SALVADOR "DOY" LAUREL
Lifted from Celia Diaz Laurel - Salvador H. Laurel Museum
21 July 2025
TRAGEDY IN DINALUPIHAN
By C.D. Bonoan
What started as a minor road accident spiraled into a tale of corruption, injustice, and murder in a small town in Bataan.
Parasio Tayag, a humble bus driver scraping by in Dinalupihan, was navigating the streets of barrio Luacan when his bus bumped a passenger jeepney. The damage was barely noticeable—a dent on the rear fender—but the local police chief, who happened to be a close friend of the jeepney owner, stepped in to investigate.
After a quick glance, the chief demanded three hundred pesos from Tayag to cover repairs. Tayag refused, insisting he wasn’t at fault. He argued that the jeepney driver wasn’t even licensed to drive. Despite his pleas, he reached into his pocket and offered all he had: ten pesos. The confrontation grew tense, but eventually the chief backed down and returned Tayag’s license without payment.
Just days later, the streets of Dinalupihan witnessed something far more chilling.
On the afternoon of May 22, 1966, witnesses saw Tayag running from the municipal building toward the town plaza, desperately trying to escape. Six policemen followed in pursuit. What followed was a volley of gun shots. By sundown, the chase ended with Tayag’s blood soaking the cobbled stones of the plaza. He had been shot multiple times— according to news reports: two bullets hit his legs, another pair tore through his back, lungs, and heart. Death was swift.
But the tragedy did not stop at Tayag’s murder.
His wife, Lucila, was left shattered. Pregnant and the mother of six young children, she collapsed under the weight of grief. The trauma robbed her not only of her unborn child but of her sanity. She was later confined to a mental institution, and her children were handed over to their grandparents.
Prosecuting the killers fell on the shoulders of the victims’ own children. But the odds were stacked against them. As lawyer Salvador “Doy” Laurel described, "It seemed absurd to expect five little children to prosecute their father's killers, especially since the policeman belonged to a religious sect that was powerful in the town." Predictably, pressure mounted for the case to be dropped.
Most lawyers might have walked away. But Laurel was no ordinary lawyer in his day.
Taking the case on behalf of the Citizen’s Legal Aid Committee (CLAC), he stood by the Tayag children from start to finish. Laurel personally handled the case through its preliminary investigation all the way to trial in Balanga. In court, he argued that Tayag’s death was an unnecessary act of violence. Six armed officers could easily have restrained one unarmed man.
Years later, Doy recounted his experience:
"I was counsel for the offended party; the Tayag children, orphaned when their father was killed, and the mother went mad. I argued that there was no need to gun Tayag down. Six policemen could have easily cornered one man. The trial was news because CLAC had come to the aid of five orphans who would otherwise have been helpless in securing justice… The case was given prominence in the Free Press Magazine and more people heard of CLAC."
Eventually, the court found the six policemen guilty.
The ripples of the trial went far beyond that verdict. In 1967, Doy Laurel founded the country’s first private legal aid group, the Citizens' Legal Aid Society of the Philippines (CLASP). Nearly a decade later, in 1976, the International Bar Association honored him as the world's most outstanding legal aid lawyer.
References:
1. Joaquin, Nick. Doy Laurel In Profile. Lahi, Inc. 2012
2. Berbano, Teodoro. “The CLAC in Action”. Graphic. June 14, 1966; “CLAC Winds Up Inquiry Into Driver’s Slaying”. The Manila Chronicle. June 1, 1966
3. Asa, Leon L., “Remembering the Late Former Vice President Dr. Salvador “Doy” H. Laurel”. The Lawyer’s Review. March 31, 2004
PLEASE CREDIT: Photo Courtesy Salvador H. Laurel Museum and Library
