Ablan Day in Ilocos Norte Date in the current year: August 9, 2024

Roque Ablan, Sr. was born on August 9, 1906 in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. Upon graduating from the Ilocos Norte Provincial High School, he enrolled in the University of the Philippines. Ablan obtained a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1929 and took up law. The following year, he passed the bar exam. In 1931, Ablan married Manuela Ravelo. Their only child, Roque Ablan, Jr. was born on April 22, 1932; he would go on to become a politician like his father.

Ablan’s political career began in 1937, when he was elected governor of Ilocos Norte at age 31, making him the country’s youngest provincial executive. During his tenure, Ablan established the Philippine Normal School in Laoag and the Ilocos Norte provincial hospital. His concern for the welfare of provincial residents earned him their respect and admiration, and Ablan was re-elected for a second term in 1941.

In December 1941, two days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese troops landed in the neighboring province of Ilocos Sur. Shortly, part of the Japanese force moved towards Laoag. Alban refused to cooperate with the invaders and transferred the seat of provincial government to a small remote village at the border with Apayao to avoid arrest.

Ablan was the first provincial governor in the Philippines who openly chose resistance against the Japanese occupation and persuaded most of the provincial government members to join him. After leaving the capital, he started to organize a guerrilla unit with the help of other government officials and prominent citizens.

In January 1942, Ablan and Lieutenant Feliciano Madamba, an intelligence officer in the United States Army Forces in the Far East, organized the Ablan-Madamba Guerrilla Group of Northern Luzon. A couple of weeks later, the new guerrilla unit successfully ambushed a Japanese detachment and killed about 60 Japanese soldiers.

Ablan divided the province into several sectors, each of which was assigned a guerrilla leader, established an intelligence section, and set up a runner-relay system to send orders and disseminate news between towns and guerrilla camps. His guerrillas successfully attacked Japanese camps, although sometimes they suffered heavy losses.

On November 8, 1942, Ablan left for Cagayan to confer with Governor Marcelo Adduru, but he never came back to his native province or saw his family again. His last reported location was in Piddig, where he had another encounter with the Japanese in early 1943. To this day, it is unknown how he died. It is most likely that Ablan was killed in a skirmish with the Japanese or was captured, imprisoned, and subsequently executed.

The birth anniversary of Roque Ablan, Sr. was designated as as a special non-working holiday in Ilocos Norte to recognize his service to the province and country. Special events and activities held on the occasion of Ablan Day include a wreath-laying ceremony at the Ablan Museum in Laoag, solemn speeches, a 21-gun salute performed by the police, fairs, blood drives, and more.