A PASSAGE OF AN ARTIST THRU TIME AND SPACE
by Popoy Castañeda

Popoy, the diver and guide, and the legendary Jacques-Yves Costeau study Palawan's hydrographic chart.

[See: A Betan's Journey Thru Time and Space, in Memoirs & Reminiscences

 

 

Part 3 - The Return of the Americans and the End of World War II

The column of tanks and armored vehicles soon drew abreast of our house and we saw sitting on the turret of the leading tank a Filipino with the Philippine flag draped around his shoulder and brandishing a submachine gun. He waved at us and Tio Gracing waved back and shouted ‘’Pempe’’! He was an acquaintance and movie star Jose Padilla Jr., a known guerilla leader. The armored column moved fast and then came the vehicles pulling artillery and they occupied and set up their cannons on the school ground across us. Soon we heard the sound of a firefight coming from the south where the column was going. The artillery battery started firing their cannons and  they would be at it the whole night and the whole day intermittently. That night the Americans came there was excitement and fear for every one especially my aunts and Lola Loleng. Together we spent a sleepless night in our air raid shelter praying.
 
Morning came and more soldiers came and set up a kitchen at the school building which formerly housed the Kempetai. In a short while an American soldier was soon conversing with Tatay who eventually invited him in the house. The sergeant's name was Lance and was the commander of the tank dug inside of our house. Tatay sketched him and the next morning the sergeant came with gifts of canned goods, corned beef, vienna sausage, etc. Then Tatay with his sketch book went across the street to the soldiers manning the Battery. He came back back with a lot of canned food from the soldiers in exchange for the sketches he made for them - Spam, vienna sausage, army fatigue, tins and combat rations complete with chewing gums and cigarettes.
 
But there was danger for the Japanese were firing back at the US Battery and we soon learned to be wary of the incoming enemy rounds which had the sound of rustling dry leaves. Lucky for us the Japanese artillery never found their target and just succeeded in gouging out holes on the school yard and Calle Juan Luna. Soon after Kuyang Erning de Leon came with news from the family in Palanyag and about the situation in the heart of the city, about the intense and fierce firefights, the massacre of civilians and the holdouts at the Spanish City of Intramuros. The family had returned to Palanyag and Kuyang Erning came to bring news and to ask us when we were going back home. The next day Kuyang Erning returned to Palanyag with his younger sister, Ate Telly. A week later things seemed to be quieting down and returning to normal. Tatay told me that Kuyang Erning particularly was sent to Gagalangin to take me back and told me to put a few things that I needed in my schoolbag, say goodbye to my cousins and Lola. By the next day we took off. 


Tatay and I started out for Palanyag with the lifting of curfew at daylight. We walked to the corner of Juan Luna and Solis Streets where we took a calesa to Blumentritt market. From there at Blumentritt we dropped by at Tatay’s cousins where we spent the rest of the morning exchanging news. Tatay was also able to get film for his camera from his cousin Fabing Rojas. After an early lunch we proceeded to walk to Calle Requesens where Nanay’s brother, Ninong Gusto ( Dr. Augusto Gregorio Sr), resided. We walked taking care on our way because of the damages on the structures incurred during the battle to capture the city. We were warned to be wary of land mines and unexploded ordinances. We could not pass on Rizal Avenue because the US Army had not opened it for civilian traffic. Tatay was taking photos since his cousin Fabing, who worked at Kodak Philippines gave him film for his camera, and making sketches of the ruins and rubbles. So what used to be a half hour walk took us 2 hours. It was late afternoon when we reached Ninong Augusto's apartment where Tatay spent most of the evening exchanging stories about the Liberation. Ninong Augusto gave us more updates about the fighting still raging in Intramuros where the Japanese were holding out. Since he was a doctor at the Santo Tomas University Hospital where the seriously wounded were being sent he was also able to arrange for an attendant of the hospital (I forgot his name but I think he was the attendant who married Inday, the maid who took care of Aurita and Junior) to go with us half way to Pandacan where boats were available to ferry you across the river and where army trucks were available to take people south to Baclaran.


We were able to start very early since Ninong Augusto had a curfew pass. We walked to the hospital where the attendant was waiting for us. Soon as curfew was off we started our walk. The attendant was going with us a far as Pandacan where boats ferried civilians across the Pasig river since all bridges were destroyed by the Japanese. Again we hade to take a circuitous route and surely I was slowing down the progress of our walk. Tatay and our companion had to carry me piggyback every now and then. It was was about 11 in the morning when we reached the crossing where we parted ways. The attendant was going home to Pasig and we were going south. We crossed on an outrigger banca paddled by a boatman, similar to the boat used at La Huerta by people from Santo Niño to cross the river to go to the market. After the crossing we ate our lunch made by Ninang Nita of rice and corned beef, After lunch we queued up for the Army 6x6 truck taking the people south as far as the Nichols Air Base, which is in Baclaran. (Tatay had a new US Army watch given by Ninong Augusto.) Later our truck came and when we boarded there were no seats. Everybody was standing up and soon we were on our way. Along the way we saw the ravages of war. We even caught glimpse of a Japanese corpse.


The trip took almost an hour since we could not speed up. We were dropped off at Baclaran where we queued in again for a ride south. It didn't take long when we got a ride on a small truck called a weapons carrier going to their base which was at the St. Andrews School ground (now Saint Paul College). The driver was an army cook who was very friendly and even introduced himself, Johnny. We soon reached Dongalo and there we queued up to cross the pontoon bridge since the Japanese blew up the bridge. Midway through the bridge we saw Tio Rasing, almost unrecognizable in combat fatigues, carrying a paratrooper’s carbine. (The Tio Rasing I used to know looked different, quiet, always smiling). Directing the bridge traffic at the La Huerta side he laughed when he saw us and shouted and waved at Johnny, who we found out was a family friend. We got off at the Plaza with Johnny telling Tatay he would see him soon.


A few steps took us to M.H. del Pilar. It was crowded with vehicular traffic. Apparently military vehicles had the exclusive use of the South Road from Las Piñas to La Huerta. Civilian traffic had to pass thru the inner streets and at La Huerta there was a check point manned by the guerillas just in front of our house. A few more steps and we were at the gate which to our surprise was guarded by two guerilla sentries. They were local boys who knew Tatay. One even knew me and ran upstairs to announce our arrival. A the foot of the stairs we noticed was a stack of rifles and the sala was full of men listening to instructions from their officer who was introduced to Tatay as Col. Jaime Ferrer. I noticed Tio Jose who was busy dressing the wound on the shoulder of a guerilla who was laying down at the wide bench by the front window. The guerilla, Mang Pico, was wounded, Col. "Jim" Ferrer proudly explained, during the firefight in the capture of Nichols Airbase 5 days ago where the local guerilla unit, the Hunters ROTC, took a major part and where Tio "Joe" Jose played a critical part when he was able to pinpoint a hidden machinegun implacement blocking the progress of the assault. Tio Jose was there as a medic. The American officer gave Tio Jose a paratroopers carbine in gratitude.


The house apparently was the operating base of the guerillas of the Hunters ROTC unit who were assigned to manage the town before civilian authorities could be organized and established. Our arrival stirred up excitement on the household and Tatay was busy answering questions about Nanay and Lito. Soon it was Angelus signalled by the church bell of the St. Andrew Church. It was also the signal for the stream of thousand of bats flying out of their roost in the cavernous ceiling of the ancient church. It was a common sight then when the church bells pealed the Angelus that the bats awakened and flew out in the nocturnal hunt for food. They flew out in a continuous steam that lasted for half an hour or so. Soon Kuyang Nil and Tio Rasing arrived and Auntie Auring took my things which I was carrying in a hand-me-down school bag from Kuyang Nil. Then I had to kiss all the elders' hands for Angelus blessings. Dinner was served with Col. Ferrer at the head the table. Then I asked the question - "Where is Tio Tabing"? Col. Ferrer in a very kind voice told me that he was still on duty at the army camp and would be home soon enough.


 Supper was just being cleared from the table when Johnny, the mess sergeant, came with a can of ice cream from the army mess. Soon everyone including the sentries ran downstairs to get their share. Johnny was also familiar with Col. Ferrer and they seemed to be sharing a story and laughing at a joke. We moved to the sala where Kuyang Nil and Johnny started playing on the piano. The story was that they met when Kuyang Nil who played the piano was playing jazz when Johnny passing by on his truck heard him and went up to see and meet Kuyang Nil. Johnny was an avid jazz musician back in the States. (Kuyang Nil or Nilcar Hallare*, the son of Dr. Marcelino Hallare, joined the Lord late last year. He was a resident of Daly City, California USA. He and I were raised by Auntie Auring Leonore de Leon. Kuyang Nil, a graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Business Administration, worked with computers at the Bank of America in San Francisco. He played the piano at The Curtain Calls, a jazz joint in San Francisco in the evening. He was also a very good photographer and maintained a hole in the wall photoshop in one of the side alleys along Powell Street. He was a devil on the keyboards).

 

  *Web note: Nilcar 'Nil' Hallare is UPD batch early 50's, though he is unlisted in the UP Beta Sigma Unified Directory. His son, Ferdinand 'Ferdz' Hallare, is UPD'91.

      

[This photo is posted in UPBSI website, Picture-an 1]

 

[This photo is posted in UPBSI website, Picture-an 4]

 

Auntie Auring took me to the bedroom to sort out the few things I had in my schoolbag: 2 pairs of red shorts (available on Sundays at the market at 1.00 Php, made in Binakayan), a khaki short for going to mass, 1 white t-shirt, a Superman sweatshirt, 2 white singlets, and a toothbrush. I had my slingshot with a small sock with round pebbles, my homemade diving goggles and a Boy Scout knife, a gift from Tatay. Tatay came in and told me he was leaving very early the next morning with Tio Rasing as escort. By that time the boys in the sala were dancing to either Kuyang Nil or Johnny’s piano playing. Despite my excitement I was soon asleep. I was rudely awakened by the sound of automatic gunfire and the area near the river at he back of San Nicolas chapel was lit up with flares and tracer bullets. We had to go down to the air raid shelter under the comedor. In a few minutes the firing ceased and soon the report came that it was a false alarm. A dog, for unknown reason, was swimming across the river which triggered the firing.


We went back upstairs after the all clear siren sounded. I woke up late and Tatay had already left with Tio Rasing for Gagalangin. I easily regained acquaintances with my playmates and it just took the whole day for me to be at home again. This time we learned to play with new and dangerous toys. Just lighting up fires at one time we even managed to detonate a Japanese potato masher hand grenade. Often we just fired rifle rounds by punching the primers with nails. We also learned to make necklaces of the bullets. (The amusement for those toys soon stopped when a 12 year boy from Santo Niño, then called Ibayo, was killed and 2 or 3 were hospitalized when a 30-mm mortar round exploded while they were tinkering with it). I earned a session with the bamboo fence slats from Lola Tina when it was found out I was one of the boys often seen playing with live ammunition.


In the meantime the question of the absence of Tio Tabing remained unanswered. Everyday I saw Lola Juana crying in front of the altar of the Sacred Heart and also the old women praying with her in the afternoon. Even I was occasionally asked if Tio Tabing was home already. Tio Tabing was a major of the Hunters ROTC guerilla unit that was operating on the western slopes of the Sierra Madre mountains between the provinces of Bulacan and Rizal. He commanded a unit responsible for the liquidation of top Japanese officers and his nom de guerre was Major de la Rama..There were news of him being killed in action. Earlier he was supposedly killed when the US submarine resupplying the guerillas in Infanta, Quezon was attacked by Japanese planes. Another was he was killed in action in a firefight with Japanese troops in the town of Norzagaray. Hopes went up when Col. Terry Adevoso, the command of the Hunters ROTC guerilla regiment, came in with the news that Major de la Rama’s unit was attached to a US Army unit pursuing Gen. Yamashita thru the Sierra Madre. Weeks passed and still no one came home and the rumor came again that he was killed in action in a firefight with a rear guard unit of Gen. Yamashita. Everybody seemed to have accepted this version of story and the town had given a ceremony honouring him and calling him a hero. The prayer novena for the dead for him was finished and we seem to have accepted his demise. In the same week my Tatay, Nanay & brother Lito came fetched by Tio Rasing and Lolo Camilo in his caretela.


It was a very gloomy afternoon because it had been raining off and on. Lola Juana was in the sala talking with Nana Toria, Lola Cilia, Auntie Orang and Lola Tina (Justina Santos). It was quiet except for the patter of raindrops on the nipa roof when suddenly there was shouting along M.H. del Pilar Street I was in the bedroom pretending to sleep when it started then the old folks at the sala were shouting and running downstairs thinking fire. I ran behind Auntie Auring and when I reached the bottom I saw a tall figure in uniform with the rank insignia of a gold oak leaf of a major. The major was embraced by Lola Juana and Auntie Orang. He was sunburned tarnished with jaundice of malaria. It was Tio Tabing or Major Oscar de la Rama He was grim-faced trying to calm down everybody. Behind Tio Tabing were his companions, a Filipino lieutenant and 2 other soldiers. One was wearing shorts and looked like a Japanese. I noticed the hunting knife and .45 cal pistol on his utility belt. He was also carrying the army haversack I presumed belonged to Tio Tabing.


The cluster of Tio Tabing and Lola Juana went upstairs and we took the back stairs. It was chaotic upstairs with women crying - Lola Juana, Tina, Lola Cilia, Auntie Orang. Everybody was trying to speak. Then Tio Tabing started to speak and the crowd quieted down and listened to him talk. His unit was attached to a unit of the US Army pursuing Gen. Yamashita. When they reached the foothills of the Cordilleras in Nueva Vizcaya they were relieved by another guerilla unit. Then they were assigned to sweep the lower western slope of the Sierra Madre for Japanese stragglers up to Tanay. Rizal. They made the sweep and on this operation they captured and had taken prisoner a Taiwanese conscript. It was then and only then were they allowed to return to camp and eventually given leave. The Japanese-looking person turned out to be a Taiwanese conscripted in the Imperial Army and defected to the unit of Major dela Rama. The other guerilla officer was a lieutenant, Totoy Samaniego.


That night there was a continued stream of visitors and luckily Col. Jim Ferret came and and quieted down the revelers to give Tio Tabing and the family rest. The homecoming of TioTabing completed and provided reason for a homecoming and thanksgiving on Lola Juana’s birthday on June 24, St. John the Baptist’s feast day. Concurrently Tio Jose with Miss Aida Gopez, the cathechist who was giving me a daily cathechism lesson to prepare me for Holy communion, agreed and decided that I was ready to receive my first communion and scheduled it on June 24. The day was also the anniversary of the enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the De Leon household. The Feast Day of St. John the Baptist was a special day for Palanyag and the people celebrated it by getting wet and seeing to it that everybody got wet. Nobody could get out in the street and stay dry. We had the Thanksgiving mass with my first communion early to avoid getting wet. We had a photograph taken of the whole family. It was a whole day celebration including a few hours on the beach, a lunch with lechon courtesy of the Pascuals of Nasugbu, Batangas and the special spaghetti of Auntie Orang Feliciano made with chicken, chorizo de bilbao and vienna sausage. In the afternoon to cap it off was the Rosario Cantada in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus enthronement at the De Leon domicile. 


In a few more months Gen. Yamashita surrendered and in another month or so the war ended with the atomic bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Gen. Tomoyoki Yamashita, the Tiger of Malaya, was executed and hanged at Los Baños (now the campus of the University of the Philippines). Tio Tabing and Tio Rasing were soon honorably discharged from their military service and returned to civilian life.

 

[These are online photos]

THE END

 

Links:

      o Part 1   - My Life in La Huerta

      o Part 1a - Palanyag 1940

      o Part 2  - Start World War II 

     o Part 3   - End World War II

 

 

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