issued arrest warrants against Ocampo, CPP founder Jose Maria Sison, NDF spokesperson Luis Jalandoni, and 50 others for 15 counts of murder. Ocampo, who was arrested on March 16, denied the charges, saying he was in detention when the purges occurred. He accused AFP chief Hermogenes Esperon, Jr of "recycling skeletons" to pin down leaders of the progressive movement. Esperon, in turn, denied Ocampo's accusation.
- Rebellion case. On February 27, 2006, three days after Arroyo declared a state of emergency, police filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) a rebellion complaint against Ocampo and fellow Bayan Muna Reps. Teddy Casiño and Joel Virador, Anakpawis Reps. Crispin Beltran and Rafael Mariano, and Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza, who were placed under the protective custody of the House to avoid being arrested. The next day, DOJ filed before the Makati Regional Trial Court a rebellion case against Beltran, who was arrested earlier, and Lt. Lawrence San Juan, a rebel soldier. In April 21, the DOJ filed an amended information to include the Batasan 5 and Gringo Honasan in the list of respondents, but Judge Jenny Lind R. Aldecoa-Delorino, in a May 4, 2006 resolution, dismissed the amended information. On May 8, 2006, Ocampo and the rest of Batasan 5 left the protective custody of the House. Four days later, the DOJ filed new rebellion charges against the party-list lawmakers, among others.
- Anti-Estrada leader. As president of Bayan Muna, he was a leading figure in the anti-Estrada movement. Along with other leaders of People Power 2, he was at the helm of the march to Malacañang on January 20, 2001 that forced Estrada to leave the Palace.
- Associate in Commerce, Philippine College of Commerce (undergraduate)
- Journalism, Lyceum of the Philippines, (undergraduate)
- High school, Sta. Rita Institute (1956)
- Elementary, Sta. Rita Institute (1952)
- Party-list Representative, Bayan Muna, 2001-2007
- Columnist, Philippine News and Features, Diario Uno, Pinoy Gazette and Sunstar Manila, 1995-1999
- Assistant business editor, The Manila Times, 1970-1972
- Business reporter, The Manila Times, 1964-1970
- Police reporter, The Manila Times, 1963-1964
- Editorial assistant, L.M. Rivera and Associates, 1960-1962
- President, Bayan Muna, 1999-present
- Founding member, National Democratic Front, 1973 Vice-president, National Press Club (NPC), 1970-72
- National Council Member, Movement for the Advancement of Nationalism (MAN), 1967-68
- Founding member, Kabataang Makabayan (Patriotic Youth), 1964
- 30 Most Outstanding Congressmen, 2002 and 2003
