Former Pampanga Governor and Congressman Jose B. Lingad became the first opposition politician killed during the martial law regime.




HISTORY FOR YOU
Former Pampanga Governor and Congressman Jose B. Lingad became the first opposition politician killed during the martial law regime.

A World War II veteran, guerilla fighter and local politician, Lingad already had a taste of Pampanga politics before the war as a councilor in his hometown in Lubao, Pampanga..  With the inauguration of the Third Republic, he joined the Liberal Party under President Manuel Roxas  and ran for governor of Pampanga.  He became known as a fierce fighter against the Huks during the post-war Huk Rebellion.  (Some newspapermen considered him a warlord with the private army he had use to fight the rebels).

Lingad's political career was derailed after he was implicated in the Maliwalu Massacre in 1951.  He was eventually cleared of responsibility of the killings but he lost in his bid for reelection.  He was appointed as an official in various government positions by his Lubao townmate, President Diosdado Macapagal before he ran again and won as congressman in the First District of Pampanga in 1969.  

He became a well-known opposition member to the Marcos Administration in Congress.
With the declaration of martial law in 1972, Lingad was arrested and jailed for four months - the only member of the House of Representatives arrested in the early days of martial law. After his release, he retired from politics and tended to his fishponds and poultry farm in Lubao while remaining in contact with the opposition led by the imprisoned Ninoy Aquino.
In 1980, he was asked by Ninoy to run for governor of Pampanga against Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza and unite the opposition in Central Luzon.  Lingad lost amidst accusations of massive electoral cheating.  

 He filed for the conduct of special elections for the town of San Fernando where he believed the swing votes could be taken for his victory.
On December 16, 1980, Lingad was driving along a deserted highway in St. Augustine, San Fernando when he noticed a pick-up truck tailing him. He stopped at a roadside store and was talking to the proprietress when the truck stopped nearby. A man got out, approached Lingad and shot him in the chest and head, killing him instantly.


Lingad's funeral was well-attended by members of the opposition and Kapampangans who mourned the death of their well-loved leader.  His assassin, said to be a PC soldier, was said to be have been killed in an accident in a military camp.

In 1995, Jose B. Lingad's name was included in the roster of martyrs at the Bantayog ng Mga Bayani in Quezon City.

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