Commander Dante refers to Bernabe Buscayno, who became military leader of the New People's Army

New People's Army

The New People's Army is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. It was formed on March 29, 1969. The Maoist NPA conducts its armed guerrilla struggle based on the strategical line of 'protracted people's war'.The NPA exacts so called "revolutionary taxes" from business owners...

 in the Philippines in October 1970 during the First Quarter Storm

First Quarter Storm

The First Quarter Storm was a period of leftist unrest in the Philippines, composed of a series of heavy demonstrations, protests, and marches against the government from January to March 1970, or the first quarter of 1970...

. William Chapman refers to Dante as one of the "ideological Huk

Hukbalahap

The Hukbalahap , was the military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines , formed in 1942 to fight the Japanese Empire's occupation of the Philippines during World War II. It fought a second war from 1946 to 1954 against the pro-Western leaders of their newly independent country...

s."

Capture, release, and assassination attempt

Dante was captured in 1977, but released from jail by President Corazon Aquino

Corazon Aquino

Maria Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino was the 11th President of the Philippines and the first woman to hold that office in Philippine history. She is best remembered for leading the 1986 People Power Revolution, which toppled Ferdinand Marcos and restored democracy in the Philippines...

in 1986. The next year, the 43 year old Dante survived, but suffered hospitalizing wounds, in an ambush that killed two other people.