At 18, he finished law at the University of Sto. Tomas, but at that age, he was too young to take the bar yet, so he studied philisophy and literature in the meantime.

Through dint of hard work and talents, this young man who spoke Spanish fluently soon became an outstanding lawyer of his time. He worked in the law offices of the illustrious Don Felipe Agoncillo and later in the law offices of the great Claro M. Recto.

Don Juan, as Juan Rustia later became known, was born in Baliwag on May 26, 1898. He was the second of eight children of Cornelio Rustia and former Dorotea Sison, a famous couple in Baliwag. Their old family residence was located at Plaza Naning in the heart of town.

As a young lad, he was active in different civic groups, he was generous and amiable too. For him, it would seem that the greater the struggle, the greater the challenge to help specially th oppressed. In his mid-thirties, he had been an ardent campaigner of Partido Nacionalista Assemblyman Ricardo Gonzalez but nevertheless he chose to run as an independent candidate. Don Juan rose to national prominence when he took up the cudgels in 1934 for the poor tenants of Hacienda San Pedro Tunasan in Laguna and Hacienda Buenavista in San Ildefonso, Bulacan. He carried on a good fight for his principles and beliefs in politics and agriculture unil he died on May 6, 1951, a victim of heart attack.

His only daughter, Mrs. Glecy Rustia-Tantoco said in an interview that she inherited her father’s honesty and destiny. Mrs. Tantoco is the founder of the phenomenally successful Rustan Group of Companies which started in 1952.

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