BRIDGING THE GAP
Jose Ma. Nava, Ilonggo labor leader and writer
The most prominent labor leader to emerge from the ranks of Iloilo's educated middle class population in the early 20th century is Jose Maria Nava. He is reputed to be a major figure in the history of Philippine trade unionism. Coming from the more prosperous literati of Iloilo City, Nava was born in 1891 into a known merchant family in the heart of the city's commercial district. According to the studies of Alfred McCoy (1982), the Navas had been known as urban merchants for at least three generations and can trace their origin to Binondo in Manila. Both Nava's father and mother belonged to merchant families and were respected members of the Ilonggo community, especially in the city.
After finishing his elementary and secondary education in Iloilo, Nava went to Manila to take up painting and sculpture. After staying in Manila for several years, he returned to Iloilo where his artistic inclinations blossomed. He became active in both Spanish and Hiligaynon theater and, at the age of 26, produced his first zarzuela in Hiligaynon in 1912. He was at home with the Spanish language because he was raised in a Spanish-speaking household.
While devoting his time to writing zarzuelas (he had finished eight from 1912 to 1917), Nava was, at the same time, becoming active in journalism. During the period 1912-1917, he worked as editor of several of Iloilo City's English and Spanish dailies. In 1912, with financial support from his father, Nava established his own press and began publishing “La Prensa Libre”, a daily in Spanish, which became widely circulated in the 1920's and the 1930's. In addition, he also had other commercial ventures that made him financially stable, enabling him to get married and raise a big family.
Nava's greatest fame, however, rested on his becoming a labor leader. Although labor unions had been established earlier, they created very little impact on the city's working sector. In November 1917, however, Nava and his compadre, Vicente Ybiernas, also belonging to a well-to-do merchant family in Iloilo, called a meeting to form a far more active union that became popularly known as the “Union Obrera de Iloilo”. This was the union that became very active and was reasonably effective, winning for itself important concessions, most notably the right of Visayan Stevedoring and Transporting Co. (VISTRANCO) stevedores to be provided with plates at mealtimes (Makinaugalingon, December 8, 1921). Unfortunately, the Union Obrera collapsed in 1922 largely as a result of political factionalism (Makinaugalingon, January 12, 1923).
The period 1922 to 1928 was uneventful in so far as the labor union movement in Iloilo was concerned. Although several attempts were made they were relatively short-lived. In 1928, however, Iloilo's labor movement entered its greatest phase when a group of local leaders from Lapuz approached Nava and asked him to become president of a union they were organizing. Nava accepted the offer of leadership and, at a public ceremony several days later, proclaimed the new union, the “Federacion Obrera de Filipinas (FOF).
The FOF, under the leadership of Nava, grew into the Philippines' largest labor union with 185,000 members divided into some 200 gremios or workplace branches covering the whole of the Visayas and Mindanao (McCoy, 1982). Nava and his Union had won the unqualified support of the working stevedores and their elected officers. FOF found itself at the forefront of labor disputes from the late 1920s up to the 1930s. Such labor disputes became especially confrontational during the Depression years from 1929 to 1931. Through the efforts of FOF, Iloilo firms, especially those associated with the sugar business were forced to capitulate and grant many union demands. In all of these, Nava remained to be a relentless advocate of the union members' interest.