CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – A crypt probably containing the long-missing remains of Pedro Abad Santos, regarded as the father of socialism in the Philippines, has been discovered last Friday.
Ivan Henares, a trustee of the Heritage Conservation, said he found the crypt among the thousands of old vaults at the Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park, Makati City.
It has an inscription of the birth and death dates of the founder of the Partido Sosyalista ng Pilipinas.
Pedro, or Don Perico to his followers among the masses, is the elder brother of Jose, the country’s chief justice during World War II who was executed when he refused to swear allegiance to Japan.
Henares said he immediately informed Sen. Jamby Madrigal, a grand niece of Pedro, to request her to seek consent from the clan to open the crypt and check if the remains are truly that of Pedro’s.
In a text message, the senator said: “I wonder if [Pedro] is really there. The relatives may have put a marker without remains just like [the] Jose Abad Santos marker in Loyola. It would be nice to have a monument commissioned for both in San Fernando.”
Inscribed in the crypt are also the names of Pedro’s sister Teofila, his brother Yreneo and their mother Toribia.
The remains of Jose, whose body was thrown in a river in Lanao Del Sur following the May 2, 1942 execution, had not been located until now, Henares said.
Although standing on the opposite end of the ideological spectrum during their lifetime, the Abad Santos brothers shared two common fates past their deaths: Their mortal bodies are out of the reach of their followers. Their heroisms continued to be revered in this Pampanga capital where monuments have been erected for them.
The Gapan-San Fernando-Olongapo Road has been renamed Jose Abad Santos Avenue. A day in May is observed as a holiday to mark the martyrdom of Jose. The birthday of Pedro is always observed with a cultural program.
PEDRO
Born on January 31, 1876, Pedro was admitted to the bar in 1906, serving as chief of staff of Gen. Maximino Hizon during the Philippine-American War. Exiled in Guam together with Hizon, Apolinario Mabini, Artemio Ricarte and Melchora Aquino, his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and pardoned later by US President Theodore Roosevelt.
As representative of Pampanga’s second district, he joined the independence mission headed by Speaker Sergio OsmeDa to the US in 1922, according to the records of the Center for Kapampangan Studies.
In 1932 when government outlawed the Communist Party of the Philippines, Pedro founded the Socialist Party and reorganized what then became the Aguman ding Maldang Talapagobra or unions of workers and peasants.
Amid the peasant revolts and landlords’ cruelties, Pedro’s kindness was legendary.
FIRST HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER
“He can be safely and properly tagged as the first human rights lawyer in the country,” said City of San Fernando Mayor Oscar Rodriguez.
On Nov. 7, 1938, the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, the parties met at the Manila Grand Opera and declared their merger. On Jan. 1, 1942, they formed the anti-Japanese army Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon (Hukbalahap).
San Fernando and some parts of Pampanga became “Little Russia” at some points because socialist leaders got elected as mayors.
MYSTERY
Placed under house arrest after imprisonment during the latter part of the Japanese occupation, Pedro reportedly asked President Jose P. Laurel to allow him to return to his people and die in Pampanga.
Roberto Datu of the Abelardo Dabu’s squadron in the Hukbalahap progeny, the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (HMB), helped Pedro escape by boat through Bangkusay in Tondo, Manila down to the Pampanga River.
The Manansala family in Sitio Alasas in San Isidro, Minalin hid Pedro and took care of him until he died on Jan. 15, 1945 or three years after the execution of Jose.
WHY MINALIN?
It was the base of Bernardo Poblete, also known as Kumander Jose Banal, the original Hukbalahap supremo in pre-merger years.
Pedro’s remains were said to be originally buried in a public cemetery in Minalin. The Manansalas reportedly left the grave unmarked to spare it from desecration by anti-socialists. It is said that sometime in the 1970s, the Abad Santos clan recovered the remains without informing the supporters of Pedro where these were buried.
Henares said he started the search seven years ago to be able to solve the mystery on where Pedro’s remains are kept and give it a burial befitting of a hero.
Rodriguez said finding the remains is a welcome development to the Kapampangans.
Ivan Henares, a trustee of the Heritage Conservation, said he found the crypt among the thousands of old vaults at the Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park, Makati City.
It has an inscription of the birth and death dates of the founder of the Partido Sosyalista ng Pilipinas.
Pedro, or Don Perico to his followers among the masses, is the elder brother of Jose, the country’s chief justice during World War II who was executed when he refused to swear allegiance to Japan.
Henares said he immediately informed Sen. Jamby Madrigal, a grand niece of Pedro, to request her to seek consent from the clan to open the crypt and check if the remains are truly that of Pedro’s.
In a text message, the senator said: “I wonder if [Pedro] is really there. The relatives may have put a marker without remains just like [the] Jose Abad Santos marker in Loyola. It would be nice to have a monument commissioned for both in San Fernando.”
Inscribed in the crypt are also the names of Pedro’s sister Teofila, his brother Yreneo and their mother Toribia.
The remains of Jose, whose body was thrown in a river in Lanao Del Sur following the May 2, 1942 execution, had not been located until now, Henares said.
Although standing on the opposite end of the ideological spectrum during their lifetime, the Abad Santos brothers shared two common fates past their deaths: Their mortal bodies are out of the reach of their followers. Their heroisms continued to be revered in this Pampanga capital where monuments have been erected for them.
The Gapan-San Fernando-Olongapo Road has been renamed Jose Abad Santos Avenue. A day in May is observed as a holiday to mark the martyrdom of Jose. The birthday of Pedro is always observed with a cultural program.
PEDRO
Born on January 31, 1876, Pedro was admitted to the bar in 1906, serving as chief of staff of Gen. Maximino Hizon during the Philippine-American War. Exiled in Guam together with Hizon, Apolinario Mabini, Artemio Ricarte and Melchora Aquino, his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and pardoned later by US President Theodore Roosevelt.
As representative of Pampanga’s second district, he joined the independence mission headed by Speaker Sergio OsmeDa to the US in 1922, according to the records of the Center for Kapampangan Studies.
In 1932 when government outlawed the Communist Party of the Philippines, Pedro founded the Socialist Party and reorganized what then became the Aguman ding Maldang Talapagobra or unions of workers and peasants.
Amid the peasant revolts and landlords’ cruelties, Pedro’s kindness was legendary.
FIRST HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER
“He can be safely and properly tagged as the first human rights lawyer in the country,” said City of San Fernando Mayor Oscar Rodriguez.
On Nov. 7, 1938, the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, the parties met at the Manila Grand Opera and declared their merger. On Jan. 1, 1942, they formed the anti-Japanese army Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon (Hukbalahap).
San Fernando and some parts of Pampanga became “Little Russia” at some points because socialist leaders got elected as mayors.
MYSTERY
Placed under house arrest after imprisonment during the latter part of the Japanese occupation, Pedro reportedly asked President Jose P. Laurel to allow him to return to his people and die in Pampanga.
Roberto Datu of the Abelardo Dabu’s squadron in the Hukbalahap progeny, the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (HMB), helped Pedro escape by boat through Bangkusay in Tondo, Manila down to the Pampanga River.
The Manansala family in Sitio Alasas in San Isidro, Minalin hid Pedro and took care of him until he died on Jan. 15, 1945 or three years after the execution of Jose.
WHY MINALIN?
It was the base of Bernardo Poblete, also known as Kumander Jose Banal, the original Hukbalahap supremo in pre-merger years.
Pedro’s remains were said to be originally buried in a public cemetery in Minalin. The Manansalas reportedly left the grave unmarked to spare it from desecration by anti-socialists. It is said that sometime in the 1970s, the Abad Santos clan recovered the remains without informing the supporters of Pedro where these were buried.
Henares said he started the search seven years ago to be able to solve the mystery on where Pedro’s remains are kept and give it a burial befitting of a hero.
Rodriguez said finding the remains is a welcome development to the Kapampangans.
