TOUCHED BY HIS LIFE
Retyped by Greg Bituin Jr. for the benefit of KPML leaders and members
On May 19, 1989, the urban poor lost a courageous and committed leader, Eduardo Guazon, Jr., who was then the national chairman of the Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralitang Lungsod (KPML), the largest urban poor aggrupation, died during a Senate Committee hearing on a spate of violent demolition operations. The urban poor leader suffered a cardiac arrest while vehemently objecting to the distorted testimony of a policeman and was proclaimed dead on arrival at the Philippine General Hospital. Even until death, Tatay (father) Eddie, as he was fondly called by his fellow urban poor, fought for the interest and the rights of the poor and would not let anyone trifle with truth and justice.
An orphan from the countrysides of Mindanao who ended up a squatter in Manila, Tatay Eddie typified those who sought refuge in the nation's urban centers - away from the underdeveloped rural areas but not from the pangs of poverty and deprivation.
Tatay Eddie was born on August 13, 1925 in Placer, Suriago del Norte. He never had the chance to grow up with his family. Tatay Eddie was the youngest of four children who were orphaned two and a half months after he was born. he and his brother and two sisters were separated from each other and lived with their relatives.
As he grew up in a difficult life with his relatives, Tatay Eddie, like most of the young in the rural areas, was attracted by the city's promise of a chance for a better life. After finishing elementary, he left Placer for Cebu where he was able to find and live with his elder brother. With his dream to finish schooling, he set himself through high school by doing menial jobs like shining shoes and peddling cigarettes.
Armed only with sheer guts, Tatay Eddie decided to find his luck in Manila in 1947. He found himself in Quiapo again peddling cigarettes and newspapers in order to subsist. Later, he was given a job as a laborer at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). This enabled him to enroll in college night classes at the University of Manila. Like many self-supporting students, financial difficulties forced him to stop in his fourth year in the university.
Tatay Eddie was already a clerk at the DPWH when he met Felecitas Griar, a provincemate who also migrated to Manila. His quiet and humble ways won the admiration of Nanay (mother) Feling whom he married in 1953. Nanay Feling remembers Tatay Eddie as a good and loving husband and father.
To augment their meager income, he would sell lottery tickets (sweepstakes) during his free time. He would even pass by the market on his way home and help in doing household chores. Through hardwork and determination, he was able to have his children finish college.
In 1963, his family moved to Magsaysay Village, one of the squatter colonies in Tondo. It was in this community that he began his involvement in people's organizations.
He started as a leader of the Kapisanang Maginoo, one of the local organizations in the community. In the late sixties, he became the chairman of the Samahang Kristyanong Komunidad, the federation of people's organizations in Magsaysay Village. Since then, Tatay Eddie has consistently fought for the rights and interest of the urban poor.
In the turbulent early 70s, he led the Magsaysay Village residents in seeking from the Marcos government a piece of land for each family. Their bid for land was granted, but frustration soon set in when the social services the government was supposed to provide fell short of expectations.
Tatay Eddie had an untainted record as an urban poor leader. Despite harassments, he continued his advocacy of the rights of the poor. During the dark days of the Marcos regime, he was put behind bars twice, without warrants of arrest of formal charges filed in the court. He was detained for nine months in Fort Bonifacio in 1974. He was picked up again together with his daughter Gloria in 1978 and incarcerated for three months in Bicutan.
Forced to retire from government service following his second detention, he devoted his full time in organizing the urban poor. What followed were sacrifices without end.
Angel Carlos, a close friend and colleague in the KPML, recalled how they literally starved for the poor. "Kung minsa'y nanananghalian kami ng isang platitong mani at maghahati sa isang tasang kape nang wala sa oras, ngunit hindi ko nakitaan ng masamang mukha si Ka Eddie."
During the time of the anti-Marcos dictatorship campaign, Tatay Eddie headed the Coalition of Urban Poor Organizations Against Poverty (CUPAP) which fought against anti-urban poor laws and government policies and programs. He was a prominent figure of the parliament of the streets that eventually brought down the dictator. He is remembered as a fiery speaker at demonstrations in Liwasang Bonifacio and Mendiola, as barricade leader and marshall, and as survivor of teargas and truncheon attacks at Mendiola and Welcome Rotonda.
His zeal and indefatigable energy was attested to by another leader in the urban poor organization. "Wala siyang kapaguran sa paggampan niya ng kanyang tungkulin. Kahit na siya'y maysakit, makainom lang ng konting gamit, susulong muli. Ang talagang commitment niya ay tungkuling pangmasa. Ang buhay niya ay matagal na niyang ibinigay sa mga Pilipino," said Ka Josie Cabrera.
Tatay Eddie's sincerity and commitment in representing the cause of the urban masses had also gained the respect and recognition of other urban poor coalitions and federations. At the time of his death, he was the acting chairman of the Urban Poor Forum, the broadest alliance of urban poor organizations.
During the first year of the Aquino administration, Tatay Eddie was among those who felt optimistic about the country's fate. He trusted the sincerity of the President and was willing to heed her call for the people to be patient with the government.
In mid-1986, the Aquino administration sponsored a national consultation-workshop among the urban poor, during which the National Congress of the Urban Poor Organizations (NACUPO) was formed. Together with the other delegates, Tatay Eddie, who was already the KPML chairman then, called for the creation of an agency for the urban poor. The agency would represent the urban poor in the planning and implementation of government programs and policies.
Shortly after the workshop, the Presidential Commission of the Urban Poor (PCUP) was created. The essential items as proposed by NACUPO, however, were not included in the commission's list of functions. Moreover, not one of the five commissioners appointed by the President belonged to the generally acknowledged urban poor organizations. And shortly after it started functioning, the PCUP even recommended demolition operations in areas like Talayan in Quezon City and Sta. Mesa in Manila in collaboration with the National Housing Authority. Tatay Eddie started denouncing the PCUP and the Aquino administration in rallies, demonstrations and TV talk shows. Nanay Feling recalls that at some point in time she expected their lives to quiet down with Marcos gone, only to be dismayed in realizing that Tatay Eddie would still have to fight it out with the oppressive forces and structures that perpetuate the urban poor's deplorable condition.
His consistent advocacy to the struggle for the rights and interest of the urban poor led him to that fateful day when he died fighting against the continuing violent demolition and eviction operations in the city's blighted communities. Until the last moment of his life, he was fighting for the cause he always proclaimed in his famous lines: "Ang karapatan sa paninirahan ay karapatan ng bawat mamamayan maging siya man ay maralita." Indeed, Tatay Eddie's life was the struggle for social justice. And he died fighting for it.
For all of us, Tatay Eddie is now a symbol in the urban poor movement. It has been a year since his mortal remains have joined the earth, but his memory remains above ground, leaving an indelible mark to the sector's continuing struggle for social justice.
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