World War II mass grave heroes, including Maria Orosa, honored
MANILA Philippines — On the 80th anniversary of the tragic events at Remedios Hospital during the Liberation of Manila in World War II, the exhumed remains of hospital volunteers who helped ailing war victims, along other civilian casualties, have been reinterred in a ceremony at the crypt of historic San Agustin Church.
A funeral mass and commemorative event, attended by descendant family members of the victims, was the culmination of the 5-year Malate Grave Project, a groundbreaking forensic archeological and anthropological project centered on a long-forgotten civilian mass grave site discovered at Malate Catholic School in late 2019.
Discovery of a World War II mass grave
Amid the chaos of the Second World War, Remedios Hospital, a temporary conversion of the Malate Catholic School by the Philippine Red Cross, served as an emergency hospital for American prisoners of war. Staffed by Columban priest John Lalor of Malate Church and volunteers drawn from prominent Manila families, the hospital played a crucial role in saving lives while clandestinely supporting guerrilla activities.
As the bloody liberation of Manila got underway in February 1945, the hospital was quickly engulfed by marauding Japanese soldiers, and, tragically, on February 13th, bombed by Allied forces from the sky. The aerial assault destroyed the hospital and killed Father Lalor and a number of hospital volunteers and patients, including the Filipino scientist Maria Orosa.
Days later, with the city of Manila in ruins, the civilian casualties were hastily buried in a mass grave on the hospital's grounds. A grave marker later constructed on the site became the focal point for an annual pilgrimage of the surviving families for decades who gathered in remembrance.
The Malate Grave Project
Through a series of improbable coincidences, retired ADB diplomat and military history author Matthew Westfall discovered an online genealogical reference to his Russian grand-uncle, Nikolai Prokopoff, who died on February 13, 1945 at Remedios Hospital. This led to the discovery of the abandoned mass grave marker in Malate in July 2019.
In early 2020, Westfall assembled a team from UP-Diliman's Archaeology Studies Program and Department of Anthropology to conduct a forensic exhumation of the site. Over 20 sets of commingled human remains were carefully exhumed, including the discovery of a second grave marker for national hero Maria Orosa.
During the pandemic, the remains underwent a two-year process of bone cleaning, inventory, reconstruction and identification at UP-Diliman, led by forensic anthropologist Dr. Francisco Datar. Through extensive research and cross-referencing of historical documents, the team identified a majority of the remains. DNA testing attempts at King's College London proved inconclusive due to the remains being heavily burned during the original burial.
The Crypt at San Agustin: A dignified resting place
On the 80th anniversary of the Remedios Hospital tragedy, the six-year Malate Grave Project concludes with the reinterment of the remains at San Agustin Church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Philippines' oldest stone church. Six contiguous niches in the San Agustin Crypt now serve as the final resting place for these civilian war victims.
The memorial bears the original grave marker's poignant message: "Those who pass by, stop and raise a prayer for the brave ones who lie here, who died so that others may be saved."
A potential final phase of the project includes plans for a bronze memorial by sculptor Peter de Guzman, funded by the descendant families, to further honor these heroes of the Liberation of Manila.
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