Today marks the anniversary of the hostage-taking of hundreds of Lapoguenios inside the parish church by Japanese soldiers during World War II. Most Lapoguenios of our generation do not remember this event in our history, little realizing that were it not for a brave young man, the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of those who were held hostage that fateful day would not be around today, for their elders would have been executed by the Japanese soldiers. If many cannot recall this historic event, the more that they are not familiar with the brave young man who spared the lives of the Lapoguenios held hostage, because he died young as a repercussion of his heroic deed.

Several weeks back, at the wake of Mr. Mamerto Varilla (father of the late former Vice Mayor Richard Varilla), his family presented to us a worn-out, typewritten document, a personal account of what happened that day in 1944. Mamerto’s daughter, Roseanne, says they found the document in her father’s personal stuff (I wonder what prompted the old man to have kept the document all these years). It was written by no less than my grandmother’s younger brother, Jose V. Guerrero. I thought all along, from the stories I heard about the historic incident, that Constante Varilla Castro was among the hostages. Well, I thought wrong. In the document, Lolo Jose writes that when the Japanese soldiers aimed the machine gun at the first batch of hostages to be executed, Castro sneaked into the church and volunteered to reveal where the remains of the slain Japanese soldier were. What bravery this young man had. And he was only 18 (if written accounts are accurate).

And so Lolo Jose narrates how this event prompted him to initiate the putting up of a monument (referred to in the document as Veteran’s Marker) for those who died fighting for our country during World War II and especially, and I quote: “in memory and in gratitude to the noble acts of the late Constante Castro, who saved hundreds of people inside the church from Japanese execution” Constante Castro deserves to be remembered by all post-war generations of Lapoguenios. Two years ago there was a plan to put up a monument to honor his heroic act, but, too bad, this has remained a plan. Kailian, let us all perpetuate his memorable deed by telling young Lapoguenios about it, for what happened that day is a significant part of our history.

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