Magalang is one of the important agricultural towns in Pampanga. Since the Spanish period, Magalang has been one of the chief producers of sugar and rice. Due to its rich agricultural industry, the town attracted several land prospectors to plant cash crops and establish relevant industries such as rice and sugar milling and alcohol distilling. When the Americans came, its landlords became more prosperous and powerful as evidenced by their lifestyle and influence on the local affairs. Tenants were left behind and they were subjected to abuses by their landlords which led them to discontent. In the late 1930s, several ideologies such as communism and socialism plus the teachings of Sakdalism attracted tenants who they thought these were the solutions to uplift their well-being. Tenants in turn were radicalized and they aggressively demanded to increase their wages and even asked their landlords to distribute their lands to them. Their landlords refused to grant their demands and the tenants became more aggressive and this will led to widespread unrest.
Aside from agrarian issues, politics is another reason why unrest prevailed in Magalang in those times. One of the examples is the political feud between Atty. Jose Morales and Don Antonio Y. Luciano. In 1931, both Morales and Luciano ran for the municipal president post and Morales later won. In 1932, the sugarcane field of Don Antonio mysteriously burned and the landlord sued Morales and others in the court. In 1934, the court dismissed the case filed against Morales and others. Morales claimed that the action brought against him by Luciano was politically motivated. Don Antonio also served as municipal president of Magalang in 1923-1925.
In 1934, the local chapter of the Socialist Party was established. This party was founded by Don Pedro Abad Santos and fielded candidates in 1937 and 1940 elections such as Eusebio Aquino and Pastor David. In August 1937, the tenants staged a general strike and paralyzed the local sugar industry. In the same year, the tenants of Don Eustaquio F. Dizon staged a strike and they demanded the increase of their wages. The local officials and the Catholic church were alarmed by the situation. In 1938, Mayor Jose M. Navarro together with Fr. Sixto Manaloto organized Accion Catolica to counter the spread of communist, socialist and Sakdalista taught through catechism in the schools. In the same year, Labor Secretary Ramon Torres organized a conference in Magalang to conduct a dialogue between the tenants and the landlords. In June of the same year, fifteen soldiers were sent to barrio Santo Rosario to disperse the alleged meeting organized by the Socialists.
In October 1939, the former tenants of General Servillano Aquino faced eviction after the latter relinquished his leased property to the original owner, Don Jose Gueco. The landlord filed an eviction case after the former tenants refused to vacate their lands and even threatened to burn the houses in the town which led to the deployment of the Constabulary patrol in Magalang. To help the Constabulary to restore order, thirty landlords of the town formed their vigilante squads to augment the force of the Constabulary to avoid further escalation and violence.
In January 1940, the workers of Pasudeco declared a strike and the violence erupted. One of the workers who was believed to be a Socialist killed Enrique Sembrano and his assistant while hauling sugarcane in barrios Balitucan and Turu. In August of the same year, the lifeless body of Don Jose Dizon was found in his sugarcane field. The authorities accused the Socialists as the perpetrators of the crime but they strongly denied it. Another case of murder was reported in October on the same year. The lifeless body of Gaudencio Vivar, land manager of Don Antonio Y. Luciano was also found in the sugarcane fields. The Constabulary alleged that Vivar would provide a lead to solve the mysterious murder of Don Jose Dizon which they believed that the landlord is acquainted with the Lucianos.
Source:
La Vanguardia, November 9, 1932. page 3.
Letter to the Archbishop of Manila dated January 28, 1938, Magalang, Pampanga, 169 signatories, Archdiocese of Manila Archives.
Louie Aldrin L. Bartolo, The Magalang Book, The Historical Life and Culture of the Kapampangan Town (1605-2015) (Manila, Philippines, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, 2016) 59-61.
Labor Office Moves to End Farm Trouble, The Tribune, January 22, 1938. page 1.
Troops Rushed to Stop Meeting of Socialist, The Tribune, June 7, 1938. page 3.
Frustrate Threat to Burn Town, The Sunday Tribune, October 8, 1939. page 2.
Tenancy Dispute, The Tribune. October 10, 1939. page 9.
Call Truce In Strike, The Tribune. January 7, 1940, page 29.
2 Suspects Held For Killing, The Tribune, October 29, 1940. page 14.
Nab Another Socialist for Murder, The Tribune, December 17, 1940. page 11.
