The Pampanga sugar peasant uprising was a peasant-led uprising in Pampanga as a result of falling sugar prices and worsening economic conditions in the Philippine Islands during the Great Depression. The demonstrations started as formal protests in the early 1930s directed towards the Department of Labor, later fuelling into violence between sugar landlords and tenants reaching its peak in 1939.[2]
After the killing of a migrant worker in Pampanga in 1939, violence intensified with rice tenants joining the sugar workers in the chaos.[3] By February 1939, President Manuel Quezon traveled to Pampanga to calm the violence but was unheeded. Violence continued until the eve of the Japanese invasion in the Philippines.[4]
Background
Unemployment during the Great Depression
In 1936, a Department of Labor survey found that 43,865 people were unemployed in Pampanga. Governor General Frank Murphy had voiced concerns about unemployment in the sugar industry as early as 1934, but it was not until 1937 that the media began to highlight the issue. The 1936 Department of Labor survey suggested that opening public lands for settlement could help with unemployment in farming areas, but resettlement was not a practical solution for Kapampangan local workers, who preferred to stay in their communities or move only to nearby areas like southern Tarlac.[5]
Transformation into violence
Ramon Torres, Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1936
Originally beginning as formal protests with tenant demonstrations directed towards Department of Labor secretary Ramon Torres, it escalated to theft of sugar sacks from bodegas. By mid-1937, violence grew in Pampanga's sugar regions, leading landlords to form a protective group. In July 1937, workers on the Toledo estate in Floridablanca demanded a wage increase, sparking strikes that spread to nearby properties. By early 1938, strikes reached more areas, including Lubao and Guagua, and extended as far as Concepcion, Tarlac. Protests included burning cane fields, resulting in significant financial losses for landowners. When fields were burned prematurely, it reduced the sugar content and value of the cane, serving as a tactic to intimidate landlords.[6]
In early 1939, Pampanga experienced widespread strikes and protests. Tensions flared after the killing of a migrant worker in Magalang, leading to increased hostility between different labor groups.[3][7] Cane fields burned in Magalang and San Fernando as sugar and rice tenants rallied for the removal of unsympathetic judges. Major strikes occurred at Mount Arayat Central and Pampanga Sugar Mill (Pasumil), while protests erupted across the province.[8][1]:48 Mount Arayat Central strikers consists of about 500 sugar central workers, Pasudeco at about 1,300 workers, and Pasumil in Del Carmen area at about 700 workers. These sugar workers were joined by at least 20,000 sugar and rice farmers.[9] The unrest was notably marked by the actions of sugar workers and rice tenants, filling provincial jails despite efforts to control the violence.[10]
Socialist movement
In late 1938, the communists, led by Crisanto Evangelista, and the US Communist party, represented by Sol Auerbach, joined to unite their parties to form the Communist Party of the Philippines, with Evangelista as chairman and Pedro Abad Santos as vice-chairman. However, members in Pampanga still identified themselves as Socialists, led by figures like Luis Taruc and Casto Alejandrino, which operated independently with their own agendas and ideologies.[11]
Government response
I know that you who are gathered in this place harbor ill-feelings and have an ax to grind against the property owners in Pampanga. I do not like to behold such an ugly sight ... I have a duty to defend the rights of the property owners and likewise those of the poor ...
Manuel Quezon,Speech in San Fernando, Pampanga, 14 February 1939 (RG 350, 1937-176; National Archives, Washington, D.C.)[1]:58
By February 1939, President Manuel Quezon traveled to Pampanga in order to deescalate tensions. Quezon begged for restraint to the sugar workers and allow time for the Philippine government to address issues in the sugar industry. His request for restraint was unheeded.[10] In 1938 and 1941, Quezon ordered the army and Philippine Constabulary to control the situation in Pampanga.[1]:56 Philippine government's efforts to prevent peasants from organizing included harassing activists and monitoring peasant groups. Local and national officials obstructed meetings and denied permits for peasant parades. In 1938, President Quezon expressed anger towards the mayor of Mexico, Pampanga for not halting nighttime meetings of peasant organizations. In response, the mayor cited the constitutional rights of workers. Quezon insisted that mayors must prioritize their duties over constitutional claims and urged their cooperation to suppress the "misguided laborers". [1]:57
In mid-1939, Pampanga governor Sotero Baluyut created the Cawal ning Capayapan (Knights of Peace), supported by politicians, such as Asemblyman Fausto Gonzalez Sioco,[12] and landlords, to intimidate strikers. Members, dressed in blue and white, battled dissidents for jobs and bonuses. Despite Socialist protests, the government did not intervene, leading to increased violence between strikers and strikebreakers in various locations. Philippine Constabulary efforts to stop the clashes were unsuccessful.[10] In Quezon's cabinet, many of the members were heavily anti-communist. Supreme Court judge and legal adviser to the president, Jose P. Laurel was against communism and suggested to make Secretary of Justice Jose Yulo or Secretary of Interior Rafael Alunan Sr. as his successor. Labor secretaries were also disconnected to the needs of the poor. Ramon Torres had connections to the sugar industry and Jose Avelino openly reject anything related to communism.[13]Leon Guinto, despite suggesting social reforms to counter communism,[13] addressed Baluyut's special army in a Loyalty Address on June 15, 1941 to "destroy the socialism that creates abuses" and praising the violence made against strikers as a "death blow to socialism."[14]:139
Elected socialists in government
Benigno Layug was an effective socialist mayor in Floridablanca. As lieutenant under Pedro Abad Santos, he organized strikes among sugar workers in late 1939 and led a movement to address outstanding accounts of casamac planters. Layug gathered two thousand signatures for a petition to the president to disband the Cawals and led a march for jobless tenant families seeking land reinstatement. Selected as mayoral candidate in October 1940, he entered office with a socialist town council in January 1941 ensuring local hiring during the 1941-42 season, but the Japanese occupation soon disrupted his plans and progress.[15]
In 1941, the national government supported Governor Sotero Baluyut's efforts to weaken the influence of Popular Front mayors in Pampanga, including the removal of some socialist mayors. Additionally, the Department of Labor and the Court of Industrial Relations deemed strikes illegal and collaborated with landlords in Central Luzon.[1]:57
Continued violence
The Pasudeco Sugar Central
By early 1940, an agreement between tenants and landlords to share crops failed, leading to ongoing violence and protests. A six-month strike at Pasudeco ended favorably for strikers with Socialist support. Aside from demonstrations, workers resorted to arson and murder.[16] In 1939, tenant farmers assassinated two of the richest shareholders in Pasudeco namely Jose de Leon and Augusto Gonzalez.[17] In Floridablanca, Kapampangan workers struck the sugar plantation owned by Secretary of Justice Jose Yulo and threatened the plantation owned by General Basilio Valdes, a Philippine army chief.[16]
Due to continued violence in 1941, credit began to disappear and lenders became worried of the unstable political climate in Pampanga. On the eve of the Japanese invasion, many of those in the sugar industry became impoverished and suffered malnutrition.[16] As the Japanese attacked the Philippines in December 1941, many of the socialists shifted their focus in preparation of war.[18] Despite the Japanese occupation, some peasant forces did not stop its attacks on rich landowners and businessmen. In early 1942, Aguman ding Maldang Talapagobra (AMT) forces assassinated Pasudeco executive Jose Tapia.[19]
Influence
In Luis Taruc's book Born of the People (1953), he described the efforts in rural Pampanga during the late 1930s as a "learning experience." Labor leaders learned to effectively strike, such as using a tambuli or carabao horn to gather tenants for picketing. They also figured out how to recruit members for Aguman ding Maldang Talapagobra (AMT), the party's mass action wing, and included peasant wives and children to support strikers. Taruc noted that he and others gained skills through interaction with the community. This knowledge was then taught to new students at the Socialist party's Mass School.[20]
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