A Police Widow’s Tale of Loss and Strength

(In Remembrance of March 10, 1988: A Recount by Mrs. Paulina T. Serquiña, Widow of Police Corporal Warlito M. Serquiña)

“𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘥—𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘵𝘺. 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯—𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴, 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸, 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘴. 𝘔𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴. 𝘠𝘦𝘵, 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘺: 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳.

𝘏𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘔𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴: 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴—𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯. 𝘈𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘸, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘢𝘯 𝘕𝘪𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘴, 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.”

These are the heartfelt words of Mrs. Paulina T. Serquiña, widow of Police Corporal Warlito M. Serquiña, a local officer who fell in the line of duty while defending the San Nicolas Town Hall and Police Station on March 10, 1988.

During 1988, the armed conflict between government forces—comprising the Philippine military, Police Constabulary, and civilian volunteers—and the Communist Party of the Philippines’ New People’s Army (CPP/NPA) had escalated significantly. This period saw a series of violent NPA offensives, including ambushes, bombings, and assassinations, which caused widespread destruction and irreparable loss of life, impacting both combatants and civilians. Despite governmental efforts to restore stability and improve human rights, the ongoing insurgency added to the challenges faced by the country.

San Nicolas, Pangasinan, bore its share of this unrest. Police operations and encounters in the municipality—including in Sitio Puyao Barangay of Sta. Maria East—highlighted the local police’s determination to protect their community, fight for peace, and uphold the government’s efforts to end the insurgency.

On that Thursday, San Nicolas began like any other day. Town Hall employees attended to their tasks, while police officers carried out their duties at the station. However, shortly after lunch, gunshots erupted—followed by a torrent of rapid, deafening fire believed to have come from high-powered firearms. The chaos lasted approximately fifteen minutes, resembling the onset of a full-blown war, as rebels ambushed the police station and Town Hall. Witnesses described the rebels as clad in camouflage and military-style uniforms, surrounding the buildings and launching a coordinated assault.

The attack claimed the lives of three brave officers—Police Corporal Warlito M. Serquiña, Patrolman Rodolfo S. Baliling, and Patrolman Ruben M. Galvan—as well as two civilians, including Bantor Gulla, the municipal ambulance driver. An archived municipal record states:

“On March 10, 1988, during the administration of Mayor Johnico Serquiña and Vice Mayor Conrado B. Rodrigo, a group of New People’s Army members from nearby towns staged a surprise attack on San Nicolas, raiding the Town Hall and Police Station. The encounter resulted in the deaths of three policemen and two civilians, including the municipal ambulance driver.”

As we commemorate the 37th death anniversary of these fallen heroes, we reflect on their courage, sacrifice, and unwavering dedication to San Nicolas. Their deaths symbolize their love for this town, their valor in the face of danger, and their ultimate sacrifice—their very lives.

Their heroism was not confined to the battlefield but was evident in their steadfast commitment to service and protection, even against overwhelming odds during one of the nation’s darkest periods. Their sacrifice reminds us that true heroism is marked not just by words, but by selfless deeds that inspire future generations to uphold the values of duty, honor, and patriotism.

Let us honor their memory by offering prayers, preserving their stories, and living by the values they embodied—love for country, courage, and selflessness. In doing so, we ensure their sacrifices were not in vain. Their legacy lives on through the lives they protected and the municipality they defended so courageously.

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