World War II

On the “Controversial” World War II Memorial at Roxas Boulevard

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February may be a month of love for many or a time for celebrating the upcoming lunar new year this year. But it is also a month of tragedy as we remember that dark chapter in history that was the Battle of Manila which happened 73 years ago.

The Battle of Manila and the greater historical context that was the period of Japanese occupation in the Philippines from 1942 to 1945 has been considered as a part of history that people would rather forget. Part of that tragic tale is the story of the comfort women, young women in Japanese-controlled areas who were forced by the Japanese soldiers to be their sex slaves.

Last December, in memory of them and other women who suffered during the Japanese occupation, a monument was unveiled at the southern end of the Roxas Boulevard Baywalk. Depicting a blindfolded woman expressing worry and fear as to what will happen to her, the 7-foot bronze monument was seen at first as just another monument and World War II memorial, as with the many Memorare monuments in the city in remembrance of the war.

However, the Japanese Embassy in Manila thought otherwise and took offense that such a thing exists.

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Manila Transitio: Remembering The Manila We Lost

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Of all the commemorations being celebrated every February, perhaps the most overlooked is one that commemorates the Battle of Manila of 1945. Which is quite unfortunate considering how this sad and bloody chapter in the history of Manila transformed the city and the country on a macro perspective, causing destruction to so many cultural treasures in the city and death to more than 100,000 souls.

On one hand, the horror of this event may have been a factor as to why many choose to, understandably, forget what happened. On the other hand, this preference to forget is seen as the cause as to why Manila today has lost its soul in the midst of the progress and urban chaos that has adversely affected what was once known as the “Pearl of the Orient.”

It is the concern for this particular “forgetfulness” that tour guide/performance artist/cultural activist Carlos Celdran decided to hold an annual event to celebrate Manila before the war and remember the souls and treasures lost in the war called the Manila Transitio 1945, the recent being held last Saturday night at the Fort Santiago grounds.

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Manila 1945: Remembering A City’s Bloody Feburary

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Originally posted on February 3, 2015, this post has been rewritten to add some new stuff and make the piece more “timeless” and less constrained from being a 70th anniversary post as it was originally written.

February has been a traditionally known worldwide as the “love month,” as well as being as being historic month for the Philippines, especially in recent years due to the events of 1986 which culminated in what we now know as the first People Power Revolution. But not many people of another historic event that happened years back in 1945, one of the darkest and most devastating chapters in the history of Manila and of the country as a whole: the Battle of Manila in 1945 in which American and Japanese forces fought for about a month in a bloody, devastating battle in a bid to liberate Manila from Japanese control.

(courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

This was the singular event that would change Manila forever as the city once known as the “Pearl of the Orient” became one of the most devastated cities during World War II.  Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost  and many of the city’s important infrastructure and landmarks were heavily damaged, if not totally destroyed, many of which would not be rebuilt ever again.

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Manila1945: “Was the Destruction Necessary?”

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One of the talks that were held in the midst of the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Manila in 1945 was a lecture held last February 12 at the Ortigas Foundation Library which asked the question that lingers on after 70 years: “Was the Destruction Necessary?” Dr. James Zobel, (not related to the landed … Read more