Benjamin Pimentel was only 6 when he first heard of Edgar “Edjop” Jopson. It was the maelstrom deep in the maw of the First Quarter Storm. “I have a vague memory of my parents mentioning Edjop’s name when he was becoming a national figure,” he said. “The next time I heard about him was when I was in college at UP (University of the Philippines) when a professor sadly broke the news that he had been killed in 1982. I even remember the Bulletin Today headline: ‘Party Leader Jopson Killed.’”
Edjop represented one of the most dramatic and powerful narratives in the struggle against the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos. He was the
middle-class Ateneo-educated high-school valedictorian and college class president who literally gave it all up first to fight for the rights of laborers and then to go underground (the “U.G.” in the title) with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). After a period of living in safe houses under pseudonyms, Edjop was killed in a military raid in the Skyline subdivision in Davao. He was only 34—and much more than just a narrative.
What happened before that and how is the subject of Pimentel’s “U.G. An Underground Tale: The Life and Struggle of Edgar Jopson (Revised and Updated)” (Anvil Publishing, Inc., Mandaluyong City, 2019, 275 pages). This is the third evolution of this book.
It all began in 1986, mere months after the Edsa revolution. “It started as an assignment,” The Bay Area-based Pimentel said in an email interview. Jose “Pete” Lacaba, Pimentel’s editor at the National Midweek, assigned Pimentel to cover Edjop’s fourth death anniversary memorial. “It was the first time the Jopsons were able to publicly celebrate his life,” he said. “I became more interested in his story after covering the 1986 memorial.”
This led to the first book, “Edjop: The Unusual Journey of Edgar Jopson,” published by Popular Bookstore in 1989. Pimentel had been encouraged by the late Alfrredo Navarro Salanga, a close friend of Edjop’s, to write a full-fledged biography. “The person who really played an important role was Joy Jopson (Edjop’s widow), whom I met at the Jopson residence in San Francisco Del Monte after the memorial,” he said, adding that Joy introduced him to Edjop’s family and comrades in the movement—including those who were still actively working in the underground. He even got to visit the Skyline subdivision and interview the officer who led the raid that led to Edjop’s death. “Edjop” was later republished by the Monthly Review in New York as “Rebolusyon: A Generation of Struggle in the Philippines” in 1991.
Unlikely but compelling
The story Pimentel unravels is unlikely but compelling, told in chiseled, sometimes chilling detail. It begins and ends on the same day, Oct. 1, 1982, with a funeral procession down Katipunan Avenue.
Pimentel recalls Edjop’s childhood, the son of Hernan Jopson, the man credited with establishing the first self-service supermarket in the Philippines, Jopson’s Supermarket in Manila. The author also writes about Edjop’s education and his awakening to the plight of his countrymen, culminating in his becoming president of the activist National Union of Students of the Philippines, named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men in 1970.
In a famous argument with Marcos, Edjop demanded that the president put in writing he would not run for a third term, something explicitly forbidden by the 1935 Constitution. Marcos responded: “Who are you to tell me what to do! You’re only a son of a grocer!” Marcos would go on to declare martial law and Edjop, after a time at a labor union, joined the CPP, a controversial move as he was well known for being a moderate among the activists.
All this ends with his death on Sept. 21, 1982. That day was the 10th anniversary of the official signing of Marcos’ martial law declaration.
Pimentel’s book is both unflinching in its recollection of the abuses of the dictatorship but also packed with action and dialogue: It reads like a thriller. It is certainly no hagiography. “I met people who were critical of him, but still acknowledged the heroic life he led,” he said. “Edjop” includes essays from Joy, Lacaba and the late Sen. Jovito Salonga.
Incomplete
Pimentel, an Inquirer.net columnist, felt it was urgent to revisit the book in 2006, and this Anvil book was now titled “U.G. An Underground Tale and the First Quarter Storm Generation.”
“I eventually felt that ‘The Unusual Journey of Edgar Jopson’ was an incomplete book,” Pimentel said, noting that he had learned of the CPP’s involvement in the Plaza Miranda bombing. “I feel that ‘U.G. An Underground Tale’ is a more complete, honest retelling of his life because it focused on the courage and heroism of his journey, while also tackling the dark side of the movement.”
In 2019, Anvil released the “Revised and Updated” edition. Pimentel said he had been receiving emails from people asking where they could find the out-of-print book. The new edition also includes essays from Edjop’s daughters Joyette and Teresa Lorena Jopson. All royalties from the 2019 edition go to the Bantayog ng Mga Bayani, the foundation which honors the sacrifices of those who fought the Marcos dictatorship Pimentel said that “U.G.” is sadly more timely than ever. “I imagine that many young Filipinos today are struggling for answers. They live in a society led by a president who inspired mass killings and has shown brazen disregard for the rights of women, the poor and anyone who dares defy him. Like during martial law, young Filipinos could either just shut up and make the most of the opportunities available to them, or move to another country. Or they could be part of the change. But trying to be part of a movement for change can be complicated as Edjop’s story shows.”
With its polished prose and exhaustive legwork, “U.G.” emerges as one of the finest pieces of nonfiction ever written in the Philippines, not only chronicling the life and loss of a singular figure but also helping to explain what it meant. “Writing ‘U.G. An Underground Tale’ has been one of the most meaningful chapters in my own journey as a writer,” Pimentel said. “His story continues to inspire me. I could never do what he did but I’ve always felt that I could at least help keep his story alive by giving young Filipinos an opportunity to know what he did and what he gave up for the country.” INQ
Available in paperback from Anvil Publishing, Inc.; visit www.anvilpublishing.com.