Why ‘Edjop’ became ‘U.G.’

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I was five when Edgar Jopson became famous for leading young Filipinos against corruption and political abuse under Ferdinand Marcos in 1969. I was an 18-year-old student at UP Diliman when he was killed in a military raid in Davao in 1982. The following year, Edjop was back in the public eye as one of five martyrs featured on a now famous mural displayed in the historic funeral march for Ninoy Aquino.

It was a fascinating journey of a young, brilliant leader who sacrificed a life of wealth and privilege to join the fight against a dictatorship. I knew I had to tell that story.

I spent two years interviewing people who knew him — from organizers and factory workers in Manila, activists and rebels in Bataan and Mindanao, to the military officer who admired Edjop the student leader — and who later commanded the raid that led to his death.

My book, Edjop, The Unusual Journey of Edgar Jopson, was published in 1989.  Two years later, it was republished in New York under the title, Rebolusyon: A Generation of Struggle in the Philippines.

I thought I was done with Edjop’s story. But years later, as the movement he helped lead began to fall apart, I realized that I had written an incomplete account of a great Filipino’s awe-inspiring story. 

Edjop helped build a movement of Filipinos committed to social justice. But that movement had a dark side, a culture of dogmatic arrogance that inspired cruelty and violence.

It was a troubling realization. I had written a biography that was not only incomplete. My book was, in many ways, misleading. I had failed to properly honor the life and sacrifices of a great man. 

After a couple of sleepless nights wrestling with this guilt, I reached out to Karina Bolasco of Anvil who agreed to give me another opportunity to tell Edjop’s story. 

U.G. An Underground Tale was published in 2006. A second edition was published in 2019. This is the third edition of the book. 

A lot has changed in the political realm and beyond since the book first came out. One thing has become clearer for me. Edjop’s story is, and has always been, deeply personal, not just for me but also those who read about his journey.

Lawyer Oscar Franklin Tan had just turned three when Edjop died. I got to know him after he reached out to share how U.G. influenced his understanding of the past. “U.G. allows us to intimately picture how a youth just like us struggled against the Philippines’ descent into chaos,” he said. “U.G. empowers us to believe that should martial law return, our generation can stand equally ready to defend our democracy.”

Another young man, Rey Agapay, was also three when Edjop was killed. I came across a letter he wrote to Joyette Jopson, Edjop’s daughter, after he read U.G. 

“I couldn’t put it down. Gusto ko lang sabihin sa’yo na idol ko ang tatay mo, ang nanay mo, ikaw, at ang buong pamilya n’yo. Mas lalo akong napabilib at namangha nang mabasa ko na ang kuwento niya…. I’ve always felt that I owe a lot to your father’s generation, kasi sila talaga ‘yung nag-sacrifice ng normal na pamumuhay para lang makapag-aral ako sa UP nang hindi nahihinto dahil may diktaturyang kailangang kalabanin. Dahil isinantabi ng tatay mo ang komportableng buhay, at isang financially rewarding career path.”

Writing U.G. gave me fresh insights into his story. One of the materials I used to write Edjop was a cassette recording that begins with a simple greeting: “To Nonoy, on your fifth birthday from Tatay and Nanay.”

Edjop and Joy were living underground in Mindanao when they made the tape for their son, Noy, in 1980. On the 20-minute recording, they sing activist songs and ask how he is doing in school. They tell him stories of life in the resistance with ordinary Filipinos who bore the brunt of the dictatorship’s cruelty.

“We are still living in a probinsya, but it’s different from the place you visited before,” Edjop says. “Here we also have a lot of good friends, the poor, the masa. Ordinary people. They are good to us. They share their food, their blankets, their pillows, with us. They let us stay in their houses. They help us in many ways. When you come here, we will introduce you to them.”

Noy never got the chance to meet the people Edjop was fighting for and who in turn embraced and welcomed his parents to their communities. Edjop was killed in a military raid in Davao two years after they recorded the message.

Listening to the recording was a moving experience for me when I was writing Edjop in my 20s. It was an overwhelming experience when I was writing U.G. 

As I listened to Edjop’s voice once again, I felt a tightness in my chest and choked up. I had to stop playing the tape a few times. I was then 42, eight years older than Edjop when he was killed. By then, I was also a parent, the father of two young boys. Suddenly, the magnitude of Edjop’s sacrifice became clearer, more daunting.

This relaunching of U.G. coincides with the release of Edjop, the film produced by Joyette and directed by Katski Flores. The film was based on U.G., but it also goes beyond the book as it retells Edjop’s story through the eyes of Joyette as she reflects on her father’s life and how it shaped her own.

The film underscores the power of Edjop’s story. And its importance.

 At a time when forces of cruelty and greed in the Philippines, the United States and many parts of the world are distorting and trying to erase the past, we will and must keep telling and retelling Edgar Jopson’s story. We must keep striving to understand our past, our history, in order to move forward. We must always remember and honor those who embraced a life of sacrifice and courage for social justice and freedom.

As I told an interviewer in 2020 after the second relaunch of U.G., writing this book has been one of the most meaningful chapters in my own journey as a writer. Edjop’s 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.

I dedicate this third edition to the memory of two dear friends who also accomplished so much for our people, Susan Quimpo and Victor Paz. This is also for Anton, Paolo and Mara, the most important people in my life. – Rappler.com

U.G. An Underground Tale will be relaunched at the Manila International Book Fair on September 10, at 3:30 pm.