Philippine History: Chapter 21 - President Ramon Magsaysay and His Victorias Connection

Chapter 21 - President Ramon Magsaysay and His Victorias Connection

Walking through Magsaysay Street one afternoon while taking photographs of a religious procession, I realized there was a historical trivia somewhere along the way, literally.

This two-lane, cemented road, that's about 390 meters along, starts from Osmeña Avenue (formerly Calle Real) and ends at Quezon Street of Victorias City in Negros Occidental, Philippines. 

So, I did some digging. Historical digging, that is.

I discovered that the Magsaysay Street was just a cleared path purposely made so that there would be a road from the Catholic church straight to the old cemetery in Malinong. When this path was finished, it was just a dirt road back then with tall trees and shrubbery lining its sides.

And at the other end of the path was the old cemetery. Yes, the Fer-Mont Village, or Malinong Village used to be a cemetery in Barangay 7. It was probably called 'malinong', the Hiligaynon word that means serene or peaceful, because the place was exactly that: serene, quiet and peaceful. 

Well, that area was malinong as it became the final resting place for all the Victoriahanons who died sometime in the 1934 until the 1960s when a new site for a public cemetery located at the northern outskirts of the town was donated by Sr. Gonzalo Ditching and Sra. Simeona Jingco. 

The decayed coffins, human remains, and the sacred soil they were laid on were all transferred to the public cemetery on the donated land. But I heard, after all these years, during certain excavations, some skeletons were still being unearthed in Malinong.

(Locating Magsaysay Street in Victorias City

using Google Earth)

But going back to Magsaysay Street, do you know the history on how it was named after the late President Ramon Magsaysay?

Simple. He had a good friend in Victorias.

As I have written blogs about the Montinola family's personal interactions and relationships with the past Philippine presidents, from Don Felix Montinola and President Manuel Quezon who helped build the município in the 1930s to Don Benito Montinola, Sr. (mayor from 1950 to 1953 and from 1956 to 1959), and President Diosdado Macapagal, there's another piece of history that's worth sharing.

In 1953, when Ramon Magsaysay was campaigning for his presidential candidacy, he came to Victorias to court its voters. He was then running against the incumbent president, Elpidio Quirino, who was seeking another term. After all the votes were counted for the November 10, 1953 elections, Magsaysay handily won over Quirino.

And when Ramon Magsaysay was already president and Benito Montinola, Sr. just finished his first term as mayor, their paths crossed in 1954 in Iloilo. That was when and where they both became good friends. President Magsaysay even inspired Don Benito to run again as mayor of Victorias in 1956; he won.

Sadly, on March 17, 1957, President Ramon Magsaysay was killed when his plane that was en route to Manila crashed at Mount Manunggal in Cebu Province, shocking of the whole nation and plunging the Filipinos into grief, including his friend in Victorias. President Magsaysay was known as the Champion of the Masses.

And to honor the late president, in 1958, during the mayorship of his friend, Don Benito Montinola, Sr., the town council of Victorias named that road from the parish church to the old cemetery as Magsaysay Street.

And to honor a friend, Don Benito named his youngest son Ramon, who was born the day the late president died.😋

(Former mayor Don Benito Montinola, Sr. 

with President Ramon Magsaysay at Iloilo City sometime in 1954)
(Photo credit: The Family of Don Benito Montinola, Sr.)

Here's the campaign jingle used by Magsaysay's team during the 1953 presidential elections. Note its catchy tune and witty lyrics, which were way better than the ones used by the local candidates during the 2019 elections.😆

Chapter 22 - Victorias City was almost Toreno City

Complete history blog: "Ang Kasaysayan sang                         Victorias"

Philippine History: Chapter 20 - Victoriahanons During the Philippine-American War (1899-1902)

Chapter 20. Victoriahanons during the Philippine-American War (1899-1902)

If you noticed that monument as you enter the municipality of E. B. Magalona from Silay City, here in the northern part of the province of Negros Occidental in the Philippines, you must have wondered who he is.

He is Capitan Elias Magbanua, standing under the Philippine sun during the day and quietly hiding in the dark at night. He faces west, perpetually watching the sun set on his beloved motherland.

He is raising his sword with his right hand and a pistol on his left as if to remind his fellow Negrenses who pass him by that we should appreciate and preserve the independence they fought for more than a hundred years ago, and that the memories of their armed struggled against foreign colonizers should be remembered every time we see his monument.

This monument is to commemorate the stand by Capitan Elias Magbanua and his Ilonggo and Negrense fighters against American soldiers on August 19, 1899, at Sitio Guintabu-an in the town of Saravia, now E. B. Magalona.

And if you think that Sitio Guintabu-an is way off from Victorias City (next to E. B. Magalona in the north) and that Victoriahanons had nothing to do with this event in our island's history, let me tell you about the story that would make you feel connected to it every time you pass by E. B. Magalona.

After Spain finally turned over Las Islas Filipinas (as well as Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guam) to the Americans in 1898 through the Treaty of Paris signed by both countries on December 10, 1898, it was time the G.I. Joe's took over the archipelago.

Unfortunately for the Americans, and even though Filipinos were known for their hospitality, they didn't get the warmest of receptions in most of the places they landed on. 

In the Negros island, although the Negrenses gave the Americans a less difficult time settling in, there were clandestine groups in the island who had deep resentment against another colonizer that was about to rule the country again.

In 1899, when the guerrilla movement against the Americans had been set up in the southern part of Negros, it was time to strengthen the northern front.

And with the help of the more established and experienced guerrilla leaders from Panay, one of whom was General Martin Teofilo (read blog here) my forebear, the northern towns of Saravia, Victorias, Manapla and Sagay started to organize as well.

According to Mr. Modesto Sa-onoy, a Negrense historian, hacenderos and illustrados from this northern part of the island contributed to the underground resistance, including the Montinolas of Victorias (read blog here). The movement must have started when it was officially announced that the Philippines was sold to the Americans, wasting no time but to organize and solicit contributions from the rich families without catching the attention of the new colonizers.

In August 1899, however, the Americans, with the help of their own spies and network of sympathizers, discovered the unusual volume of supplies from Panay island that were being transported up to the highlands in the north of Negros island.  

These supplies were not the only help that came from Iloilo. Experienced Ilonggo guerrillas also quietly landed in Negros to help the resistance, led by Capitan Elias Magbanua. These Ilonggos were more experienced as they were just fresh from booting out the Spaniards from Iloilo months before, on December 25, 1898, to be exact. 

That was the day when the last Spanish governor-general, Diego de los Rios, officially surrendered to General Martin Teofilo Delgado at Plaza Alfonso XIII, now called Plaza Libertad. (Incidentally, when King Alfonso XIII married Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg in 1906 in Madrid, a bomb was thrown on their wedding procession as it was passing Calle Mayór on its way back to the royal palace. The bomb, hidden in a bouquet of flowers, was thrown from the assassin's hotel room balcony at the sixth floor, which I made sure I visited when I was in Madrid years ago. Being my namesake, the king's personal history was part of my itinerary that time. The bomb killed 24 bystanders and people from the wedding procession. The groom and the bride were unhurt, except for her wedding gown that got splattered with horse's blood.)

Back to the Negrense and Ilonggo soldiers.

In August 1899, reports of Negrense policemen from Silay and Talisay disappearing from their posts reached the Americans. These policemen abandoned their posts bringing with them their firearms and this alarmed the Americans, confirming their fear of an uprising in the making.

(American soldiers torturing a Filipino soldier 

through waterboarding. The Filipino soldier is being held down and a pipe is used to funnel water

 to his mouth to give him a drowning feeling. The other American soldiers watch in amusement 

as if it was just another fun spectacle.)

(Photo credit: PRI Public Radio International)

And on August 19, 1899, a Saturday, in order to surprise the guerrillas and to quell a revolt, a contingent of American soldiers raided the newly constructed headquarters at Sitio Guintabu-an in the old Saravia. 

Although Capitan Magbanua, his Ilonggo soldiers as well as his new recruits from Saravia, Victorias, Silay, Talisay and other areas in the north were no match to the superior weapons of their enemies, and the fact that they were taken by surprise and not as well trained compared to the American combatants, they gave their enemies a lasting lesson that was not about warfare but about gallantry, patriotism and the love of country.🙏

Capitan Elias Magbanua stood his ground until his last breath, fending off the enemies for hours in order for his men to escape. Capitan Magbanua's  stand is being compared by historians to that of General Gregorio del Pilar when he also fought the Americans at the Battle of Tirad Pass.

Elias Magbanua was given the rank of a captain when he joined the revolution against Spain in 1898 as he was educated. His older brother, Pascual, was also a revolutionary but mysteriously died at 25.

Her sister, Teresa Magbanua, though, was the most famous of the three, who were all born in Pototan, Iloilo, to a well-to-do family. Teresa had successful battles against the Spaniards and had led troops against the Americans. As she was an expert equestrian, she rode a horse to her battles earning her the title the 'Visayan Joan of Arc'. Teresa, in her old age, sold some of her properties during the Japanese Occupation to contribute to the underground movement against the Japanese, making her, in a way, the only revolutionary to have fought the three colonizers.

(Filipino soldiers during the Philippine-American War)
                    Photo credit: Wikipedia


While I was digging the historical information about this chapter, I realized we have a lot of heroes in this part of our island, heroes who, like Capitan Elias Magbanua and his fighters, definitely deserved to be up there standing on a monument, unlike some alleged hero whose proclaimed descendants had created based on a twisted piece of history that's bereft of any evidentiary support to back up the supposed deed and worse, without any public acceptance (read blog here).😡

The next time you pass by Capitan Elias Magbanua's monument near E. B. Magalona, you now know that his battle at Sitio Guintabu-an on that day of August 19, 1899, was closer to home than you might have thought.

As Victoriahanon recruits had fought beside him and that families from Victorias contributed money, food and supplies to his resistance, we should all remember that our Victoriahanon forebears showed their bravery, heroism and love of country during the Philippine-American War that lasted from 1899 until 1902.  

By the way, Elias Magbanua was just 19. 😢

Chapter 21 - President Ramon Magsaysay and                          his Victorias connection

Complete blog history: "Angg Kasaysayang sang Victorias"

#history #Philippinehistory #Victorias #NegrosOccidental #blog #blogger

Philippine History: Chapter 19 - The current seal of Victorias City has an error

Chapter 19. The current  seal of Victorias City has an error

Have you looked at the seal of your hometown closely? And discovered the meaning of the figures and the symbolism in the seal?

According to an online dictionary, a seal is a "symbol or mark of office". If the seal only contains symbols representing the municipality, city, or province, it should not be that complicated. But when it includes a verifiable figure, like a year to signify an important event of the place, then it should be factual. 

Since I already have an idea of the history of our hometown, Victorias City (in the Philippines) from Daan Banwa (Old Victorias) to the current city, everything I see around this place gets a new perspective. It's more like I now see things with fresh eyes, so to speak.

Like for example, read this seal of Victorias City, used in 2020, plastered on a barangay vehicle:

The '1998' is the year when Victorias became a city on March 21, 1998. That's correct. 

But '1906'? Hmm. Why 1906?

The only historical events that happened in 1906, based on the Jalandoni Memoirs, were (1) the threat from Sr. Leon Montinola to kick out the people from his Hacienda Torreno sometime in 1905 and 1906 (see Chapter 7); (2) his lawsuit against the town (see Chapter 7); and (3) the donation of a parcel of land by Sr. Yap-Quiña (see Chapter 7).

None of the three constitutes the creation of any town. 

But if the '1906' in the seal indicates the year the town was created, IT IS WRONG.  😡

The officials of Victorias probably based their wrong decision and conclusion on the dates of October 2, 1906, when Sr. Yap-Quiña attended the town council session to express his donation, or on October 15, 1906, when he formalized his donation at another town council session. 

As the official website of Victorias City has no information about the seal, I looked it up on Wikipedia the significant dates:

Above, I was able to confirm that the city officials thought the city was founded in 1906 based on October 2, 1906. The date opposite the word "Founded" is "October 2, 1906."

Again, October 2, 1906, was only the date Sr. Yap-Quiña attended the session where he signified his intent to donate a parcel of land. That date was NOT the date Victorias was created as a town, and the old settlement of Daan Banwa was already a barrio even before the 1848.

And since according to Sr. Esteban Jalandoni the '1906' is wrong, what year should it be?

Well, let's ask him again. 

Sr. Esteban Jalandoni, the primary source of my Victorias History blog (read here), arrived in Victorias on July 31, 1901, and became its secretary the next day. He shared with us the events he witnessed as the town secretary and also some details he knew about before he arrived. And based on his accounts, Victorias was already a town when he got here.

If you have read Chapter 6 (read here), Victorias would have definitely lost its status as a town in 1902 as it was too poor to be considered a town and would have been turned into a barrio whose land area was to be divided between Saravia and Manapla, the adjacent towns, using the Magnanud River as the boundary. 

But because of the efforts of then alcálde, Sr. Eliodoro Tongoy and his then secretary, Sr. Esteban Jalandoni, Victorias was able to keep its status with the help of the former provincial governor, Sr. Melecio Severino, who traveled to Manila and interceded on behalf of the Victoriahanons by pleading to Brigadier General James Francis Smith to let Victorias keep its status as a town.

Other than that story of 1902, Sr. Esteban Jalandoni also narrated that the barrio officials of 1898 asked the new leaders of the Republica Cantonal de Negros that Daan Banwa be elevated into a town, and those leaders approved.

So, as early as November 1898, Victorias was already a town. 

And even in 1902, during the Insular Government of the Americans, when Brigadier General James Francis Smith let Victorias keep its status as a town further solidified this fact. That's the year when the Victoriahanons rejoiced and the town officials breathed a sigh of relief!

So, why don't we correct the error on the seal of the city based on the real historical events of our city?😄 

'1906' is wrong; '1898' on the other hand, is factually right!

From 1898 to 1998, a hundred years. It was our town's fate to wait for 100 years to become a city.

You're all welcome!😎

Chapter 20 - Victoriahanons during the Philippine-American War (1899-1902)

Complete history blog: "Ang Kasaysayan sang Victorias"

Philippine History: Chapter 18 - The Unseen Victoriahanons

Chapter 18. The Unseen Victoriahanons

During my research for this history blog, I came across some interesting stories that came to light. And I also came across other interesting stories that came out of the dark.

Sifting through the stories I gathered, I realized I was writing about Victoriahanons whom I could picture as a fellow citizen of this town, someone who walked down the street and someone whom we could meet, greet and socialize with on a sunny day in the neighborhood. But if they were the Victoriahanons whom we could see, are there Victoriahanons whom we could not?  

You have an idea what I'm talking about?😀

Yes, there were (or still are?) inhabitants of our city, a city that used to be town, that used to be a village and that used to be a rich, uninhabited forest. Uninhabited by noisy, gossipy Victoriahanons, that is. 

These Victoriahanons were already here even before the Negros Island came to be named Buglas, or even before a settlement at the mouth of a silty river came to be known as Malihao.

It's time we talked about one such unseen Victoriahanon, one that our mythical culture calls...kapre! 

Yes, that tall, hairy, dark creature of the night, usually living on an old tree that manifests itself to humans whom he wanted to befriend or pester. Known to be a smoker, a kapre puffs a long cigar made of rolled, dried tobacco leaves whose smell wafts to announce its presence to anyone unaware of its existence.

In an old school building in Victorias, named after Don Felix Montinola and the one that sat along the highway, stories about a kapre had been told over the years when it was still full of students during the day and inhabited by an unseen being at night.

When the janitor had closed all the classrooms and locked the school gates early in the evening, it was a matter of time when unusual sounds were heard from inside the school.

(Image credit: mythicalcreaturesguide.com)

On some mornings, when the Tío Mateo, the school janitor, opened the classrooms, the chairs would be scattered all over even though, the late afternoon before, he closed and locked the rooms behind him with everything in order and ready for classes the next day. 

The poor Tío Matéo (or Tio Mating to students) he must have had to rearrange the chairs again when this happened while cursing the resident unseen prankster. (Tio Mating succeeded Tio Serafin as the school's janitor).

Of all people in the school, he must have been the most vexed by Siyáno, a name one student said to be the name of the kapre; the student was known to have had a 'third eye', meaning she was psychic. 

That student was said to have encountered the kapre at the teachers' office at the second floor of the school on one early evening during an overnight event at the grounds. It must have introduced itself to her. She never stayed late at the school ever again.

On occasions, when passing by the school late at night, one would hear chairs being thrown around inside the school library that was on the second floor of the building standing next to the highway. 

In the 1970s, when vehicles were rarely seen passing through Victorias around midnight, it was almost quiet all around the school's neighborhood.

A policeman, Mr. Maeng J., who was patrolling the area just outside the school one late night heard noises coming from the library of the school. It was close to midnight and he could hear sounds as if chairs were being thrown around. At that time, people could watch late movies at the defunct Vic Theater, a cinema located at the building where LBC is now located.

When someone he knew came along after watching a late-night  movie at Vic Theater, he asked him to stop and listen to the noises. His friend was surprised to hear the very unusual sounds that should not be happening but was coming from the inside of the school library. It was close to midnight and the students had long gone as school had been closed hours before. 

"Who could be inside throwing chairs around?", they both asked themselves. Not wanting to be involved with whatever that was making those noises inside the school, they both walked away.😱

Other than the chairs being thrown around, on rare nights, the school bell would ring continuously. The normal ringing of the bell would just be in intermittent intervals to signal the start or end of classes. 

But on those nights when the bell rang, it was as if someone pressed the button and left his fingers longer than it should. So, who would be brave enough to go up the dark stairs to the second floor of the school and turn the power off to stop the ringing? 😱 Someone had to. Fortunately, Tío Mateo lived nearby.

But do you know that Siyano, the academic kapre, was actually captured on film? 

In a rare black-and-white photo that used to be in the collection of the school registrar, a towering man, whose height reached the second floor of the school, was seen posing with the students of the school as they were being photographed at the main entrance. 

The kapre was wearing white pants, a white shirt and a black belt, and was casually leaning on the school building which was to his left while giving a weak smile. His face was round and dark, and looked humanoid. I should know; I saw that photograph! 😱

More than a decade ago, I asked the lady who owned the photograph whether I could see it again. She said it was borrowed by a former teacher who never returned it. (I know the teacher; I'll try to ask him to give it back so I can share it here. 😊)

So, what happened to Siyano? It was said that it lived in a kamunsil tree within the school grounds, so they had it cut down. From then on, they noticed that the disturbances and noises disappeared. 

Although the scholarly kapre was kicked out of school, it would have been interesting if the old janitors had told stories about their own encounters with the kapre!😁 

Aside from a kapre as our unseen Victoriahanon, do you know that there were (or still are?) engkantos around our town?

One scary story is about a domestic help, Violeta, a young woman who came from the hacienda of a landed family here in Victorias. 

She was just working for a few days when, on a Sunday noon, Violeta was sent to the public market to buy something. But as she was passing through the Victorias public plaza, she said there was a man who befriended her.

Violeta came back with the merchandise she bought but seemed to act strangely. She complained that the man who befriended was outside and wanted her to go with him. Everyone was alarmed. Could someone have molested her while she went to the market?

Suddenly, everyone in the house realized it was more than just a common admirer she brought to the house along with the merchandise. Because when they asked her where the man was, Violeta pointed outside and there was nobody there, only passing vehicles, but no gentleman, nor an admirer with flowers.

This was the time when Violeta's cousin, who was also part of the household, shared with everyone that Violeta could see engkantos and that this was not the first time one followed her home.

Still complaining about her unwanted follower, Violeta would suddenly growl with her facial expressions changing. When she was given a holy rosary, she threw it away because it was 'hot' when she held it.

While her fellow household help teased the unseen engkanto standing outside the house, telling the engkanto that they needed some boyfriends, too, Violeta remained quiet at the corner with her eyes widened with fear. 

It was only then when a religious member of the house brought out a bottle of holy water and sprinkled it over Violeta while she was being held to subdue her resistance. A few sprinkles of the holy water were also made by the window to drive away whatever was out there menacing Violeta.

After a moment, Violeta's normal voice returned. She went back to being a shy girl from the hacienda with no memory about what happened.

Was she temporarily possessed by the engkanto? She earlier said the man who befriended her was standing next to the big, tall tree at the Victorias public plaza when they met. 

And how about duéndes?

Those are little elves, or dwarves, that live in a mound, an old house or even trees. They only manifest themselves to a few. Some duéndes are good to humans and some are mischievously bad. They are generally described as small creatures with big pointed hats or pointed shoes, with long beards for old-looking duéndes. 

Duéndes are elementals, those creatures that live and exist in nature; specifically, duéndes can be labeled as earth spirits. The word came from the shortened Spanish term 'dueño de casa' or owner of the house.

One such place in Victorias where many have experienced duéndes is in the old Gabaldon buildings of the Victorias Elementary School.

(A Gabaldon building that shows an elevation 

and a hollow space underneath the classroom
(Photo credit: wikimapia.org)

The school building is called a Gabaldon building, named after Mr. Isauro Gabaldon, a former Assemblyman, who drafted the bill in 1907 to put up school buildings around the Philippines during the American colonial period. The buildings were designed by Mr. William Parsons using the elements of the native Philippine hut, the bahay-kubo, and they are protected under the law from being altered, demolished or relocated.

Since these buildings were constructed with an elevation above ground of about four feet, they had hollow spaces beneath them for purposes of cooling the building as cool air goes underneath it as well as to prevent rising waters from entering a building during floods.

But one such Gabaldon building at the Victorias Elementary School became notorious for duéndes. Students would see 'small creatures' underneath the buildings, including tales of seeing dwarf white horses! On occasions, the students would light candles and offer food to the 'inhabitants' living under these buildings.

As the school grounds were mostly open during weekends, tales of weekend ambulant vendors who made the space underneath the Gabaldon buildings a public dump were widely known. This, of course, became a Monday ritual to most teachers who had to send students to sweep or clean up the mess as the smell would fill the classrooms from the human excrement deposited underneath them.

And one such story was about a student who was asked by a teacher to sweep the smelly space, which turned out to be the student's traumatic introduction to the underworld.

According to the story, the student went down to the dark, dirty space (some very young students could squeeze under without stooping) with a 'bukog nga silhig' (walis ting-ting) and had already started his chore when he realized he was not alone. 

Standing a few feet from him, a few 'small creatures' that looked like 'old men' were watching him as he swept. The duéndes must have appreciated the clean-up as they were probably suffering from the bad odor as well. 

Shocked and frozen in fear, the student at first did not realize what he was seeing. And since he, too, had heard stories about these mysterious dwellers, he then recognized what they were and unfortunately came to terms with the fact that this scary moment was some lesson he never expected to learn at school.

Dropping his thin broom, he rushed out still stooping knowing that bumping his head at the wooden flooring above him would prolong his stay in that unwanted space.

The student would have planned to devote his vocal chords to singing Lupang Hinirang that morning. Instead, he ended up screaming "Ma'am! Ma'am!" so loud that other students around were startled.

The incident left the kid traumatized that he never went back to school for days and had to be brought to an 'albularyo' for healing as the faith healer believed the duéndes must have done something to him other than manifesting themselves. 

Although we wouldn't know if the poor student finished his elementary years at Victorias Elementary School, what we do know is that the duéndes living in those Gabaldon building must have learned their ABC's and all nursery rhymes all those years, although they probably knew they wouldn't get their diplomas even if they showed up at the graduation rites. It would have been one story to tell if duéndes actually attended the commencement exercises and even received medals for their supernatural academic achievements.  The space under the buildings had been cemented since.

Our hometown was not ours in the first place; we were not its first inhabitants.

Let's remember, more than a hundred years ago, this place we now call a city was a thick forest full of those acacias, lunók and other tree species endemic to this island. Just imagine those tall trees spread all over when there were no roads, no houses, no buildings, and no município. 

(Man encountering engkantos)

(Photo credit: JBBallaran, deviantart.com)

Just big trees all over the place. 

And you have an entire settlement of engkantos, kapres, tikbalang, and even mythical creatures living in the ancient Malihao and Magnanud Rivers. Remember Maria Makiling and her engkanto admirers? Unfortunately for us, what's left are primitive creatures in Victorias. You should be able to spot them when you see them on the street or at....😊 

Those unseen beings were the original Victoriahanons. The unseen Victoriahanons who took care of this land before we all came along and ruined it for them.😠

So, do you also have a scary story about the unseen Victoriahanons or the engkantos in Victorias?😱

Chapter 19. The current seal of Victorias City has an error

Complete history blog: "Ang Kasaysayan sang                                                 Victorias"

Philippine History: Chapter 17 - Victorias life during World War II (1942-1945)

Chapter 17. Victorias life during World War II (1942-1945)

The saddest chapter in our history was during the Japanese Occupation when people lost their lives, lost their freedom, and their way of life was disrupted from 1942 until 1945, and even longer because rehabilitation needed time for all families and especially for children who were not able to go to school during the war years.

Even before the Japanese forces landed in Bacolod in May 1942, the evacuation of Victoriahanons to the mountains had already started. 

But the date of May 27, 1942, was a date our elders would rather forget than remember. On that sunny morning, just as the sun started to turn its rays scorching hot, the Japanese Imperial Army entered Victorias at around 9:30AM; it was a Wednesday. 

Weeks before that and even after the defeat of American and Filipino forces at the battle of Bataan on April 9, 1942, the Victoriahanons were informed everyday via a loudspeaker that blasted the news throughout the town about what was happening in Manila, creating concern and sowing dread with the impending arrival of war to Negros island and eventually, to Victorias. 

And when that time came, that morning of May 27, 1942, the atmosphere was tense and full of fear as the townspeople expected the worst. 

Their idyllic lives of abundance in a laid-back town made prosperous by an economy revolving around the sugar industry would be changed by a foreign military force. World War II finally arrived in Victorias. 

During those days, Victoriahanons evacuated their homes bringing with them what they could: clothes packed in bayong, rosaries around their necks, crying children in tow, and hogs and livestock dragged by ropes behind them as they headed to the mountains and neighboring haciendas under the hot Negrense sun, not knowing when they would ever come back to their homes again.

Months after the Japanese took over, the underground movement burned down the houses and mansions on September 19, 1942, so that they wouldn't be used as Japanese garrison or shelters. Even school buildings and a local hospital were burned down. One of those mansions was the home of Don Felix Montinola that was deliberately burned down by the underground guerilla movement led by Sr. Mateo Garganera, who later became the mayor from 1960 to 1963.

The Japanese army pronounced Victorias as 'Vikutoriasu' while Manapla was pronounced as 'Manapura', according to the Terrain Study documents of the Allied Geographical Section, Southwest Pacific Area, that listed names of towns and places in the Negros Island and their corresponding Japanese pronunciation.

After the burning, the local church had to close as Fr. Vicente Luzada evacuated to the mountains for his own safety. Because of this, baptism for babies born to Catholic parents was delayed and requiem masses for the dead were not said. And although church weddings could not be held, priests were able to administer the sacrament of matrimony for couples who probably didn't want the war to come between them. After all, what else could you do during the war but fall in love in desperation and amuse each other as there was no other entertainment but love songs on candlelit nights. 

(A home in 1945 taken by an American soldier)

Photo credit: John Tewell

Sr. Jose Jover, Sr. was still the mayor of the resistance movement, while Dr. Basilio Tanco was the Japanese's puppet mayor, although the Japanese military offered the position to Don Felix Montinola but he declined. 

Even though he was the appointed mayor by the Japanese, Dr. Tanco was able to save from certain death people who were suspected by the Japanese as being guerrillas or spies.

During those years, the prices of commodities were monitored and controlled to avoid profiteering. Food was rationed and new Japanese currencies, called 'Japanese money', were introduced. These were difficult times, especially when you talk about the atrocities of the Japanese soldiers, some of whom were actually Koreans. As Korea was a Japanese colony that time, the Japanese Imperial Army sent Koreans to the Philippines to fight for them. Those Korean soldiers, I was told, were more cruel.

During the war, when Japanese soldiers roamed the towns and haciendas, able-bodied men would hide in the kísame (attic) or in the fields until they were gone. 

On several occasions, when they roamed Hacienda Dapdap, owned by the family of Don Felix Montinola, those Japanese soldiers were met by the late Doña Luisa Montinola, wife of the late Don Benito Montinola, Sr. (mayor from 1950-1953). She was tasked to 'meet and greet' them and offered them water and 'botong-botong', a native sweet candy made from sugar, as refreshments for these tired soldiers. This 'friendly encounter' was meant to take the Japanese soldiers' minds off from hunting down guerrillas hiding in the sugarcane fields and nearby forests.  

(War has destroyed the municipal hall of 

San Fabian in Pangasinan)

Photo credit: Clifford Bottomley)

We may have heard other atrocious cruelties by these Japanese soldiers like killing a helpless family using bayonets because using guns would just waste bullets.

A horrifying memory of such cruelty was shared with me by Mr. Joshue Panes, 83 years old and a highly respected member of the VMC community. He recounted how his young uncle during the war witnessed his parents being killed on the spot by the Japanese soldiers at their hometown in Dao, Capiz Province in the Panay Island. 

That day, all the people were ordered to gather at the town plaza in order for the Japanese soldiers to search for guerrillas. Unfortunately, both his uncle's parents were not able to join the assembly as his father could not walk because he had a disability. While everyone was at the plaza, Japanese soldiers roamed the streets and inspected the houses. That was when they found the couple still at home. Believing they were guerrillas as they didn't obey the order, both were bayonetted to death and their home set ablaze. His young uncle witnessed this and brought this heartbreaking memory until his last days. And as Mr. Panes was telling me this, I could tell the sadness in his eyes and voice. 

True and horrifying stories about the war like these are difficult to retell because they bring back very sad memories and emotions.😭

(Photo of evacuees heading back home after the war)(Photo credit: Clifford Bottomley)

On April 26, 1945, American forces like the salvation everyone prayed for, arrived into the town.(As the feast of the Our Lady of the Holy Rosary falls on October 7, my theory as to why, in Victorias, the feast of the Our Lady is held every April 26 is because of this event in the history of the town. April 26 was adopted as the feast day because of the arrival of the Americans in Victorias, which was believed to have been also a miracle by the Our Lady).

The town was then governed by the resistance movement and during the next two years, no elections were held.

It was only in 1946 that elections were finally held again. Don Hector M. Montinola, a son of Don Felix Montinola, won over Dr. Basilio Tangco and Elpidio Buenacosa. He was the town mayor from 1946 to 1950.

(Do read this blog on how the Gaston Mansion in Hacienda Sta. Rosalia, Manapla, was saved as the Japanese retreated during World War II).

(Don Benito Montinola, Sr. and his wife Doña Luisa Montinola hosting President Diosdado Macapagal, Sr. at his home in Victorias. Read blog here.)

Don Hector M. Montinola was succeeded by his brother, Don Benito Montinola, Sr. (1950-1953, 1956-1959) who later became the undersecretary for the Department of Natural Resources under the presidency of Dioscado Macapagal, Sr. 

Don Benito Montinola, Sr. was also a delegate to the 1971 Philippine Constitutional Convention as one of the six delegates representing the 1st District of Negros Occidental.

Going back to the World War II stories, when I visited the US Embassy in Manila many years ago for a work-related meeting, the officer with whom we met showed us the hall where General Tomoyuki Yamashita was tried in 1945 for his war crimes. 

The consul pointed to me the exact spot where General Yamashita sat when he was sentenced to death by hanging. He was hanged on February 23, 1946, in Los Baños, Laguna, but his remains were buried in Tokyo, Japan.

That hall in the U.S. Embassy, where the war crimes trials were held, is now a ballroom named after Charles Parsons, Jr., a World War II veteran who, as a teenager, dreamed of coming to the Philippines. He later became a businessman and a diplomat, and died in Pasay City, Philippines, in 1988.   🙏

Chapter 18. The unseen Victoriahanons (click here) 

Complete history blog: "Ang Kasaysayan sang                                                  Victorias" (click here)