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