Country Philippines Type Infantry | Branch Philippine Army | |
 | ||
Active May 05, 1936 - April 09, 1942 (as 1st Regular Division, PCA)
May 07, 1942 - June 30, 1946 (as 1st Infantry Division, PCA)
July 01, 1947 - present Role Conventional Warfare, Anti-Guerrilla Operations Size 4 Brigades, 11 Battalions. Total is 20000+ soldiers | ||
The 1st Infantry Division, Philippine Army, known officially as the Tabak Division, is the Philippine Army's primary Infantry unit, and specializes in anti-guerrilla warfare. The division has been involved on combating terrorists in Southern Mindanao.
Contents
1st Regular Division, Philippine Commonwealth Army during the Japanese Invasion
The establishment of the 1st Regular Division, Philippine Commonwealth Army also known as Tabak Division was on May 05, 1936 to April 09, 1942 and stationed at Camp Murphy (now Camp Aguinaldo) in Quezon City, Rizal (now Metro Manila). The unit engaged in military operations in Bataan from January 01, – 9 April 09, 1942 supporting the USAFFE military forces led by General Douglas MacArthur against the Imperial Japanese troops led by General Masaharu Homma during the Battle of Bataan in 1942.
When the Battle of Bataan began in January 1942, the local troops of the PCA 1st Regular Division led by Brigadier General Mateo C. Capinpin (1938-1941) and Brigadier General Fidel V. Segundo (1941-1942) was sent to Bataan to augment the USAFFE forces against the Japanese. The battle lasted until April 1942. Before the fall of Bataan, Filipino troops and officers of the 1st Regular Division fought side by side with the USAFFE in Bataan, attacking Japanese troops along the Layac Line, Porac-Guagua Line, Abucay-Mauban Line, Battle of Trail 2, the Battle of the Pockets and the Battle of the Points before the invasion at Mount Samat on April 03, 1942. After the Battle of Bataan on 9 April 1942, the local forces under the PCA 1st Regular Division surrendered to the Japanese Imperial troops. The now infamous Death March commenced the following day with more than 78,000 Filipino and American POWs from Mariveles, Bataan to SAn Fernando, Pampanga and by train to Camp O'Donnell in Capas, Tarlac.
After the Fall of Bataan on 1942 by the surrendering troopers of the 1st Regular Division by the Japanese hands in Bataan.
The 1st Infantry (TABAK) Division traces its beginning from the first regular Division of the Philippine Commonwealth Army during the commonwealth period. It was activated on 18 January 1936 with Brigadier General Guillermo B. Francisco as its first Commanding General, initially it was filled up by regular troops from the Philippine Constabulary. It was strengthened in 1941 when World War II loomed in the Pacific region.
Post-World War II
The Division was formally reactivated just in time for the PA's final offensives in the Central Luzon region against the HMB in the late 1950s.
The Division's BCTs served under the United Nations Command during the Korean War, and the reconstituted division trained AFP elements which composed the PHILCAG sent to Vietnam. It also played a vital role in the anti-insurgency campaign, in the Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley in the 1960s.
It was first deployed in Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi during the outbreak of the Southern Philippines Secessionist Group in 1973. At present, it continues to be the guardian of peace in Western Mindanao.
The 1st Infantry Division, Philippine Army also known as Tabak Division, after years on various areas in the county, opened its present headquarters on 4 December 1989 at stationed in Camp Major Cesar L Sang-an in Barangay Pulacan, Labangan, Zamboanga Del Sur after its stint in Jolo, Sulu. It was redeployed in mainland Zamboanga Peninsula and Lanao Provinces (ZAMPELAN) to combat the Communist and Islamic rebel fighters and to counter terrorism in Mindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi (BASULTA) and started the ongoing Islamic and Communist insurgencies in Mindanao in Southern Philippines on 1969 to date against the Communist rebels of the New People's Army (NPA) and the Islamic rebels and bandits of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).
The Headquarters of the 1st Infantry (TABAK) Division is located on a 422.81 hectare military reservation surrounding Barangay Upper Pulacan, in Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur. This reservation was taken over by the Division from Army Reserve Command (ARESCOM) on 16 August 1987. From being rugged and mountainous, it was slowly developed into a sprawling and thriving military camp with the help of the 545th Engineer Battalion, 52nd Engineering Brigade, Philippine Army.
On 4 May 1991, the Camp was named in honor of Major Cesar L. Sang-an who died defending the country's sovereignty against a superior number of MNLF forces of Barangay Malaning, Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur on 23 March 1973. Sang-an was a brilliant Scout Ranger officer and a courageous fighter. Though twice wounded, he directed and covered his men until he was killed. This heroism earned him the award of the Distinguished Conduct Star (Posthumous) from the Armed Forces of the Philippines. He was born on 3 November 1926 in Kinogitan, Misamis Oriental.
Mission
The 1st Infantry (TABAK) Division, Philippine Army to conduct reinvigorated Internal Peace and Security Operations (IPSO) in the AOR to neutralize the CTM, destroy the ASG and JI, hold and contain MILF forces while continuing to observe the primacy of the peace process and neutralize other threat groups in order to establish a physically and psychologically secured environment conducive to progress and development.
Lineage of Commanding Officers
1st Division (PA), 1941-42 Order of Battle
Fully-manned in the summer of 1941, and commanded by the truly formidable BGen. Mateo M. Capinpin, the 1st Division of the Philippine Army completely gave its manpower in late August to help fill in the beginning ranks of the Army's ten Reserve Divisions, which were just being mobilized and manned. From September through late November, the 1st Division was, for all practical purposes, de-activated. But its few personnel who remained—and the American and Philippine area commanders who oversaw the emergency reorganizations—were ready to implement careful plans to reassemble enough personnel to re-activate the 1st Division quickly, and then begin filling back in its ranks. When Japanese hostilities broke out on 8 Dec 1941, the 1st Division was only at cadre strength (just its commissioned and senior non-commissioned officers). Within ten days, 18 Dec 1941, it was re-activated and inducted back into the force tabulations of BGen. George M. Parker's South Luzon Force. Its new commanding general, the tough and brilliant West Pointer, BGen. Fidel V. Segundo (PA), set his hand to the task of continuing to bring the Division's units back up to as full a strength possible, all the while fighting a difficult staged retreat from South Luzon into the Bataan peninsula. The following Order of Battle is from late December 1941, but was more or less what the Division structure was throughout the 1942 Bataan Campaign:
Current Units
The following are the Brigade units that are under the First Infantry Division.
OPCON
The following are the Battalion units under the First Infantry Division.
OPCON
The following are the Division Reconnaissance Company units under the First Infantry Division.