Victor Corpus Death Cause – Victor Navarro Corpus (October 4, 1944 – April 4, 2024) was a Filipino military officer and public official best known for his 1970 defection from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to the New People’s Army of the Communist Party of the Philippines during Ferdinand Marcos’ authoritarian regime, his 1976 defection from the NPA, his return to the AFP after the 1986 People Power Revolution, and his later role as chief of the Intelligence Service of the A
He graduated from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in 1967 and was elevated to the rank of Brigadier General of the AFP in May 2003. He retired with that rank in October 2004 when he reached the retirement age.Corpus was born October 4, 1944, in San Pablo City, Laguna. His father was Col. Vicente Corpus from the AFP Medical Corps. He attended De La Salle University for elementary and high school before enrolling in the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in 1963, on his father’s insistence. Corpus finally graduated from PMA as a member of the “Dimasupil” class of 1967.Corpus joined the Philippine Army, where he got airborne and special forces training. He eventually joined the Philippine Constabulary. Disgruntled by corruption in the military forces, he accepted a position as an instructor at the PMA.
On December 29, 1970, Corpus formally defected to the New People’s Army and conducted a raid on the PMA armory. The raid took place when most cadets were on vacation for Christmas, and the PMA’s senior officials, including its Superintendent, General Ugalde, had left the camp to greet President Ferdinand Marcos when he arrived in neighboring Baguio City. Corpus, the PMA’s designated officer of the day (OOD), led the NPA raiding party, which escaped with Browning Automatic Rifles, carbines, machine guns, and a variety of other firearms and ammunition.
Dissatisfied with the Communist Party of the Philippines, Corpus opted to surrender to the government in 1976, spending the remainder of the Marcos administration in prison. After Marcos was toppled in the peaceful EDSA Revolution of 1986, President Corazon Aquino pardoned Corpus. Corpus was re-enlisted in the Philippine Armed Forces in 1987 and promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.On June 7, 1989, he presented his book, Silent War, at the Manila Polo Club, with then-National Defense Secretary Fidel V. Ramos in attendance.He was elevated to the rank of Brigadier General of the AFP in May 2003[4] and retired with that rank in October 2004, when he reached the retirement age. Corpus died on April 4, 2024, at the age of 79.