69. AGRARIAN AND POLITICAL UNREST IN MAGALANG IN THE 1930s

 

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. 

33. THE PEASANT STRIKES IN MAGALANG

Magalang was one of the major agricultural towns in Pampanga. The economic life of the Magaleños was primarily centered on agriculture. Rice, sugarcane and tobacco as one of the leading products of the town. The peasants are the one of the largest labor groups of Magalang; ranging from the Spanish period until the early Japanese period. Extensive abuses committed by the landlords to their peasants, provoked the peasantry to adopt new ideologies to check the grave abuses of their landlords, to promote their rights and to attain decent living conditions. Their landlords becomes "sources of their food and loans in the event of an emergency or failed crop". Sometimes, their landlords imposed high interests to the loans of their peasants or casamacs, and they will become burdened to their debts. Their debts subsequently pass to their own children until they pay debts to their landlords. Some of the testamentos of the landlords revealed the total debts incurred by their casamacs. The testament of Don Aniceto S. Lacson in 1888 revealed that his thirteen casamacs owed him one thousand eighty nine pesos; while the fourteen casamacs of Don Doroteo S. Lacson owed him six hundred pesos; and the twelve casamacs of Don Faustino P, Tuazon owed him one hundred eighty pesos. 

The poor conditions of the casamacs led to their discontent, and they will resort to mass walkouts and rallies organized by the local peasant groups. In 1934, the Magalang chapter of Aguman ding Maldang Talapagobra founded by Pedro Abad Santos, was established in barrio San Antonio. Eusebio Aquino was appointed as leader of Magalang chapter of AMT. Many of the peasantry joined this group to voiced out their grievances against their landlords. And also, to promote their protection and enjoy their rights. In 1937 and 1940 elections, AMT fielded candidates and Eusebio Aquino was fielded for mayoral seat. He was defeated by the chief of police, Jose M. Navarro. However, a Magaleño gained the mayoralty seat in the socialist nerve of Pampanga; a son of landlord, Vivencio Baron Cuyugan was proclaimed as the first socialist mayor of San Fernando and also first in the Philippines. 

Peasants in Magalang staged mass walkouts and strikes in 1930s. A petition letter signed by Mayor Jose M. Navarro together with one hundred thirty eight prominent personalities in Magalang addressed to the Archbishop of Manila in 1938, to established a socio-religious group, Accion Catolica. In their petition, they stipulated that "the border town of Magalang, it was infested by the communists, socialists and even Sakdalistas". They added that "in the milling month of August, 1937, they staged a general strike and paralyzed the industry". In the year also, eighty casamacs of Don Eustaquio F. Dizon in sitio Mitla, staged a strike. They demanded that the wages of the workers plowing with landlord's carabaos increased from fifty centavos to one peso. Those workers who using their own carabaos were asking to increase their wages from sixty five centavos up to one peso and forty centavos. Aside from strikes, peasants also burned some of sugarcane fields in Magalang. In 1939, a strike was staged again by the peasants, resulting of killing of a migrant worker. In the same year also, sugarcane fields were also burned down. In 1940, a similar strike was also staged by the peasants. 

To counter the spread of communist and socialist ideologies in Magalang, a socio-religious group, Accion Catolica was founded in 1938 by the parish priest, Fr. Sixto Manaloto with the help of prominent sugar planters of Magalang. They attempted to promote the teaching of catechism in public schools to counter the spread of ideas of communism and socialism. They also conducted literacy conferences those who cannot afford formal education. And also, an adult education was launched among illiterate adult learners.   

The peasant unrest continued become more active when the occupation of the Japanese started. And until the formal establishment of Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon, the peasants grew their perseverance to attain their goals to become free from fiefdom. With series of social and economic reforms imposed by the past administrations, their goals gradually attained, and some of them attained decent living conditions. Others they continued their struggle to attain of what the communism and socialism promised to them. 

Photo Credits:

chocolateclass.files.wordpress.com

Sources:

Letter to the Archbishop of Manila dated January 28, 1938, Magalang, Pampanga, 169 signatories. Archdiocese of Manila Archives

Testamento de Don Aniceto S. Lacson, Magalang, Pampanga dated: March 16, 1888

Testamento de Don Doroteo S. Lacson, Magalang, Pampanga dated: December 28, 1885

Testamento de Don Faustino P. Tuazon, Magalang, Pampanga dated: December 9, 1889

Singsing: Bravehearts: Kapampangan Rebels, Radicals and Renegades who Changed Philippine History, Pampanga Burning, page 106.

Larkin, John A., Sugar and the Origins or Modern Philippine Society, (1993) University of California Press pages 222-223. 

Timberman, David G. A Changeless Land, Continuity and Change in Philippine Politics 

22.MAGALENOS' MADE THEIR FORTUNE ON SUGAR

During Spanish period, sugar industry is one of the lucrative industries in the Philippines. Sugar is made from kind of grass known as sugarcane whom its scientific name is Saccharum officinarum. Sugarcane is suitable to tropical climate and it is cultivated mostly in dry land. In the Philippines, Negros provinces and Pampanga are considered as sugar bowls due to its thriving sugar industry. In Magalang, sugar is leading products of the town, second is rice. Due to the dry condition of land, Magaleño landowners preferred to cultivate sugarcane instead of rice. When sugarcane is harvested, they will extract their juice by using centrifugal sugarcane crushers made of wood or large boulders. Later years, they will switch to iron made centrifugal sugarcane crushers to extract the juices. Famous trademark machine for milling of sugar such as Buchanan, Glasgow and Marconi. Some Magaleño landowners made their fortunes by milling sugar. Through their fortunes, they able to extend their landholdings by purchasing additional lands. They also loaned their extra pesos to small and poor farmers through talindua or pacto de retro schemes where these schemes are subject to abuses. The determinants of their wealth and prestige in Magalang like possessing large tracts of land, sugar mills, houses made of stone and wood built in poblacion or town proper and in their lands, large herds of water buffaloes or carabao, and even imported horses. In my previous post, Magalang According to Anuario del Comercio, it identified some prominent Magaleño sugar planters during Spanish period. Those in the list are the Barons, Ganzons, Guecos, Dizons, Felicianos, Dayrits, Lucianos, Lacsons, Davids and Tiamzons. One of the examples of successful sugar planters or agricultor in Magalang during that time is Don Aniceto Lacson y Suarez. According to his last will, his assets were intenfied on his Ynventario. Most of them are acquired when he was successful in sugar milling. Due to his status, he was initially appointed as cabeza de barangay and later, he was elected gobernadorcillo (mayor) of Magalang in 1891. In his last will, written in 1897, these are the list of his assets mentioned in his Ynventario:

a. Fifty male and female water buffaloes (carabao) valued in six hundred twenty pesos.

b. One Moorish Polo horse valued in thirty two pesos.

c. One carromata or carruaje valued in forty pesos.

d. Two sugar mills with corresponding utensils made of iron installed in his land in barrio San Francisco run by manual labor with value of nine hundred twenty pesos.

e. One sugar mill made of iron installed in poblacion (town proper); run by manual labor valued in two hundred forty pesos.

f. Nine carts for hauling sugarcane valued in seventy two pesos.

g. One house made of bamboo cane and nipa, with the house has thirty rods in front and thirty nine for its foundation with extension superficial valued in one hundred fifty pesos.

h. One stock house for stocking of sugar made from bamboo cane and nipa valued in twenty pesos.

i. One parcel of land located in sitio Tambacan in barrio San Francisco, with thirty seven hectares and ninety eight areas with extension superficial valued in five thousand pesos.

j. One parcel of land located in sitio Mapacu in barrio Sta Lucia, with twenty eight hectares and twenty eight areas with superficial extension valued in one thousand five hundred ninety eight pesos.

He also provided credit to his fellow planters like Don Pedro Trinidad who loaned him four hundred eighty pesos; and to Don Jacinto Rivera with four hundred pesos. The grand total of his assets together with his loaned money are worth nine thousand five hundred seventy two pesos.

However, some Magaleño planters failed to become productive to their landholdings. Sometimes, they were forced to sell their land or they will enter a contract with another landowner or pawner using pacto de retro scheme. One of the examples of the pacto contract, is the agreement entered by Fernando Tayag with Isidoro Santos of San Fernando. According to the contract signed in 1892, Isidoro Santos will lend Fernando Tayag seven thousand seventy eight pesos in exchange of his landholdings located in barrios Sto Rosario (now part of barrio La Paz) and in San Francisco with option to re-purchase. However, revolution sparked and the sugar industry in Magalang was temporarily slugged. Due to nonpayment of dues to Isidoro Santos, it was taken over by Santos in 1900s and it was added to his vast landholdings in Magalang.

During American period, Magalang was one of the major sugar producers in Pampanga. On the mechanization of agriculture in that time, some Magaleño planters were become more prosperous and their fortunes are mirrored on their heirlooms like their big Americanized mansions built on their landholdings and the evidences of advance education among of their children. Sugar industry in Magalang was gradually faded due to aggressive agrarian reform of the government, and massive urbanization of the town, in which the former sugarcane fields were converted into subdivisions and sometimes, poultry farms.

Photo Credit: Sugar Time courtesy of Alex R. Castro

Sources:

Acta de protocolizacion de un testamento de este otorgado, Don Aniceto Lacson, www.familysearch.org; Retrieved: April 27, 2016.

Escritura de venta a retro de tierras otorgada por Don Fernando Tayag a favor de Don Ysidoro Santos; www.familysearch.org; Retrieved: April 27, 2016

Magalang According to Anuario del Comercio; amlatmagaleno.blogspot.com; Retrieved: January 5, 2017.