Philippine History: Chapter 23 - The First Victoriahanon Casualties of WW II

Chapter 23 - The First Victoriahanon

Casualties of WW II

On Chapter 17, I wrote about how the life and landscape of Victorias town (in Negros Occidental, Philippines) changed after the Japanese Imperial Army arrived in Victorias on May 27, 1942, a Wednesday (read blog here).

From that day until April 26, 1945, a Thursday, when American soldiers crossed into Victorias, the way of living of Victoriahanons was severely disrupted and ruined, lives were lost, their freedoms taken away, and homes, mansions and structures in the town were destroyed and burned down.

But even before the Japanese arrived in Victorias, there were already Victoriahanons who died in December 1941, and were probably the first Victoriahanon casualties of World War II.😭

On December 8, 1941, in the Philippines, about nine hours after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, Japanese war planes were already doing bombing runs over Luzon, specifically, on Tuguegarao, Baguio, and Clark Air Fields. It was a Monday.

World War II finally arrived that day in the islands.

Even before the war, many Negrense families, including those in Victorias, had family members studying at universities and schools in Manila. 

That time in 1941, with his term ending a year before, former mayor Don Felix Montinola had a son, two granddaughters, and two grandsons in Manila studying. His granddaughters were studying at Assumption Convent in Manila. But when the war broke out, he immediately summoned them back home.

And with everyone trying to flee Manila, just getting a ticket on a boat going south was an impossible challenge as movements of the ships and other maritime vessels were restricted so as to avoid being targeted by the enemy.

But one ship, the S.S. Corregidor, known to be one of the best inter-island vessels owned by the Compañia Maritima, was given permission to sail to the south. It was probably given permission as it carried military personnel and ammunitions bound for the Visayas and Mindanao. 

On December 16, 1941, a Tuesday, and a week after the declaration of war against Japan, desperate passengers boarded the S.S. Corregidor as it docked on Manila's South Harbor. Other than the military personnel, students, congressmen, and families from prominent clans of the South were also on board. In the chaos and overloading, there was no official list but it was estimated the passengers totaled about 600 to 1,000.

Although all the passengers who made it to the S.S. Corregidor would have been thought as lucky to have been able to secure a ride home, this, as it turned out, was one voyage that made them one of the first casualties of war. And the son and grandchildren of Don Felix were among its passengers.

That day, the ship had to wait until it was dark before it could sail. So, just before midnight, it was allowed to.

As it was wartime, the US military took every precaution to defend the Philippines, and as part of the defense against Japanese ships, naval minefields were set up by the Harbor Defense and Torpedo Boat Squadron 3 in the waters near Corregidor Island, and ships that were allowed to pass through Manila Bay had to be guided properly to avoid hitting the mines. 

(The map of the waters around Corregidor 

Island and waters of Manila Bay showing 

the field of defensive naval mines. 

S.S. Corregidor hit at least one of those mines.)

That night, under the cloak of darkness, S.S. Corregidor treaded the dangerous waters with the guidance of "PT 41", a patrol torpedo boat commanded by Ensign George Cox, who, as he was guiding the commercial vessel, noticed that the ship suddenly "veered towards the minefields and efforts to stop her were to no avail". The "efforts" Ens. Cox was talking about included signaling the ship with lights that were seen by the passengers on deck.

The mine fields straddled around Corregidor Island and the islets named Caballo, Fraile, and Carabao, creating a net of underwater explosives blocking the entrance into Manila Bay and stretching from Bataan at the north and to Cavite at the south.

The type of naval mines the S.S. Corregidor was trying to avoid was the dreaded contact mines that exploded upon contact and the laying of this particular field of 532 mines from the western point of Corregidor Island to Cavite started on July 15, 1941 and was completed on September 30, 1941. And each mine weighed from 700 to 800 lbs., excluding the weight of the trinitrotoluene, or TNT, of another 300 lbs. 

Upon hitting the mine, there was a loud 'thud' followed by an explosion. According to Ensign Cox, "the ship sank so fast virtually all aboard went with her including the ship captain. There were very few survivors".

Don Felix Montinola's son, Guillermo, a medical student at the University of Santo Tomas, was with Rolando Fermin, Don Felix's grandson, and Agustin Magcal, a family friend, on the main deck.

But when the ship hit the mine, Guillermo, also known as 'Willy' to the family, rushed down to their cabin to get his two nieces, Estela and Ester, and nephew, Hernan. Estela, Ester and Hernan were the children of Doña Quintina Montinola y Fermin, the eldest of Don Felix's children.

As most of the passengers were either resting or sleeping since it was close to midnight when the accident happened, they were trapped inside their cabin below. 

Adding to the fact that in total darkness, it was difficult to save those who were able to swim but were covered with oil floating along with the strong currents in waters where the presence of naval mines was preventing other ships from freely navigating to help.

Guillermo, his nieces and nephew never made it back to the deck. But amidst the pandemonium, and screams and cries for help heard that dreadful night at sea, it was Agustin who helped save Rolando. They were among the few who survived. 

They were brought first to Corregidor Island where they received medical attention at the military-run hospital and were later brought to the mainland. Rolando Fermin stayed at the home of Pancho Magalona, a second cousin of his mother, in Manila while he came to terms with the tragedy before making arrangements of going home.

The original plan of S.S. Corregidor was to land on any major island in the south upon daybreak. From there, the passengers could take other boats to their final destination. Sadly, most of the passengers of S.S. Corregidor and its captain didn't make it home for Christmas. 

Under the dark Philippine skies and in a voyage imperiled by war, they finally rested in their graves in the waters of a bay whose city would fall into enemy hands months later.  

The S.S. Corregidor left Manila on December 16 and must have sunk around or past midnight -- early hours of December 17, 1941. The news of the tragedy reached Victorias on December 18, a Thursday. 

That day, during the early days of World War II, Doña Quintina, or Inday Tinay to her friends and Lola Tinay to her grandchildren, lost two daughters, a son, and a brother as casualties of a war that would set foot in their hometown five months later. One can only imagine the anguish and sorrow she, as a mother, had to go through that time.

That Christmas of 1941 was the saddest for her and her family. 😭

Estela was 20, while Ester was just 18. Hernan  turned 15 just four days before the tragedy, and Guillermo, who was preparing to be a doctor, was about 27. 😭

(The S.S. Corregidor sank on December 16 

or 17, 1941 along with the first 

Victoriahanon casualties of WW2) 

Weeks after the tragedy, Rolando Fermin, just 16 at that time, was able to come home via land and sea transports, finally arriving at the port of Bacolod and taking horse-drawn calesa to the family's Hacienda Malogo in the former Saravia for a short rest, and then headed north to the family's Hacienda Dapdap in Manapla to join his family that already made arrangements of gradually vacating the stone mansion along Calle Real in front of the public plaza of Victorias.

Rolando's two brothers later became mayors of Victorias: Jesus Fermin (mayor from 1964 to 1986) and Renato Fermin (mayor from 1988 to 1992). 

Mr. Agustin Magcal became the first barangay captain of Barangay 3 of Victorias when then President Ferdinand Marcos approved the creation of the barangay system in 1975.

Don Pedro Ardosa, also from a prominent family of Manapla, was on the same boat but survived.

                                  *  *  *  *

Sources:

The Philippine Diary Project

Manolo Quezon's Facebook Page

The Fall of the Philippines by Louis Morton

The diary of Fr. Juan Labrador, OP

Mrs. Aurora L. Delgado

At Close Quarters: PT Boats in the United States Navy by Captain Robert J. Bulkley, Jr.
The diary of Teodoro Locsin, Sr.

Photo credits: Philippine Diary Project


Chapter 24 - The women of Victorias: Capitana Tutang, Paz Gonzaga, and Salud Montinola


Complete history blog: "Ang Kasaysayan sang                                                  Victorias"