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CHAPTER 1
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CHAPTER 2
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CHAPTER 3
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CHAPTER 4
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CHAPTER 5
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CHAPTER 6
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CHAPTER 7
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      On May 2-3 1935, shortly before our nation ratified the Constitution, the pro-communist Sakdalistas, by order of their supreme leader (Benigno Ramos, founder of the Sakdal Party), rose in bloody uprisings in 14 towns of the Southern Tagalog provinces and in Central Luzon. The chief purpose of this armed tumult was to plunge the country into chaos and prevent the ratification of the Constitution.
      Happily, the violent risings of the Sakdalistas were suppressed by the Philippine Constabulary. According to Acting Governor General Joseph Ralston Hayden, the fiercest fights took place in the three towns of Santa Rosa and Cabuyao (Laguna) and in San Ildefonso (Bulacan), where the rebel Sakdalistas were able to seize the municipal buildings. In these three towns the Sakdalistas (men and women), numbering between 5,000 and 7,000, were routed by the government forces.
      Several days, before the eruption of the Sakdalista uprisings, the Sakdalistas in Pagsanjan, who numbered about 400, were ordered by the lieutenants of Benigno Ramos who was safely ensconced in far-away Japan to join the armed upheaval. They were mostly poor tenants in the barrios and gullible uneducated men in the poblacion. Prominent among them were Pacifico Abad (who introduced the Sakdal movement in the town in January, 1935), Antonio Abella, Estanislao Abarquez, Anacleto Ebio, Ricardo Ruperto, Asias Walo, and Manuel Zalamea. Fortunately they were more peace-loving than their sanguinary counterparts in other Sakdal-infested towns so that they did not participate in bloody uprisings.

Pagsanjan During the Commonwealth Period

      On May 14, 1935, the Pagsanjeños voted overwhelmingly for the ratification of the Constitution. When the Commonwealth of the Philippines was inaugurated at Manila on November 15, they rejoiced with music, cheers, and prayers. The popular comment in the town was: "Now we are on the road to independence." Even the unlettered masses were glad at the birth of the Commonwealth, which they called Ka-manuel after President Manuel L. Quezon. Shortly after his induction into office, President Quezon reorganized the government of the Philippine Commonwealth. In this government there were at least three Pagsanjeños who were appointed to public service, namely: Dr. Jose Fabella, Secretary of Health and Public Welfare; Dean Conrado Benitez, Assistant Secretary to the President; and Julio Francia, City Assessor of Manila.
      Pagsanjan continued to flourish during the Commonwealth period. The Pagsanjeños enjoyed material prosperity. Their homes, town plaza and church, streets, and town gate were as beautiful as in colonial times. Their sons and daughters were studying in the colleges and universities of Manila and also in foreign universities. Many gifted Pagsanjeños continued to excel in the professions -- arts and letters, economics, chemistry, dentistry, engineering, business, music, and education.
      But the jolly good years in the life of man or nation cannot last forever. And so it was for the beautiful and affluent town of Pagsanjan. Suddenly on the chilly morning of December 8, 1941, calamity struck -- the explosion of war with Japan (the Pacific phase of World War II).