Memorare Manila 1945

To all our WW2 history buff friends - you are invited to "Invasion 1942," a lecture on the 1942 Japanese invasion of Bataan and Corregidor. Learn from the experts Dr Rico Jose and Tony Feredo. Brought to you by our friends from Wartime Heritage Guild - Philippines and the Intramuros Administration.

Invasion 1942: A lecture on the Japanese invasion, Bataan, and Corregidor
Teatro, Fort Santiago, Intramuros
23 April 2023, 10:00 AM.
Contact us to register: 09064891166 or [email protected]

Join us as we discuss the 1942 Japanese invasion of Bataan and Corregidor, featuring military historians Prof. Ricardo Jose and Mr. Tony Feredo.

Yesterday, February 18th, 2023, was the 78th Commemoration of the Battle of Manila. Memorare Manila 1945, with The Philippine World War II Memorial Foundation, members of the Philippine Navy and the Intramuros Administration held a wreath-laying ceremony to honor the civilians lost during the most arduous battle in the country during the 2nd World War. This was immediately followed by the screening of the Massacre of Manila, Untold stories of The Battle of Manila 1945, directed by Mike Alcazaren, and a lecture on The Battle of Manila by Dr. Ricardo Jose.

We thank everyone for attending our activities yesterday and supporting the preservation of our World War II History.

The lockdown had cancelled the original screening date for this micro-docu. Three years later, we are finally screening "Massacre of Manila: Untold Stories of the Battle of Manila 1945". Listen to the testimonies of survivors as read by some of the country's finest actors, Ian Veneracion, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Enchong Dee, Iza Calzado, Angel Aquino, Gabby Padilla, Agot Isidro and Richard Cepeda while theater actor Leo Rialp narrates an account of the Battle of Manila from the official military report of Maj. General Robert S. Beightler, commander of the U.S. 37th Division.
February 18, 2023/ 10 a.m. at the Teatro in Fort Santiago

Calling all World War II history enthusiasts!

Join us in our upcoming public lecture “In Focus: The American World War II Missing-In-Action Recovery Mission in the Philippines”, on November 29, 2022, Tuesday, from 1:00 to 03:00 PM.

Listen to valuable insights and exciting stories from our very own researcher Ivan Cultura together with Dr. Caleb Kestle from the University of Illinois at Chicago as they give us a glimpse of the ongoing collaboration between the Philippines and the United States on the systematic recovery of American MIAs who were lost in the Philippines during WW2.

Watch our lecture live for FREE via Zoom. Interested participants may register thru this link: https://forms.gle/8wKtb9cgNVhNfbXN8. The meeting link will be sent to the registered e-mail addresses of the confirmed participants.

This lecture is brought to you by the NMP Archaeology Division in partnership with the United States Government’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. For more information, email us at [email protected].

Anticipating power outages and internet issues due to Typhoon Paeng, we are moving the webinar scheduled tonight, Oct 29th to next week Saturday, November 5, still at 8pm (Manila time).
Hunker down, everyone! Stay safe and dry, and see you next Saturday!

Anticipating power outages and internet issues due to Typhoon Paeng, we are moving the webinar scheduled tonight, Oct 29th to next week Saturday, November 5, 8pm.

Hunker down, everyone! Keep safe and see you next Saturday!

After recapture of the Manila Hotel, MacArthur attends a ceremony raising the American flag in front of the Hotel, 2/23/45

On October 20, 1944, General MacArthur kept his famous "I Shall Return" promise when his troops landed at Leyte to begin the liberation of the Philippines. In recognition of this act, the Republic of the Philippines awarded him the Philippine Medal for Valor. The citation reads: "America and General MacArthur are one. He is a singular representative of freedom and democracy. He embodies the noblest in the American character and integrity of the soul. In the building of the greater democratic Philippines, he will surely serve as the inspiration of our people. His name will be ever remembered by the Filipinos."

Remembering World War II exhibit reopens today. Read more: https://intramuros.gov.ph/2022/07/12/rwwii/

Get quick updates on Intramuros! Go to this link to join our Viber Community: bit.ly/intramurosviber

Today we commemorate our heroes who committed their lives to fight for the motherland on this year’s National Heroes Day.

Among the many Filipino heroes of the Second World War was Jose Abad Santos, the fifth Chief Justice of the Supreme court and the acting delegate of President Manuel Quezon after the latter keft for Australia. Quezon describes him as one of the noblest, purest and ablest men the government ever had in service.

His astounding legacy can be discovered through his biography Honor: The Legacy of Jose Abad Santos, written by Desiree Ann Cua Benipayo, available in our shop.

Follow us on our social media pages:
Philippine World War II Memorial Foundation
instagram.com/philwarfoundation

The ex*****on of Jose Abad Santos | GOVPH Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines - The Official Gazette is the official journal of the Republic of the Philippines. Edited at the Office of the President of the Philippines Under Commonwealth Act No. 638

This was shared to us by Mr. Gonzalo Gonzales, about the tragedy that befell his family during the Battle of Manila:
The BATTLE OF MANILA (some refer to it as The Battle for the Liberation of Manila) which lasted for a month from 3 FEBRUARY to 3 MARCH 1945 is commemorared annually with wreath-laying and other activities, primarily in remembrance of the estimated 100,000 plus innocent civilians and non-combatants who died...thousands of them killed from being caught in the hellish crossfire of artillery shelling and street by street, block by block, house to house fighting between the advancing US Army forces and the Japanese defenders of the city; many thousands of others falling victim to the bloodlust and merciless rampage of the beleaguered Japanese forces in acts of r**e, torture and group massacres inside hotels, social clubs, school chapels and churches as they retreated to within the confines of the Finance Building and the Walled City of Intramuros where they made their last stand.
The narrative below (now revised) was first written and sent in 2015 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary commemoration of the battle thru a contributing writer of a broadsheet for inclusion in the files of the MEMORARE MANILA 1945 FOUNDATION, an NGO dedicated to preserving the memory of the many thousands of innocent victims of the Battle of Manila, and which collates stories and narratives from survivors and descendants of families who suffered great loss and endured this horrible tragedy that took place in the closing months of the War in the Pacific.
This is my father's story of his family's personal experience (as recollected from his accounts to our family back in 1964) with some inputs from my late brother, Tony in the later years:
My father was Florencio Gonzalez y Araullo, Jr., a grandson of the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Manuel Araullo. He and his family (his wife, Della Fanette McClure, 3 children: Emilia "Baby" (19 yrs old), Florencio "Chick" (17), and Anthony "Tony" (😎 lived on Vermont corner Georgia Sts. in the Malate district of the city of Manila. Also living with them then were his mother, Emilia Araullo y Guevarra, and his aunt, Maria Araullo y Guevarra, whom they affectionately addressed as Tita "Tita."
As the Battle of Manila broke out on 3 FEBRUARY (and it would contunue on for a month more till 3 MARCH) , they would all find themselves having to leave their home and head upwards in the direction of Dewey Blvd. towards the Adriatico/Remedios Circle area to seek shelter from the constant shelling that had already destroyed their house a few blocks down. They were blessed enough to have found refuge inside one of the houses/buildings in the area.
The battle for the liberation of the city had now just entered its 2nd week. On the early morning of Monday, February 12, as the shelling resumed, and as forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Marines began setting fire to other houses in the area, my father and his family found themselves huddled together inside the structure they had sought refuge in the night before. The shelling, most probably from mortars and light artillery, scored several hits on their place of refuge, with his son, Florencio, getting hit by shrapnel in the buttocks, and Anthony suffering a serious ankle injury from debris that came crashing down on his foot. It is at this point that my father made the decision for them to flee before a more direct hit occured, and they found themselves running for their lives in the hope of finding another place (a house, a building, or even the ruins of such) to hide in.
As they began their exit from the damaged building they had been in, it is then that Japanese soldiers lying in wait for any civilians to come out of hiding opened up on my father's group, as well as other residents who had been hiding out in the area, with rifle and machine gun fire.
At this point, my father, who was carrying his youngest son, Anthony, because of the ankle injury he had suffered, saw his mother slump to the ground, hit in the back by the hail of fire coming from the Japanese. He had only enough time to bend down and take hold of the rosary that his mother had in her hands (a rosary he kept with him till his passing on 28 FEBRUARY 1979, and which he was later buried with), as she knew she was dying and pleaded with him to continue running for their lives. Her last words to him were, "You go on, hijo. I'm done for!!" The ensuing confusion that took place as they fled in the hope of finding some safe haven elsewhere also resulted in my father and his family getting separated from his maternal aunt, Tita.
My father, together with his wife and 3 kids, were blessed enough to have found some shelter in
the remains of a bombed out house or building, also somewhere in the Adriatico/Remedios Circle
area, sometime towards the late afternoon, even as the shelling continued. This afforded them the
opportunity to catch their breaths and hope and pray that they would make it thru another day of
this living hell they now found themselves in the middle of. It was sometime early evening, or maybe
a little bit after dinnertime, that a mortar or artillery shell suddenly exploded very close to where
they were all huddled together.
A short time after, as I recall my father narrating it, he heard what sounded like water from a slightly open faucet trickling out. He looked at his wife, Della, who was huddled right next to him, and saw blood pouring out from an open wound in her forehead. A piece of shrapnel from the explosion seconds or a minute earlier had apparently struck her somewhere under the chin or jaw area, with the exit wound being the gaping hole in her head. She lived just long enough to tell my father she loved him and to make sure the children were cared for. Those were her final moments as she died in my father's arms shortly after, leaving my father to now look out for his safety and that of his 3 children, who had just been orphaned of the warmth and love of their mother.
As it was dark, my father and his children had no choice but to stay put where they were and to wait
for dawn to break before making any decisions as to whether to remain where they were or to find shelter elsewhere, at the same time hoping that there would be no more shells scoring any close hits on their hiding place.
The next morning, February 13, my father, before making any moves to look for a safe place to hide
elsewhere, decided to go looking for his aunt, Tita, in the hope of their being reunited, and also, I would presume, for his 3 kids to have a motherly presence around to comfort them. Unfortunately, his search yielded negative results.
Several months after the city had been liberated, it was learned from friends and neighbors of my dad who knew his aunt, Tita, that she was last seen running in the direction of an air raid shelter in the Malate area, with several Japanese soldiers in pursuit. Her body was later found inside the said shelter. She had been shot several times.
My father managed to survive the Battle of Manila, as did his 3 children. I remember him saying back then that he returned to the areas where both his mother, Emilia, and his wife, Della, had fallen, in the hope of
possibly being able to retrieve their bodies and give them a decent burial. His efforts were fruitless,
however, as by then, US Army bulldozers had swept up the bodies of all who had fallen in that part of
the Malate district (as was probably also the case in other areas) and laid them in a common grave (possibly in the area where Remedios Circle is now located) so as to prevent the possible spread of any
disease from the hundreds of dead in the area whose bodies were exposed to the elements and had by then begun to decompose.
DELLA FANETTE MCCLURE GONZALEZ
JANUARY 2, 1904 - FEBRUARY 12, 1945
Photograph taken early 1936

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of one of Memorare Manila's founding members Mr. Rod McMicking Hall. As a young boy growing up in Manila, he lived through the dark years of the Japanese occupation. Several family members of his died during the Battle of Manila in 1945, and from this loss, he became a great advocate of Philippine WW2 history. Rest in eternal peace, Mr. Hall. We are grateful for all that you have done for Memorare.

http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/save-our-heroes-from-historical-devaluation?fbclid=IwAR3iq32ynzsIX0WIi1iEwNbHtMaWFgbz_IrF6Fl_DRQxo7SX4-fWPLoR1DQ

Save Our Heroes from Historical Devaluation — Positively Filipino | Online Magazine for Filipinos in the Diaspora Find out why controversy surrounds the redesign of the Philippines’ P1,000 bill.

To all my friends, I need your help! We must not let this happen. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will be replacing the World War II heroes Jose Abad Santos, Josefa Llanes Escoda, and Vicente Lim on our P1000 bill, in lieu of the Philippine eagle. Love of country, self-sacrifice, and valor are but a few of the values that the Filipinos are reminded of every time they see the three World War II heroes on the 1k bill, something that the Philippine Eagle despite its majesty and splendor, cannot replace.

To BSP Governor Diokno and the monetary board - why not put the Phil Eagle at the back of the bill? This way you teach our citizens patriotism and love for the environment. Aren't there a million other better things to do than mess up our notes and coins? First, you confuse all of us by putting out different denomination bills with the same color & different denomination coins that all look the same, and now this?

To my WW2 history colleagues - it is our dilemma that our nation's collective war memory is fading, right? And this is now made worse by this government when it decides to delete the only daily reminder to our people of the Filipinos' courage during the war.

To my many friends at the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, the article says the new bill was approved by NHCP? I refuse to believe this as I would think the commission will be the first to react negatively to this abomination. 😣😣 I need your help, Dr. Rene Escalante!!

And to my social media savvy friends, how do we put this petition out for the public to see and react on? Help!

BSP to replace heroes on P1,000 bill with Philippine eagle Say goodbye to World War II heroes Josefa Llanes Escoda, Vicente Lim and Jose Abad Santos as their faces will be removed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas from the P1,000 banknote and replaced by a Philippine eagle.