93-year old Filipina guerilla recalls torture during World War 2
Last 21 February 2020, UP Los Baños commemorated the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Los Baños Internment Camp. The rescue was accomplished by the US 11th Airborne and a group of Filipino guerillas led by the Hunters. The mission was considered a complicated one as it involved six different guerilla forces, a parachute jump, artillery support, and an amphibious component. The official count of freed internees was 2,147. One of the freed internees was American writer and Jesuit priest Fr. James Reuter.
A guest speaker at the event was Filipina guerilla Sofia Tidon who shared her personal experiences during the war. The rescue date was 23 February 1945 and was almost moved to another time. However, the urgency was impressed upon them given the various massacres that were occurring in other parts of the country.
Dr. Ricardo Jose, History Professor at UP Diliman, explained that in December 1944 the first massacre occurred in Palawan. The prisoners of war were doused with gasoline and burned alive. There were other ongoing massacres in other places like Calamba.
The planned attack was 7:00 am in the morning, to coincide with the Japanese exercises. However, a guerilla was spotted by 6:30 am and a firefight started. The Japanese were caught by surprise. Dr. Jose mentioned that the internees were also not expecting them and did not want to leave their belongings. So in order to expedite the escape, the Americans burned the barracks and led the internees to the amphibious tractors. Everyone was evacuated by 3:00 pm.
Going back to Tidon’s story. She narrated that they tried to help the internees by sending food. They would wrap boiled sweet potato (kamote) or banana (saging) with a banana leaf and throw it across the camp. One time, they were caught throwing food so they brought her to a room with other people.
In order to reveal the names of other guerillas, Tidon was subjected to torture. She was hogtied, hanged in a tree, her face drowned in water, then her body hit with a rope. She did not give in to their demands. It occurred to her that even if she revealed names, she would die anyway. So it was better if she was the only one who died.
Tibon recalled other excruciating events and said that she is open to sharing her stories from beginning to end to anyone who is willing to document them. In the end, she said that she only wished the Americans stayed in Los Baños after the rescue.
According to Dr. Jose, the price for the successful rescue was the massacre of 1,500 residents and the destruction of Los Baños. He said it is important to remember these facts together with the victories.
Other speakers also gave insights. Brig. Gen. Restituto Aguilar who heads the Veterans Memorial and Historical Division said that the total Filipino casualties were around one million. He said that textbooks don’t cover much about war history from the Filipino perspective and there is a need to make historical data more accessible.
Mr. Renato Claravall who is President and COO of Philippine Veterans Bank mentioned the relatively young age of the guerilla fighters (young twenties). He concluded, “It’s not the age that matters but it’s the purpose in your life.”
