Lapiang Malaya

Last updated
Lapiang Malaya
Leader Valentin de los Santos
Founded1940s
Dissolved1967

The Lapiang Malaya (Filipino for "Freedom Movement" or "Freedom Party") was a religious and political group which was active in the Philippines during the 1950s to the 1960s. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Valentin de los Santos functioned as the group's leader.

Establishment

Valentin de los Santos was a Bicolano and established Lapiang Malaya in the 1940s, building up its membership from the peasantry from Southern Luzon. He advocated true justice, true equality and true freedom in the country. His method of attaining his goals include communicating with the Bathala and Filipino heroes like Jose Rizal, linked the attainment of freedom with the Second Coming of Christ, and relied on amulets and prayers. [1]

1957 presidential election

The party contested the 1957 presidential election with de los Santos and Restituto Fresto as their candidates for president and vice president, respectively. Both were defeated by incumbent Carlos P. Garcia, and Diosdado Macapagal, respectively, getting less than 0.50% of the vote. The party also contested the 1957 Senate election, although none of their candidates garnered enough votes to win seats in the Senate; with eight seats up for election and the country using plurality-at-large voting where each voter had eight votes and the eight candidates with the most votes are elected, the party's best candidate finished 41st with 8,915 votes, well behind the eighth-placed candidate which had 1,350,868 votes.

Lapiang Malaya massacre

In May 1967, de los Santos publicly demanded that Marcos step down and surrender the Presidency to the Lapiang Malaya. [2]

On May 20, 1967, the group began gathering for what they called a "parade-demonstration," [2] with the intent of marching towards Malacañang Palace, for which more than 500 members [2] [4] dressed themselves up in blue uniforms with red and yellow capes, [5] [3] and armed themselves with bolos and anting-anting amulets. [5] [3] This was portrayed by government sources and media reports, including Time Magazine, as an attempt to overthrow the government of Ferdinand Marcos. [2] [5]

The Philippine Constabulary (PC), armed with M-16s, [5] came to the group's headquarters on Taft Avenue in Pasay, [2] [4] preventing them from marching. [4]

The PC tried numerous times to disperse the gathering, until May 21, 1967 when the tensions led to violence on both sides. [6] [2] [4] As a result, 33 people were killed, [5] of which 32 were Lapiang Malaya members. [2] 358 were brought to detention centers in Camp Crame. [2]

In reference to the "overkill" which saw heavily armed constabulary members confront bolo-wielding Lapiang Malaya members, the incident came to be referred to as “Bloody Sunday,” a phrase coined by the Manila Times in its reports. [2]

The survivors and de los Santos were later arrested for sedition. De los Santos, instead of going to jail, was sent to the National Center for Mental Health since he was thought to be insane; most reports state that he was mauled and killed while in the hospital, [6] while his supporters claim that he died peacefully past 80 years old at Nueva Vizcaya. [7]

Later years

It was also in Nueva Vizcaya where his supporters lived in seclusion for forty years. The leadership was succeeded by Domingo De Guia, de los Santos' son-in-law, who became famous by having the power to heal and established "Vucal ng Pananampalataya", their community in the province. When Domingo died in 2005, he was succeeded by his son, Tal De Guia. In 2008, Tal held a lechon festival, whose purpose was "to continuously and slowly reintegrate our brethren to the mainstream." He further added that "We are not a bad people as some would like to picture us." [7]

Electoral performance

For president

YearCandidateVotes%Result
1957 Valentin de los Santos 21,6740.43%Lost to Carlos P. Garcia

For vice president

YearCandidateVotes%Result
1957 Restituto Fresto10,4940.22%Lost to Diosdado Macapagal

Senate

YearVotes%Seats wonSeats afterResult
1957 62,6820.22%
0 / 8
0 / 24
Lost

References

  1. 1 2 Ileto, Reynato Clemeña (1979). Pasyon and revolution: popular movements in the Philippines, 1840-1910 . Ateneo de Manila University Press. pp.  1–3. ISBN   971-550-232-6.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "A History of the Philippine Political Protest". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Archived from the original on July 5, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 "Leading the Flock". Philippine Collegian. 2022-05-03. Retrieved 2025-05-30.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "MARTIAL LAW". Amnesty Philippines. 2022-07-22. Retrieved 2025-06-07.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Philippines: A Bothered Archipelago". Time Magazine . 1967-06-02. Archived from the original on December 15, 2008. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
  6. 1 2 "Lapiang Malaya". Philippine Daily Inquirer . 2007-05-21. Archived from the original on 2011-09-16. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
  7. 1 2 Taguinod, Floro (2008-09-02). "Lapiang Malaya branch holds 'lechon festival'". GMANews.TV. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
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