Heart of a Farmer

A few months after I decided to try to complete my late father’s life-story, I found myself lying in bed one night, wondering if he and the other young Catholic lay leaders who had gathered in a farmer leader’s house in San Fernando, Pampanga half a century ago, had any real inkling of what they were about to start. For on that 25th of October 1953–the Feast Day of Christ the King–they were on the verge of launching a movement that would electrify the peasantry and shake the very foundations of the government and the Church. On that day was born the Federation of Free Farmers (fff).

Though born of a landlord family from Alaminos, Pangasinan, my father first conceived the idea of forming an organization "of farmers, by farmers, and for farmers" while helping the tenants in barrio Bisocol in his hometown. Many of the farmers were actually his family’s tenants. He even sided with some of them in land disputes against his own family. This and his renouncement of his inheritance greatly contributed to the early mystique of the fff–of how its founder had turned his back on his own landlord class to start the Federation.

In its early years, the fff was primarily a volunteer organization which received support from several sources, most notably the Apostolic Nuncio, the Jesuits and President Ramon Magsaysay. Its national office was located at the back of the Ateneo’s Padre Faura campus. Magsaysay, in particular, did his best to nurture the young organization and to give it his protection. He was reported to have told two fff leaders a few days before his untimely death: "I have the fullest faith in the fff. The fff is the last hope for democracy in our country. Pursue your aims. Do not deviate from them. Love the farmers!"

After its founding, the fff grew rapidly. In three years, they had gathered close to 40,000 members in 28 of the 53 provinces of the Philippines. The peasant sector had become largely leaderless after Magsaysay put down the Huk rebellion, and as soon as they learned about it, the peasants and workers quickly rallied around and sought the assistance and leadership of the newly organized Federation. The fff leaders farmed out to the barrios, bringing with them the unique message that they, the poor and lowly farmers, were the most important citizens of the country.

Another reason for the fff’s rapid growth in its first years of existence was its legal aid program. Practically all the peasants who approached the fff did so to seek protection and/or representation. The peasants did not know or were not sure what their rights were, and needed lawyers to defend them in courts and government offices. My father was one of the finest legal scholars of his time and was the first son of the Ateneo College of Law (1952) to become its own dean (1958-1967). He actively recruited law friends, students and colleagues to provide legal assistance to the farmers.

It is interesting that most former and current fff members still refer to my father as "Dean". I suppose the title fit him perfectly. His academic credentials were, of course, impeccable. Moreover, he looked and acted every bit the part. At over six feet tall, he towered over most of his contemporaries. He wore spectacles that made him look serious and cerebral.

Soon after the holding of Vatican II in the early 1960s, there was an upsurge of interest in the Church, and among the Catholic clergy, in the social problem. It was a perfect fit for the fff whose ideology was largely inspired by Catholic social teachings. Indeed, many credit the fff for the general awakening of the Philippine Catholic Church, one of the biggest landlords then, to the social problem.

My father’s growing influence in church circles became quite apparent when he was appointed by Pope Paul VI to the Council on the Laity (1968-1975), where he developed a close friendship with the then Karol Cardinal Wojtyla, Archbishop of Krakow, Poland, who later became Pope John Paul II.

My father’s books, Ours to Share and Philippine Socio-Economic Problems, became the "bible" of many social activists. In both of them, he showed how all of the supposedly radical and controversial ideas and programs that he advocated, such as those that related to agrarian and labor reform, were all solidly grounded in the Christian faith.

He vehemently asserted that the Philippine social problem was, at its roots, a question of justice. And while he did not deny that there were other aspects to the social problem and that it had to be simultaneously attacked from all fronts, justice being the most crucial factor had to be stressed.

Nowhere was this more evident than in the Philippine land problem. One of the things that made his arguments unique, however, was his contention that agrarian and labor reforms were not just moral or social welfare issues. Combined with a genuine agro-industrial approach to industrialization, they were also the key to attaining the economic progress that we so coveted.

The late 60s and early 70s were periods of social turbulence characterized by mass street demonstrations. The fff was at the forefront of those mass actions and conducted several spectacular demonstrations, including a rally that lasted more than 100 days at the Agrifina Circle.

The imposition of Martial Law resulted in a serious organizational split in the fff. A small but influential group felt that the fff should oppose the Martial Law government; a few even advocated armed resistance. On the other hand, the rest of the organization believed that the Marcos agrarian reform program was worth the price of supporting Martial Law.

Things reached a climax when some anti-Martial Law leaders were arrested for allegedly planning to assassinate the First Couple. Though the charges were quickly dropped, many of those arrested and their sympathizers separated from the fff. Recriminations and counter-recriminations followed for some time as to who caused the arrest. Most of those involved have since reconciled though some of the hurt remains.

Despite charges of having been "co-opted" by Marcos, the fff was far from quiet throughout the Martial Law period. Its tactics may have changed, but, just as it did before, it continued to fight for the rights of the farmers. Whether the gains it was able to obtain were worth the price of supporting Marcos will perhaps be always debated. But the gains that they achieved were nevertheless real.

During the Aquino years, critics including many priests, bishops and religious condemned the fff as having compromised its principles. Some observers declared that the fff should have opposed Marcos and Martial Law. By failing to do so, my father and other leaders were branded by some as "puppets of a dictator".

Personal tragedy struck my family during this period. Just weeks after EDSA I, my elder brother, Larry, then only in his late 20s, died suddenly due to complications arising from a tooth infection. My father stayed by his side throughout his brief hospitalization. It was the first time that many of us ever saw our father break down completely. The following year, my father’s beloved eldest brother, Cesar, passed away too. For the second time in our lives, we saw our father weep.

After a painful electoral loss at the Batasan, the disappoint-ments that he harbored after the Marcos years, the sudden death of my brother and the cumulative physical and emotional toll that his work had exacted from our family, it would have been understandable had my father decided to quietly retire. Instead, in the last dozen or so years of his life, he dove into his work with renewed vigor. What he did then was to go back to the basics. He said that if the top leaders of the country would not listen to him, the farmers would. He went back to the barrios and started conducting seminars. After that, he seemed to regain all of his zeal and commitment. Appointed in 1994 as representative of the farmer sector in the Presidential Agrarian Reform Committee (parc), he put everyone on notice that he was going to account for every square meter of land due to the farmers.

In the political arena, my father got more help when my brother, Leonie, who was
then Secretary General of the fff, was appointed to Congress in 1991 representing the peasant sector. It was a source of great pride to my father. I remember him telling me once about how he found himself in a hearing where my brother was the presiding chairman. He got a real kick out of calling his own son "Mr. Chairman." When the Party List system was put into effect in 1998, my father helped form the Alyansang Bayanihan ng mga Magsasaka, Manggagawang-Bukid at Mangingisda (aba). This resulted in another term for Leonie who was subsequently appointed by President Arroyo as Secretary of Agriculture (2001-2002).

In 1999, my father received the Gintong Araro award, a prestigious award given by the government to recognize the outstanding contributions of individuals, groups and institutions to the cause of agrarian reform. Seven years earlier, the fff was also honored for its contributions as an organization.

My father had wanted to call the story of his life How Rich Is My Journey. Unfortunately, he was less than halfway through at the time of his death in June 2002. He did not yet even get to the chapter on his controversial support for Marcos and his Martial Law government, or of his special friendship with the then Karol Cardinal Wojtyla. Despite having no writing experience, I took the fact that he died on my birthday as a tacit request to complete it. But I was unsure about how to do such a daunting task.

And then it hit me. His life was never just the story of one man; it was also the story of the thousands of people he met in his life-journey spanning the American Occupation, the Second World War, national independence and a succession of Presidents from Magsaysay to Arroyo. I would fill the gaps by asking the people he touched and who touched him to relive in their own words the twists and turns of the extraordinary journey that ultimately enriched not only their lives but also an entire nation.

The FFF will commemorate its Golden Jubilee in a day-long celebration on October 25, 2003 at the Le Pavillion along Roxas Boulevard. The FFF invites all its members, officers, sympathizers, friends and associates to this Golden Anniversary celebration. The biography of the FFF’s late founder, Dean Jeremias U. Montemayor, will be launched during the evening ceremonies. Please contact the FFF at tel. 647-1451 or 647-1093 or email [email protected].