Bantayog ng mga Bayani's presentation about the 1985 Escalante Massacre
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The sugar industry went into a crisis in the 1970s. As thousands lost their lobs, families resorted to eating one meal a day, munching on sugarcane to ease hunger pangs. Children died from hunger and malnutrition. The people demanded change. Yet the Marcos dictatorship remained deaf and blind to their predicament and to their political awakening.
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Bantayog ng mga Bayani's presentation about the 1985 Escalante Massacre
- 1. 19 RALLYISTS SLAIN IN ESCALANTE, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL SEPTEMBER 1985
- 4. CRISIS. 250,000 Negros workers lost their jobs in the 1970S
- 6. 1985 13th anniversary of Marcos declaration of martial law and dictatorship Call for nationwide people’s strike, or Welgang Bayan
- 7. 3-DAY WELGA
- 14. 10 DEMANDS 1. Free subsidy to all hungry Negrenses without discrimination 2. Farmlots for hacienda workers to till 3. Wage increases for farm workers and laborers 4. Priority for workers’ needs; reduce military budget 5. Punish soldiers who committed crimes and indemnify victims
- 15. 6. Stop militarization in Negros; dismantle CHDF and private armies 7. Produce Fr Rudy Romano and Rolan Ybañez 8. Free all political prisoners 9. Repeal the National Service Law 10.Dismantle the US-Marcos dictatorship.
- 16. CHDF, GOONS CAME
- 19. MACHINE GUN
- 25. Rallyists cry: “Bigas, hindi teargas!” “Makibaka, huwag matakot!”
- 31. Concelebrated mass for the victims and to protest the massacre, Escalante, October 1985
- 33. FEB 1986, EDSA REVOLT
- 36. 18 years old, single hacienda worker since age 13 2nd of 5 children, parents also hacienda workers
- 38. 30-year-old hacienda worker reached 4th grade left behind a widow and 2 children Gikinahanglan nako nga mokuyog sa welgang bayan para sa kaugmaon sa atong mga anak ug kaayohan sa tanan. I must join the welga for our children’s future and for the good of all.
- 39. 18-year-old hacienda worker, single 2nd of 5 children of hacienda workers died from wounds unattended for 10 hours in hospital
- 40. 18 years old, single hacienda worker since age 15 11th of 12 children of laborer parents
- 41. 17 years old, single hacienda worker since age 13 6th of 11 children; reached 5th grade Maayo pa nga mamatay nga magtindog sa paghimakas nga nagsulong sa kawsa, kay sa mamatay nga magtikongkong sa kasakit sa gutom. It is better to die fighting for a cause than to die of hunger.
- 42. 16 years old, single hacienda worker since age 8 5th of 7 children of hacienda workers; reached 5th grade Dili bale kon may matabo kanako, ka yang kabuhi tagsa ra man. Kon mamatay mang gyod ko pangitaon lang ninyo aron hiposon, kay gikinahanglan gayod nako ang pagpakigbisog para maangkon nato ang kahilwayan. I don’t mind if something happens to me. We have but one life. If I die, I only ask that you find and bury my body. I need to join this struggle to achieve our national freedom .
- 43. 23 years old, single hacienda worker since age 8 3rd of 8 children; reached 3rd year HS
- 44. 21 years old, single hacienda worker since age 10 3rd of 8 children; reached 6th grade Kinahanglan panginmatyan nako ang atong yutang natawhan. Kong puede man lang anaay usa sa akong mga manghod nga mosunod sa akong paghimakas, kay kini para sa kahilwayan sa pangabuhi sa tanan. I must die for my native land. I hope one of my brothers would take my place in the struggle because this is for the national liberation of the Filipinos .
- 45. hacienda worker since age 14 eldestof 10 children; reached 1st grade married with no children
- 46. 16 years old, single hacienda worker since age 12 all family work in hacienda 9th of 11 children; completed 6th grade
- 47. 21 years old, single hacienda worker since age 13, family worked in hacienda since grandparents’ time 6th of 11 children; reached 2nd grade Wala mang goy seguro ang among lakat. Kong harason mi sa mga military wala man mi armas nga dala gawas sa among bukton ug lawas. Walay seguro nga makabalik. Pero, dili bale, unsa man ang akong dangatan kini kaayohan man sa tanan. If the military harasses us, we have nothing [to defend ourselves with] but our own bodies. I’m not certain to return. But whatever happens, this is for the good of all.
- 48. 27-year-old hacienda worker never went to school and never learned to read or write left behind widow and 3-month-old daughter
- 49. 20-year-old hacienda worker, single reached 2nd year HS 5th of 8 children; all hacienda workers in the family
- 50. 20-year-old fisherman left behind a widow and a 9-month-old daughter
- 51. 17 years old, single hacienda worker since age 10, reached 4th grade 6th of 9 children; all in family work as hacienda laborers Ipadayon ang paghimakas sa atong kawsa. Pursue our cause.
- 52. 24 years old, single hacienda worker since age 12 never went to school, never learned to read or write 2nd of 7 children; all in family work as laborers or maids
- 53. 18 years old, single fisherman since age 12, reached 4th grade 2nd of 7 children; was in the rally with his father
- 54. 24-year-old hacienda worker reached 4th grade left behind a pregnant wife and a 2-year-old son
- 55. TOWN HALL MARKER
- 57. Mothers
- 58. We have but one life… I’m not certain to return … Whatever happens, this is for the good of all.
Editor's Notes
- State abuses had become even more reprehensible as the 1980s ushered in the end of the first decade of the Marcos dictatorship. In 1980 soldiers assassinated Macliing Dulag of the Kalinga people in the Cordillera. Macliing was an outspoken leader in a campaign to oppose the Chico River Dam Project, a Marcos martial law project. The following year, paramilitary troopers under the command of a former colonel raided the barrio Sag-od in Samar, killing 45 men and women protesting logging by a company owned by Juan Ponce Enrile. Then in 1982, 5 unarmed youth organizers holding a meeting in Bulacan were killed in cold blood, again by soldiers.
- Kalinga. Samar. Bulacan. The killings were happening everywhere. Then in 1983, soldiers killed Ninoy Aquino Jr. at the Manila airport tarmac. Ninoy was coming home to try to lead a movement to oust Marcos. His murder shocked the country, and people started saying: if ‘they’ could do it to Ninoy, ‘they’ could do it to anyone. The cry ‘hindi ka nag-iisa’ with all its sub-meanings became popular. Still the abuses continued. In 1984, 3 young men, peaceful campaigners for an election boycott, were abducted and killed by soldiers and CHDF men in Pampanga. The anti-martial law mayor of Zamboanga city, Cesar Climaco, was shot dead. As were two human rights lawyers in nearby Dipolog City. No one seemed sacred. In 1985, CHDF men killed and cannibalized Italian priest Tullio Favali in Cotabato, while unknown men abducted a Redemptorist priest and his activist friend in Cebu. The list of victims went on and on and on. The country became a virtual sea of blood, proof of the frenzy and impunity of Marcos’ rule.
- But the mantle of red spreading across the country also meant that the protest movement was gaining foothold nationwide.
- With every manipulation and every abuse perpetrated by the dictator, citizens began responding by holding bolder actions and becoming more united in their struggle.
- They called for the return of their freedoms.
- They demanded a stop to the militarization.
- And they accused the dictatorship of serving selfish as well foreign interests.
- Farmers also added their powerful voice to the growing protest.
- Negros island. The land of the sugarcane, and one of the country’s richest provinces. However in the 1970s only a few families especially those close to the Marcoses, such as the Benedictos, Cojuangcos, and Gustilos, enjoyed prosperity and wealth.
- The rest lived in poverty and ignorance. Many children never went to school, becoming sugarcane field workers as soon as they could handle a sickle.
- The sugar industry went into a crisis in the 1970s. As thousands lost their lobs, families resorted to eating one meal a day, munching on sugarcane to ease hunger pangs. Children died from hunger and malnutrition. The people demanded change. Yet the Marcos dictatorship remained deaf and blind to their predicament and to their political awakening.
- Negros, as in the rest of the country, was seething with unrest. Farmers called and joined rallies. Protest leaders were abducted and killed. The dictatorship sent soldiers in. It was a social volcano ready to explode.
- Escalante in northern Negros responds by declaring a three day Welgang Bayan, to start from the 18th to the 21st of September
- On the night of the 18th of September, protesters held an overnight vigil in the grounds of the Escalante town hall.
- More people joined the following day from the town centers and from far-flung areas: farmers, farm workers, fisherfolk, young and old, men and women, students, teachers, nuns, priests and seminarians. Roads were blocked.
- Some came marching in groups, bringing their children and the neighbors. Or came by themselves. They brought food and water, as well as change of clothing, intending to stay the three protest days. Some brought guitars, expecting lots of singing.
- They were militant protestors, but came smiling, excited to be fighting for themselves and for country.
- Many were young -- but passionate.
- These were the demands of the welgang bayan in Negros.
- Then goons started arriving. Escalante was part of the feudal kingdom of Armando Gustilo, a congressman until Marcos made him governor of Negros and turned him into a little dictator himself. Gustilo built a private army said to number 1,500 and struck terror in northern Negros.
- Soldiers from the 334th PC company came in full battle gear.
- Firetrucks from Cadiz City, Gustilo’s bailiwick, made a menacing presence.
- On standing on the rooftop of the town hall was a machine gun.
- It was noontime of day 2. The heat of the sun baked the pavements and parched the throats of the barricaders.
- The food brigade started to hand out lunches.
- Suddenly the water houses started spewing their powerful hoses on the protesters.
- The spewing water failed to break the protest line. Huddling against each other, some protesters even exchanged wisecracks about enjoying the “free bath.” Student Juvelyn Jaravello, who would be first to be killed, joked that: “I should have brought my shampoo with me.”
- Then tear gas was thrown to the protesters, who stayed in their position. Many linked their arms, shouting over their tears and their coughs: Bigas hindi teargas! Makibaka huwag matakot!
- Then there was no longer a chance to take pictures, for next came the bullets. Everyone dove for cover, or fled.
- Or were wounded. or helping the other wounded.
- Twenty in all were slain that day. Most of their bullet wounds were found on the back and sides of their bodies, according to the doctors.
- Witnesses saw CHDF men shooting directly on fleeing or already-sprawled rallyists.
- It was the worst case of government repression Negros had ever seen. People became terrified.
- Yet many grew angry too.
- Angry reactions were heard from all over the Philippines and the rest of the world. This abuse, they said, had to stop. The regime of the Marcos dictatorship had to end.
- That victory for democracy, Filipinos owe in part to the heroism of the Escalante people. Those killed that day were mostly young farmworkers or fishermen from the towns of Escalante, Cadiz, Sagay and Toboso. The oldest was 32 and the youngest 14. Many had completed only a few years of education, There were 5 young women. Only Juvelyn Jaravello, already in the Bantayog roster of heroes, completed college. This photo shows relatives holding a poster showing the smaller photos of the victims. Most faces are barely recognizable. A few are barely smudges. They were poor, ordinary people leading plain, ordinary lives. Even this poster, the final record of their identities, is today missing. But we have their names, and bits and pieces of their lives. -- long pause here for individual shots -- We owe our freedoms today, in part, because they died. They are: