‘Children of War’

I have read many books about the Philippines during the Second World War. This book “Children of War” by Joan Orendain (Vibal Foundation, Inc., 2023) is one of the most interesting, comprehensive and unique books I have ever read. The contents are actually narratives of memories of surviving the war by people who were children or teenagers during those years. The other unique feature of the book is that the children were primarily those from the upper class of that era.

Those familiar with the upper class families will certainly recognize the family names of those who contributed their memories to this book.  For example, the story of the war’s beginnings was a wedding date on Dec. 8, 1941. Here is how the author described that day:

“All Manila’s elite among the insulares and peninsulares have prepared to attend the wedding of the heiress Concepcion Tuason Zaragoza to Jose Antonio Ortoll... The wedding date, unfortunately, was on 8 December 1941.  Some invitees had heard early that morning of the bombing at Pearl Harbor and had stayed home. It was virtually only those living along Dewey Boulevard (Roxas Boulevard) – the Zobel sisters, Mercedes, Consuelo, Matilde and Gloria; their mother, Dona Fermina and their sister in law, Dona Angelita married to the dashing Jacobo Zobel – who walked to the exclusive Nunciatora Apostolica Chapel also on the Boulevard for the 8 a.m. ceremony. Others in attendance were the Sorianos, the Ortigases and the Roxases – a veritable roster of the Spanish elite, all living in the Ermita-Malate area.”

In her Preface, Orendain wrote about the struggle even these upper class families had to suffer during the Second World War.

For example, she wrote: “By the end of the war, we had nothing at all – no clothes, no food and no little treasures like a doll, or even a marble, or a slingshot because there was no rubber.  Nothing. All we had was our memories – death stench; the hunger; the blood; the terrible sounds of bombs, grenades, artillery and bullets; the great fires; the odor of charred bodies and charred wood; and the eeriest sounds of all, the whistling of a bomb about to hit and the keening over the slain in its aftermath.”

The book is essentially divided into five chapters which were: 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1945. There are terrible stories in the book such as tales of rape and torture. There are, however, other stories of these upper class families trying to survive.

One of the most interesting stories is that of Enriquito Zobel who, at the age of 14, became the “man of the house.” It is the story of how he went to the Polo Club to talk to the Japanese to return to him the six polo ponies that they own. He was able to convince the major in charge. Then he sold his father’s stamp collection and with the money, was able to make carretelas or horse-drawn passenger buggies. He was able to train the polo ponies to become his means of pulling the carretelas. With that, he went into the transportation business.

There are also stories about the guerrilla movement all throughout the book.  According to the author, the strongest resistance movement was in the island of Panay. This group had around 20,000 guerrillas. It was considered as the best organized guerrilla resistance group led by Macario Peralta Jr.

Another group that Orendain mentions is the Manila Intelligence Group (MIG) whose members included Manuel Roxas, Jacobo Zobel, Ernesto Rufino, Johnny Orendain and Gen. Vicente Lim.

Another group mentioned that I have frankly never heard of is the Volunteers Social Aid Committee which was formed to help the prisoners of war in Capas, Tarlac. These prisoners  were the survivors of the Death March. The group also known as Girls in Blue brought food and medicine for the prisoners. They also carried secret messages. These 20 young ladies all came from well-to-do families and was formed in April 1942 by Josefa Llanes Escoda, Helena Benitez, Betty Magalona, Lulu Reyes, Elvira Rufino, Trophy Ocampo, Lourdes Alunan and Conchita Sunico. Because they were “ladies of high stature,” they were allowed by the Japanese officers to come and go in the Capas Prison Camp.

There are horrible stories, including the story of the comfort women and the different massacres that happened during the Battle of Manila. However, there are also stories of hope, like how the Benedictine nuns saved St. Scholastica’s College. They had been forced to convert a section of their campus into a Japanese military hospital in 1944. The Japanese left in January 1945 and many civilian refugees then sought shelter there. Presuming it to still be occupied by the Japanese, the Americans bombed the college on Feb. 13, 1945, killing many refugees. The next day, American planes returned to bomb the area. Seeing a spotter Piper Cub in the sky, St. Scholastica’s German Sisters lay on the ground to form the letters SOS. Their clever and quick thinking saved the school, its refugees and the nuns.

This is must reading for those who are interested in the stories of war from the perspective of children. It shows how many more war stories remain to be told.

The author, Joan Orendain, is a veteran journalist and public relations practitioner with a special interest on WW II. She is also the author of eight coffee table books on famous people and Philippine corporations. She was a long-time assistant to Enrique Zobel.

The book is available from Vibal Foundation, Inc. +632 8580-7400 https://shop.vibalgroup.com

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