The struggle of local Filipino farmers has always been present. Through Maganda pa ang Daigdig, readers are given a clear picture of how vulnerable farmers are in the society, having landlords and other high-ranking authorities holding them by the neck.

The novel is written by Lazaro Francisco in 1955, a National Artist of the Philippines for Literature in 2009, who is well known for his skillful use of Tagalog and his choice of theme being social realism when writing his pieces.

“Paano ninyo gagamitin ang inyong mga sandata habang naghihintay kayo ng mga pagbabago?”

Set in the 1950s, the Philippines was still under the rule of Japanese authorities when the socialist guerilla movement Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (HUKBALAHAP) was rebelling in the provinces of Central Luzon. The novel revolves around the life of Lino Rivera, a farmer who has been falsely accused of committing two crimes. As Lino is tangled in the two cases against him, there are friends who show their care for him by helping him get out of jail as they prove his innocence, at the same time they keep an eye on his son.

“Binayaan kang mangmang ng iyong Pamahalaan. Sa amin ay may pagkakataon kang matuto at dumunong!

In the past, farmers during the Japanese occupation gathered together and formed the HUKBALAHAP as a sign of rebellion against the government. The excerpt above depicts the perspective of the farmers alongside the people who are unprivileged as well as how the government actually treats them; taking away their lands, unattending to their needs and looking down at them. Eventually, they become the oppressed in the society; the farmers, peasants and the like, yearning for fair treatment with enraged hearts that led to the rise of the formation of a socialist group to eliminate the Japanese forces and wealthy Filipinos. Their aim is to form their own regional government; collecting taxes and establishing their own laws different from the national government to cater their own needs.

With Francisco writing the novel in Tagalog and writing it in 1955, the sentence structure and certain vocabularies used are different from the Tagalog language that we know of today. Thus, making it quite complex to fully understand the difficult dialogues between the characters.

Despite that, the whole setting and theme of the novel is striking with how it shows a piece of Philippine history in the perspective of an oppressed person; how cases of theft were high, how the HUKBALAHAP continued to recruit more members, slowly persuading people similar to them to join them.

Although the novel is fictional, Francisco made it a point to reference his novel to what was evident during the 1950s, making the readers know more of the context during that time when the spirit of bayanihan was very much alive. 

Overall, this book will show you that despite the hardships thrown at you, especially if you are powerless and have little resources to fix it; in time, it will all be gone. It may be months or years, but with a heart that’s full of patience and optimism, you will be able to get through it. In the case in the novel, this was shown through the hardships farmers had to endure.

Maganda pa ang Daigdig was first serialized in Liwayway Magazine in 1955; then was published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press in 1982. Over the years, it has been republished under the same press. Now the novel is on its 9th edition, which was republished last 2012.

Curious to what choices would Lino Rivera take to be safe from the government? To be safe from the HUKBALAHAP? Maganda pa and Daigdig is available in local bookstores near you.