Get To Know Them: The WWII Soldiers and Guerillas of Calauan, Laguna

A short stay in the town plaza of Calauan, Laguna enabled me to come in contact again with some details about the Second World War II. Standing resiliently despite the passage of time and obvious wear are two simple monuments in honor of the soldiers (who were attached to the USAFFE) and guerillas during this particular war.

 

The crooked rifle on top of one of the monuments seemed to me a sign on how we see now that event and the people from that event. If one really continues to venerate these recent heroes, they one should not see the sad state of such monuments. As the common saying goes: “If you are in love, it shows.” Hopefully this would serve as a gentle reminder to the officials of the local government to take the lead in refurbishing the monuments.

One should also not be limited with just looking at those monuments. Reading the inscriptions would prove to be an insightful activity especially to the historically inclined. One part seemed like a poem (with all those rhyming end-of-line words), a manifesto of the capability of the townsfolk of Calauan to offer their lives to the Motherland.

HANDOG NG CALAUAN SA KANYANG INANG BAYAN

NOONG NAKARAANG IKALAWANG DIGMAANG PANDAIGDIG
INIALAY NANG* CALAUAN ANG ILANG ANAK NA KAIBIG-IBIG
UPANG IPAGTANGGOL ANG ATING INANG BAYAN
DOON SA TANGWAY NG LALAWIGAN NG BATAAN

NILISAN NG MGA ANAK NA ITO ANG KANI-KANILANG TAHANAN
AT DI PINANSIN ANG HINAHARAP NA PANGANIB AT KAHIRAPAN
HUMAWAK SILA NG MGA SANDATA UPANG HARAPIN
ANG MGA KAAWAY NA ANG NAIS AY TAYO’Y LUPIGIN

DOON SA BATAAN SILA NAKIPAG-HAMOK
NAGTIIS NG HIRAP GUTOM UHAW AT PAGOD
ITINIGIS ANG DUGO IBINUWIS ANG BUHAY AT DANGAL
ANG LAHAT AY ALANG-ALANG SA BAYANG PINAKAMAMAHAL

ITO AY GINAMPANAN NG MGA BAYANI NG BATAAN
UPANG MAKAPAG-IWAS NG BAKAS SA MGA BATA PANG ISISILANG
NA ANG MAGMAHAL MAGTANGGOL AT MAGTAGUYOD SA KALAYAAN
AY TUNGKULIN NG LAHAT SA ATING INANG BAYAN

USAFFE VETERANS
CALAUAN LAGUNA
1941 – 1945

* (I’m not that sure about this phrase as I could no longer read them from my photograph.)

Another part, which is more factual, is a short list of the USAFFE soldiers who came from Calauan, Laguna. Fortunate were those whose names were included. However, I feel that behind the stone monument, other names that are now lost to us present generation deserve spaces in the inscriptions.

 

ANG MGA NAKATALA AY MGA BETERANO SUNDALONG USAFFE (UNITED STATES ARMY FORCES IN THE FAR EAST) NA HANDOG NG BAYAN CALAUAN LALAWIGAN NG LAGUNA NOONG NAKARAANG DIGMAANG PANDAIGDIG (WORLD WAR II) 1941 – 1945

NICANOR P ANGELES / AMBROSIO A BALDOVINO / CATALINO R BARLETA / VICENTE G BISCOCHO / BARTOLOME C CAPOL / NEMESIO M CARTA / GREGORIO A GLORIA / JUAN T GONZALES / DOMINADOR N HOSTALERO / MATEO T LADRA / BENEDICTO C. LAVARNEZ / PABLO R LOPEZ / TEODULO R MANITO / ARSENIO G MARFORI / FRATERNO M MARFORI / RAMON G MARFORI / FEDERICO B MERCADO / QUIRINO M MILLAR / POTENCIANO NAMA / ENRIQUE OCTAVIO / PERFECTO V PAJADAN / URBANO C PAJARIT / JUAN M PEREZ / PORFIRIO SANTO DOMINGO / JOSE B VALENCIA / CIRILO C DEL VALLE

As a final thought, I think it was this character of this particular part in our history that made its lasting appeal to me: its recentness. I mean the proximity of the years between 1941 and 1945 to the present time which makes it an interesting area to study. For someone not strictly a historian or a history major, this episode in our history presents an opportunity to widen one’s knowledge, understanding, and insights about our collective past as a nation.

 

Mabini 150 Lectures Schedule

In connection with the 150th birth anniversary of the Philippines’ Sublime Paralytic Apolinario Mabini, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines presents the following lectures for 2014 and 2015:

Kawing Ng Mga Intelektual na Pilipino Mula Kay Balagtas Hanggang Kay Mabini
August 16, 2014 | 09:00 am
Prof. Lars Ubaldo (DLSU Manila)
Barasoian Church Historical Landmark

Ang Kontemporaryong Kabuluhan ni Apolinario Mabini sa Kabataang Pilipino
September 6, 2014 | 10:00 am
Dr. Neil Marcial Santillan (UP Diliman)
Emilio Aguinaldo Shrine

Ang Tanauan ni Mabini: Kung Paano Hinubog ng Isang Bayan ang Isang Pambansang Bayani
October 29, 2014 | 09:00 am
Dr. Maria Luisa Camagay (UP Diliman)
Mabini Shrine Tanauan

Si Apolinario Mabini at ang Florante at Laura
November 28, 2014 | 08:00 am
Dr. Emmanuel Nadera (UP Diliman)
Marcelo H. del Pilar Shrine

Ang Verdadero Decalogo ni Apolinario Mabini
December 15, 2014 | 10:00 am
Dr. Paul A. Dumol (University of Asia and Pacific)
Museo ng Katipunan Pinaglabanan Memorial Shrine

Apolinario Mabini: Ang Kanyang Diwa at Panulat Tungo sa Kalayaan at Pagkabansa
January 14, 2015 | 09:00 am
Dr. Ma. Bernadette Abrera (UP Diliman)
Quezon Memorial Shrine

Kalayaan sa Pananaw ni Rizal at Mabini
February 18, 2015 | 09:00 am
Dr. Augusto de Viana (University of Sto Tomas)
Rizal Shrine Calamba

Pagtatagpo ng Isip ni Rizal at Mabini
March 20, 2015 | 10:00 am
Dr. Ambeth Ocampo (Ateneo de Manila University)
Rizal Shrine Fort Santiago

Mabini’s Cause of Paralysis: Guillain-Barre Syndrome
April 3, 2015 | 09:00 am
Jiggs Gilera, M.D. (Batangas Historian)
Mabini Shrine Tanauan

Mabini’s Thoughts on Nation-Building Through His Letters
May 18, 2015 | 09:00 am
Prof. Dwight Diestro (UP Los Baños)
Museo ng Katipunan Pinaglabanan Memorial Shrine

Ang Pagsuko Bilang Pagpapakita ng Nasyonalismo Noong Digmaang Pilipino-Amerikano
June 12, 2015 | 09:00 am
Prof. Rhodalyn Wani-Obias (UP Diliman)
Malvar Historical Landmark

Si Mabini at ang Unang Republika ng Pilipinas
July 15, 2015 | 01:00 pm
Dr. Emmanuel Calairo (DLSU Dasamariñas)
Mabini Shrine, PUP

For more information contact:
Historic Sites and Education Division
Telephone Number (02) 254-7483 local 131
hsed@nhcpp.gov.ph

Easter Sunday in Calauan, Laguna

 

The coming of the Easter Sunday brought in a festive mood as the Holy Week ended. In San Pablo Catholics had the annual Encuentro and they conducted it together with a brief show of fireworks.

We opted to troop in a single jeepney ride to Calauan, Laguna where we blended in with the locals taking a breather in their small park (in the center of which stand a tall pinya or piña statue). It was calming indeed to see the sun set on the western horizon as the churchgoers headed back to their homes. I have always been fascinated by that rural feel I always feel whenever I visit a Laguna town. The last mass of the Easter in Calauan started at seven in the evening but we chose to stay in the park in darkness.

There was one sad detail I saw: a planned construction of a canopy just outside the church facade. Given not all people could be accommodated at a single mass but it is not enough reason to erect what could be an ugly shape in front of the church. Given, this may not have been the original place where the first town church was built but as a form of respect to the original designers of the church, that canopy should not be built there at all. It’s quite sad, but based on the tarpaulin bearing all these “happy” news, the construction is a go already.

The coming of the Easter signalled the end of one of the high holidays of the Catholics but it also signalled the end of the longish vacation. Back to work!

 

Black Saturday: A Night of Anticipation

Black. Dark. Solemn. And together with the echoing voices inside the Cathedral, the night of Black Saturday is indeed reserved for a night of anticipation. I was just wondering why the people we saw outside had to burn some wood as the mass started. Did it have something to do with the night’s or tomorrow’s activities?

  

2014 Good Friday Procession in San Pablo City, Laguna

Regalado Trota Jose says in his book “Simbahan”:

“The Spaniards found out early in their conquests that they shared the Filipinos’ love for color and ritual, and thus made much of the Church Resplendent – aromatic incense, interminable processions, droning chants, gleaming vessels, gorgeous robes, sumptuous decorations – in bringing the natives to the churches.”

And indeed their desire to convert the natives to the Catholic fold has gone a long way. For even today, such religious pomp is still easily seen in religious activities. 

The highlight of Good Friday in San Pablo, as always, was the procession of the carozas kept by some of the well-known and wealthy families in the city. Each of the carriages depicts a scene in the life of Jesus. The rebultos were garbed in robes of different colors (red, maroon, brown, etc.), and decked in garlands made from different flowers and plants. These ornaments have always been the target of the devout for they were blessed by priests in the ceremony in the Cathedral patio before plying the pre-determined route.

 

The aforementioned ceremony is held together with the group from the parish along with celebrities, singers, and most recently, politicians. Of course, one could not miss the presence of Don Ado Escudero who keeps most of the carozas in their good conditions. As the carriages pass by the makeshift stage, they are sprinkled with holy water with the appropriate songs of music in the background.

 

 

As a child, the passing of the rebultos near our street has always instilled awe and fear mainly because of the frozen expressions and the good play of lights in the carozas. Within the procession prayers are uttered almost non-stop. There are also mourners set to walk along the procession, and there are even people acting out Jesus’ supposed walk from Jerusalem to Golgotha where he was alleged to have been crucified.

 

 

 

 

 

Although the procession has attracted the devout, the tourists, and the curious alike, one cannot ignore the fact that this annual event has taken a form akin to a feast with all the side-street vendors and the general atmosphere that can be more associated with fiestas. In any case, if that makes them go to church and pray then there seems to be no problem with that.

Inside the Cathedral, prayers were just starting for the vigil and the anticipation of the Resurrection on Sunday.


Entry Reference:
Jose, Regalado Trota Jose. “Simbahan:  Church Art in Colonial Philippines 1565-1898.” Ayala Foundation, Inc., 1992.