FAST BACKWARD – The Palad odyssey

Born to the Bagobo parents, Palad and Ontas, in 1886, Santiago Palad was originally named Agol until he was baptized eight years later. He was one of those Bagobos with pierced ears sent from Davao to join the St. Louis Exposition in 1904 in the U.S. where he was taught to write his name but was unable to read and write. On his return, he married Oyog, a Bagobo maiden. The union bore four children, namely Matilde, Fructuoso, Francisco, and Leonila, also known by their Bagobo names as Inding, Olo, Oska, and Oning, respectively. When his wife died, he took another wife, Felicidad Ambat, whom he married under Roman Catholic rites.
His first and only foreign travel had a huge personal impact as soon as he returned from the exposition. He was now wearing the attire common to Christians and he acquired a taste for good articles and became a key village leader. After acquiring an understandable command of Cebuano and Tagalog, he was at times invited to make speeches during political rallies. It was in business, though, that he proved successful. Acquiring land through purchases from other Bagobos and occupying unclaimed lands, he formed a 35-hectare hacienda. Palad’s transformation, in a way, hid his being Bagobo. In documents, he did not mention he was a Bagobo. Even his lawyer and those he conducted business with him were not aware he was a native.
But Palad’s agrarian deals also were not entirely smooth. Between Jan. 26, 1923 and September 27, 1924, he executed land-related documents. The first deed, notarized by Juan A. Sarenas, Palad’s lawyer, was an antichresis, which ceded his abaca plantation at Guianga to K. Saito, a Japanese, for P20,925.09. Court records also show the land value in accounts he had with the Ohta Development Co., Mintal Plantation Co., Vicente Uy Tan Chang, and K. Saito.
Palad, on the strength of another deed, transferred to Saito the buildings on the land, the five hemp stripping machines, and the three carabaos for P5,333.46, which were to be deducted from the land value. Another deed was also executed transferring the plantation to Jose Madrazo in consideration of P3,500. The Japanese agreed to the sale since it was subject to the encumbrance in his favor under the contract of antichresis. To validate the third deed, it was acknowledged before the clerk of court of Davao. A promissory note of P3,400 was signed by K. Ohsihiro, plus a sum of P100 in cash.
As a result of the deal, Madrazo wanted possession of the plantation but was rebuffed. He filed two legal actions in 1925, one against Joaquin Ferraz, Santiago Palad, and Felicidad de Palad, who were favored to have ownership of the land in question, and the second was the charge filed by Palad against Saito and Madrazo as the principal defendants. After Palad died, his widow and the children by this first marriage succeeded the cases.
Rightly or wrongly, the fraud case filed against Palad ended in his favor. First, the court said there was fraud in the execution of the documents and the culprit was Saito. And second, any and all lands transacted by “non-Christians” must get the endorsement of the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes. Although a convert, Palad remained classified as “non-Christian” which, under Section 118, of Act No. 2874 or the Public Land Act, and affirmed by a circular issued by the BNT director on Jan. 22, 1925 and under BNT circulars of Feb. 1, 1924, and Nov. 28, 1927, should be interpreted administratively outside the religious undertones often associated with it.
The high tribunal, in affirming an earlier decision made by a lower court, also ruled that the defendants (those who claimed ownership of the plantation outside the Palad family) “jointly and severally… pay the plaintiffs the amount of P33,267.66.” No motions of reconsideration were allowed and no cost of litigation was awarded.