Sunday, November 02, 2008
THE ARLEGUI & SAN RAFAEL INTERSECTION
Bounded by Quezon Boulevard on the west and the Malacañang Palace Compound on the east, San Geronimo was renamed Arlegui Street in honor of the Filipino property owners of this San Miguel area; whereas, San Rafael Street was named after Raphael, the Archangel, who was also known as the Medicine of God, for he was appointed to cure the sickness of the body and the spirit. It was on Arlegui where the first known Colegio Filipino, later renamed National University, opened in 1902.
On the early morning of February 4, 1945, boisterous shouting coming from near Malacañang roused the residents off their beds. The crowd that had already gathered at the intersection of Arlegui and San Rafael was jubilant; buoyed by the sight of an American flag that proudly waved from the flagpole inside the Palace grounds. And the guards at the gate were no longer Japanese but American GIs; smiling and waving back at the Manileños, teary-eyed with joy. However, the Yankee sentries also gestured at the crowd not to come near the Palace gates just yet.
Unbeknownst to many of the residents, the night before, guided by the guerrillas led by Edwin Ramsey, the 1st Cavalry unit arrived at the Palace gates only to find a handful of Japanese soldiers and the members of the Presidential Guard Battalion. Without any resistance, the latter, comprised of Filipinos, gladly surrendered; their lives were spared. The three or four Japanese soldiers, on the other hand, were peremptorily executed on the spot.
The next day, as the jubilant San Miguel residents milled around on Arlegui Street, some of Ramsey's guerrillas came out of the Palace gate with a pushcart filled with the corpses of the last Japanese in Malacañang. The bodies were dumped on a nearby vacant lot, drenched in gasoline and set on fire. Throughout that day, the neighborhood that surrounds the Arlegui and San Rafael intersection stank of burnt bodies.
And this fateful day, February 4, 1945, also marked the beginning of the month-long battle of what was to become the worst and most devastating urban fighting in the entire Pacific theater -- the Battle for Manila.
This post was inspired by the award winning documentary film,
The Battle for Manila.
Muchas gracias, El Cineasta, for a copy of the DVD!
Civilian survivors of the Battle for Manila
1945
Wisconsin Philippines Image Collection
Local Identifier: SEAiT.Philippines.ph00929.bib
1945
Wisconsin Philippines Image Collection
Local Identifier: SEAiT.Philippines.ph00929.bib
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Please note:
I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
Thank you!
I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.
Thank you!
Labels: Battle for Manila, Manila history
posted by Señor Enrique at 8:52 AM
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