Who saved Sta. Ana from destruction

The article in last Sunday’s issue, which was titled “‘Liberation’ bells mark how Sta. Ana was spared” (Metro, 2/8/15), was inaccurate.

Seventy-five years ago last Feb. 10, at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon, two advance scouts of the First Cavalry Division of the US Army, standing on the Mandaluyong bank of the Pasig River, called out to us: “Stay in your shelters tonight!” “Us” were a group of neighbors seated on benches at the opposite bank, talking about the news of the burning of Paco, Ermita and Malate districts in Manila. The two scouts repeatedly shouted out their message to us, vigorously waving their arms.

Late that night, we heard the thuds of exploding bombs from the direction south of the Pasig River. The US Army, based in the University of Santo Tomas campus, was shelling the concrete buildings in Ermita and Malate, which the Japanese marines were using as their fortifications. This was the reason for warning the residents to stay in their shelter that night.

The news that two American scouts were in Mandaluyong spread like wildfire and created a carnival atmosphere in Sta. Ana, with the residents milling in the streets, shouting, clapping and dancing. The parish priest participated in the celebration of joy by ordering the “sacristan” to ring the church bells repeatedly; before that, they were rung only at 6 o’clock for the Angelus, at 9 o’clock in the evening, and for Sunday Masses.

When the Japanese marines, who commandeered the Sta. Ana Hippodrome, heard the incessant ringing of the church bells and saw the jubilant crowd of residents on the streets, they thought that the American troops had reached Sta. Ana, so they immediately evacuated the racetrack and left for Antipolo to join other Japanese troops. They left in such a hurry that they failed to ignite the rags they had soaked in gasoline and placed near the houses on Tejeron, Syquia, M. Roxas and other streets to burn Sta. Ana.

It is not true, therefore, that Sta. Ana was liberated from the Japanese, because they never occupied the district or posted sentinels on its streets. The only Japanese in Sta. Ana were those who commandeered the hippodrome, and they left without doing any damage to the district.

The miracle of Sta. Ana is attributed by the residents to the intervention of their patron saint, La Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados, or Our Lady of the Abandoned. During the occupation, the regular daily Masses continued. Every 6 p.m., a group of lady parishioners recited the rosary, imploring the Virgin Mary’s intercession to protect Sta. Ana and its residents.

Sta. Ana, in the belief of its residents, was not liberated by the US Army but through the intervention of their district patron saint.

—DELFIN L. GONZALEZ, [email protected]