NOVEMS'E.P.Vol. XII-No.. 301 41949 / '·'l"l ·i< ; rt- - • .. A. SORIANO Y Cia. Administration-Insurance • Geneml Agents .fo1· COMMONWEALTH INSURANCE CO. THE HOME INSURANCE CO. UNION INSURANCE SOCIETY OI; CANTON, LTD. GREAT AMERICAN INDEMNITY CO. Fl II J·:-)1.\ II I :S E-E.\llTHCll." .\ KE-)IOTOll ('.\HS-WOHK'.\I E~'.S ccn1 PE)iS.\'f'I()~, ~l'HE'J'Y BOXDS SORIANO BLDG. Plaza CerYantes Tel. 2-79-61 MANILA Tl1e Only l11clepe11de11t / .After11oon l'?e1 L'S pn per / • Proven by four years of faithful public patronage• • Presents vital facts, complete and unsuppressed • Caters to no political party, sect, or entity • Dedicated to a firm espousal of the common wel­ fare • Reliable, fearless, fair - ~ruly independent Conscious of the mission of a newspaper to serve as true recorder of events and advocate everything lor 1'11e public good, the EVENING NEWS has consistently followed a policy of independence to bring you the latest and most complete news without fear or favor. ( Q[h'tlEotnini;News I nRSt II NEWS• FIRST IN Tl!E AFTERNOON flE11 _) November 30, 1949 THE MANILA GUARDIAN Page 3 EDITORIAL THE MANILA GUARDIAN Independent Monthly Magazine Founded in 1937 Puhli.~hcr OUR NATIONAL HEROES PEDRl > l'.\DIJ.L.\ Editor ~lt)lSES T. GUEHHERO This issue of the MANILA GUARDIAN is humbly ::\fanaging Editor dedicated to our national heroes particularly those who I\lIL\CH.US .-\. R<Dll.LO gave their lives to the caµse of the underground move­ Bu:-ine::-:.:.; ).Ianager & Senetary-Trea~tnl'r ment during the Japanese occupation. l!El.E:\ l'ER!Ol'FT .\dH1·ti:.;i11g; :'<.li1~1ag:er Most of these brave men and women were Fili­ pinos. Many however were foreigners but who cher­ l...::_\f < l. J>ETER~EX ished the Philippines as their own country which, like Cirntlation ::\lana.~cr ·theirs, was fighting to preserve democracy and free­ dom against the onslaught of a common enemy. Many of the heroes and martyrs of th~ resistance TABLE OF CONTENTS movement were given choices to make by the conque­ rors. One choice, tempting in itself, called for their THEY SLEEP AN UNEASY SLEEP ·cooperation in preaching the gospel of thP so-called By Teodoro F. Valencia co-prosperity sphere, with the promise of immunity IF YOU MUST, LOOK FOR ME MANYWHERES from harm and possib]y easy life at a time when the By Fred Ruiz Castro fundamental struggle for existence was at its height. RETROSPECT ON THE OCCUPATION The other was torture or death. A Recollection It was not hard for them to pick the second choice OUR UNKNOWN DIPLOMAT 18 and they faced torture and death with calmness, forti­ By Moises T. Guerrero tude and determination to resist the enemy. There THE LAST DAYS IN BATAAN 21 were thousands upon thousands all over the Philip­ By Leon Ma. Guerrero pines who made this choice but whose memory today LETTER TO A WAR WIDOW 26 is only remembered by their kin and close friends. No By Yay Agusl'in cross or stone even marks their graves. DR. HAWTHORNE DARBY 31 By Narciso Ramos The Philippine Ex-Political Prisoners' Association whose members are the survivors of those who made THREE LIVES TRIUMPHANT 32 Br Yong Sepeng the alternative choice has fittingly chosen this day to pay tribute to their comrades in the resi~bmce. Set­ THE WAR CLAIMS COMMISSION 34 ting for the observance which has bec'lme traditional T /5 OLSON, G. I. 40 since the liberation is Fort Santiago which to them has By Manuel E. Buenafe become the symbol of political oppression. THE PEPPA-IN RETROSPECT 43 By Milagros A. Romulo The rites at the Fort Santiago program will mean CHINA'S NOBLE HEROES IN THE PHILIPPINES 45 very little by way of assuaging the sense of loss among By Ildefonso T. Runes the widows and orphans of the resistance hero~s. But HISTORY OF FORT SANTIAGO 49 they will express the hope that must have heen in the VOICE FROM THE GRAVE 52 minds of these heroes themselves before they died, the By Conrado Gar. Agustin hope that their nation will forever be free from for­ BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 54 eign aggressors and that it shall forever be the bul· WHEN WE "WON" 59 wark of freedom and democracy in this part of the By Luis M. Enriquez world. WHAT P.1. CHINESE DID FOR DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM 66 By Vicente L. del Fierro The MANILA GUARDIAN joins in cherishing CAPAS MEMOIRS 71 this hope. By Ferdinand E. Morcos THE MAJ\"ILA GL"ARDIAN IS PUBLI:'JIEll IN THE ('l'fY OF MA!'/! LA, PHILIPl'INElS WITH ~:lllTOHIAL ANll BUSIN~~S!':i OFFICES AT ROOM .~111 SAMANILLO llf,])(;,, ESCOLTA. F. BDJ BHILL .. \NTES. PUBLISHER; PBlllW l'AIJllLA, EDITOH; MOISES '!'. <;l;EHRERO. MA­ NA«IN(; ElllTOH; MILA(;JlOS A. R0:\1ULO. BUStNEi'~ MANAt<ER; HELEN PEHIQUE'T. AIJVEHTISIN<; MAN .. u;EH; KAI 0. l'E'n:J{:-;EN, cmcULATIOK M.\NA<;Ell. ~1ACARTO :-;oMEH.\, M.\K_.\(;~;n, \L\Sll!Nr;TON BUHEAU. 611;, BARR BI,nr;., W.\SHJN(;T():-/, JU'., JOSE Il. B.\1- LJo;sTEROS, MANAl;En. HON'OLULU h'UREAU. Ho:-:ou:Lu, HAWAII. 1o;wn;1u:n AS SJ.:CONJ) CLASS MA'rn;]( AT TIH: :1!.\i\'lL.\ !'OST OF- Fl('Jo; ON NOVEMBER 11, 1!1·16. SUllSC'.l!Jl'TION ML'ST BE PAID JN AllVANTE :\Nil ,\[)llllEJSSJo;Jl lllltECTJ,y TO THE l'UHLl:O:.li}o~H. 1•1.1>11 .\ YEAR l"~.;,o SIX MONTHS. l•'OHEH;N, llOUBl,E THE 1,0CAL RA Tgs. POSTAGE INCLUDED. Page 4 THE MANILA GUARDIAN November 30, 1949 THEY SLEEP AN UNEASY SLEEP By TEODORO F. VALENCIA In the national cemetery at Capaa, Tarlac, lie the row were denunziations and cat-caUs and bitterness was in upon row of crosses, symbols of sacrifice and unselfish de­ the air. Roxas had to fight off charges of collaboration. votion to flag and country. But for the formalism of mod­ The '1super-patriots" were mostly on the side of Osmeiia. em day hero worship, the dead are forgotten. Speeches Reaction was violent and bitter. Roxas won in a closely and messages on the occasion of National Heroes' Day fall contested election and became President. But even his on empty ears in a post-war world embittered and con­ election was not to end the name-calling. He found out fused. These are the dead, victims of the greed and the he had to chant the song of his enemies if he were to re­ ambitions of the living. Our heroes rest uneasy and un­ tain the goodwill of America which was by then steeped remembered. We might as well resign ourselves to this. in the propaganda of the early 1946 patriots. Joy greeted the returning heroes of the liberation, the In the ensuing confusion, the dead at Capas became U. S. Armed Forces and the guerrilla units that helped insignificant. But for the empty speeches on National rescue whole communities from the brutal army of occupa­ Heroes' Day, the nation practically shelved the dead. Even tion. But even before the surrender of Japan, bitterness todAy, these heroic sons of the Philippines cry for their began to set in aa the cliques of absentee patriots started due. Most of the widows and orphans of the dead at Capas sowing the seeds of hate in the hearts of the Filipinos. are still uPable to find a sympathetic ear because their names were crowded out by the numberless fake guer­ Returning heroes fresh from Washington were soon rillas and the collaborators who sought refuge in make­ making sure they alone would merit the love and admira­ believe patriotic records. tion of the people, perhaps to win all elections thereafter. General Carlos P. Romulo, Tomas Cabili, Tomas Confesor In the People's Court guerrilla leaders freely gave testi­ monies to save their friends, certified to their "under­ and wartime cabinetmen in Washington'~ government-in­ exile were out to wrest the political hold by painting every­ ground" records and included the indictees in the rosters body as a collaborator. There were talks of bitter recri­ of units. Everyone claimed some record of service with minations against the "traitors" who were those who had the underground. been within ten feet of a Japanese sentry. For sometime, in early 1946 public servants, even clerks who served in the occupation government, were The stay-at-home Filipinos who suffered the agony of threatened with non-readmission. Later, this policy had three Jong years of starvation and brutality knew who to be revised. Today, the publiz employees who served were the "traitors." They, too, thought they would help during the Japanese time are even given three years' back­ in rounding out the real collaborators and bring about pay. But not before every public employee had managed justice. These well-meaning people found themselves col­ to be guerrillas. · laborators as well. They too, would be tried and made to account for their acts. The claims of guerrillas are admittedly fantasti::. Even genuine guerrillas admit this. This could not have hap­ Many a collaborator who enriched himself during the pened if we had adopted a rational approach towards the Japanese time and actually helped the Japanese found it problem of rollaboration. The Leyte speech of President expedient to join the conquerors, to seek recognition with Sergio Osm~iia outlining a sane and humane approach to some guerrilla unit or to establish connections as members the prnblem was easily put aside in the rush for power of the underground. The picture becamo confused.