Col. Fabian M. Sanchez, Cebuano war hero

(Part 1)

When the country was overrun by the Japanese Imperial Army in 1942, the government was on its knees and Filipino collaborators welcomed the invaders with open arms. But there were those who refused to surrender and chose to fight a war others thought impossible to win.

In Cebu, the birthplace of warriors and patriots, there were those armed only with courage and crude weapons who chose to stand up, these were the men of the Cebu Area Command. One of such heroes was Fabian M. Sanchez, son of Marcos Sanchez of Mandaue, Cebu, born January 20, 1910. The war exploits and heroism of Col. Sanchez, commanding officer of the Northeast Cebu Sector and chief of civil affairs, are so vast that it needs volumes of books to narrate what he has contributed to the cause of freedom.

Among his many heroic acts are leading the ambush in November in Jagubiao, Consolacion which resulted in 11 Japanese killed. Attacking the Danao garrison on February 1943 with the help of Capt. Enrique “Eking” Malazarte, and ambushing the Japanese in Catmonda-an on May 4, 1943.

Col. Sanchez organized the Ladies Loyalty Leagues that provided food to Tabunan (the headquarters of the Cebu Area Command). With him were Decoroso Rosales (who after the war became a congressman, senator, and delegate of the 1971 Constitutional Convention) and Governor Hilario Abellana (who was executed by the Japanese on January 1945. The Abellana National School is named after him).

Col. Manuel Segura narrated in his book, “Tabunan, The Untold Exploits of the Famed Cebu Guerillas in World War II” the account of the Battle of Guila-guila (Barrio of Bagalnga, Compostela) which Col. Sanchez planned. It resulted in 232 enemy soldiers killed and an undetermined number wounded. The civilians in the town of Compostela counted nine truckloads of Japanese dead. The cargo trucks were as big as the six-by-six trucks of the Americans and could easily accommodate 60 bodies, thus the report of Col. Sanchez could be conservative and there was more to the enemy body count.

Col. Sanchez studied at the Philippine Nautical School (renamed as the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy). He took the Third Mate Examination and was commissioned as a third lieutenant with the Philippine Army on the condition that he will be transferred to the Offshore Patrol (now the Philippine Navy). (To be continued)