The Birth of a New Revolution

Pampanga has always been considered the land of contradictions, where deep-rooted folk beliefs continually clash with orthodox Catholic traditions, where opulence and elegance met everyday with the seeds of social unrest.  San Fernando is the most evident melting pot of all these ideas.  For instance, it is the seat of the Archdiocese, yet every Good Friday, its hosts a bloody ritual scorned upon by the Roman Catholic hierarchy.  San Fernando has played host to many of Pampanga's sugar barons and their financial interests, yet in the town were born, the seeds of a new revolution.

According to Alfredo B. Saulo, the first organized strike in the Philippines was staged by a gremio of printers in San Fernando in 1872, in protest against the abuses of the plant foreman.  The earliest known labor union in the country was also organized in San Fernando in the printing plant of the La Independencia.  It was known as the Union de Litografos y Impresores de Filipinas (ULIF).  Thus, the title of "birthplace of the labor movement in the Philippines," rightfully belongs to the City of San Fernando.

The seeds are many.  But one individual locates himself prominently, his thoughts changing the entire way of life throughout the whole Philippine archipelago.  San Fernando old folk speak highly of this particular individual, sadly overshadowed by his younger brother's national recognition and the negative undertones of the fruits of his new revolution.  Don Pedro Abad Santos can very well claim the title of "Grand Old Man of San Fernando."

Born in San Fernando in 1875, he was the eldest son of Don Vicente Abad Santos and Doña Toribia Basco.  Don Vicente was a merchant's son who became a lawyer, practicing in his hometown, San Fernando, during the late 19^th-Century and later becoming juez de ganados (superintendent of livestock) of the town.  It is no wonder that most of his sons, including Pedro and Jose, received legal training, some becoming leaders of the nation's judiciary.

Don Pedro was an ilustrado, who grew up with the local elite.  He was educated at the prestigious Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Manila where he counted among his classmates Manuel Quezon and Sergio Osmeña.   He completed his education at the Ateneo de Manila and the University of Santo Tomas.  After passing the Philippine Bar in 1907, he served as juez de paz (justice of peace) of San Fernando from 1907 to 1908, and later, provincial fiscal.  He briefly entered into a law partnership with his brother Jose, from 1920 to 1921.  He was a well-known defender of the poor and oppressed, yet he liked being referred to as "Don Pedro" or "Don Perico."

Although Don Pedro had an inclination for public office, he chose instead to defend the peasants against their landlords, thus earning the ire of other landed politicians.  In 1916, he was elected to the Philippine Assembly, and served for two terms until 1922.  In 1927, he ran for governor of Pampanga, only to lose to town mate Sotero Baluyut. 

But despite his political ambitions, Don Pedro lived a frugal lifestyle, choosing instead to live in a nipa hut next to his house, in the Abad Santos property in Barrio San Jose.  There, he met daily with sugar farmers or casamacs, who sought his services and advice.  He founded the Aguman ding Talapagobra ning Filipinas (Workers' Union of the Philippines) in 1929.  In the 1930s, Don Pedro would try several more times for the Capitol, but unsuccessfully.

A great nationalist who was very much devoted to seeing a free Philippines, Abad Santos left a teaching job in Bacolor during the Philippine Revolution, and later, the Philippine American War, to become military secretary to General Maximino Hizon.  He in fact was sentenced to die, but after numerous appeals, he received a twenty-five year sentence and would have stayed that long in jail had President Theodore Roosevelt not pardoned him.  He was also responsible for bringing back the remains of Hizon from Guam for reburial in Pampanga.  The statue of Gen. Hizon at the Capitol marks the site of his remains, the statue itself, another contribution of Don Pedro.

As assemblyman, he pushed for the first Philippine independence mission to the United States in 1918, even raising money for it.  He even joined the second mission in 1922.

The unforeseen shift of this landed illustrado lawyer to defender of the poor and oppressed still continues to bewilder many today. John Larkin gives a survey of explanations in his book on the history of sugar.  Pedro's brother Quirino believes that his defeat at the hands of Baluyut caused this transformation.  Fellow socialist leader, Casto Alejandrino, points out the fact that landlords abandoned him during the elections because of Don Pedro's sympathy for the tenants.  With the betrayal of his own social class, such a jump was certain.  Luis Taruc sees the association of Don Pedro with communist leaders Crisanto Evangelista and Jacinto Manahan as a catalyst of this change.  But one thing was certain according to Larkin, Don Pedro possessed a keen intellect, and may have been the most original thinker the Left ever had.  He exerted a great influence on those he encountered, and most definitely, not the other way around.

So much more could be said about Don Pedro, the founder of the Socialist Party of the Philippines. But ironically, there is a great scarcity of information about him in our history books, proving that history is, more often than not, subjective. The "Grand Old Man of San Fernando" died in 1944, during World War II, in a remote barrio of Minalin where his remains are said to be located.  A hero's burial awaits him in his hometown.  But before that happens, we must make sure that history is fair to the real hero of the masses.

Please send your comments or suggestions to ivanhenares@yahoo.com.

We would like to request those who will be using the information above, especially for publication, to properly cite the author and the Kapampangan Homepage.  The above column was published in Sun*Star Pampanga.