the de la concepcion's of san juan

8/8/2019 The de La Concepcion's of San Juan

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1927 - The Family of Dr. Miguel and Francisca de la Concepcin

Left to Right: Leon (standing), Fernando (seated), Lourdes (standing),Francisca and Miguel, Josefina (standing), Lino (standing), Alfonso (seated)and Angelita (seated on the floor),


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The de la Concepcins of San Juan

1941- 1945By Danny de la Concepcin

(With thanks to my siblings,

who helped put these together)


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En campos de batalla, luchando con delirio

Otros te dan sus vidas sin dudas, sin pesar;

El sitio nada importa, ciprs, laurel lirio,

Cadalso campo abierto, combate cruel martirio,

Lo mismo es si lo piden La Patria y el hogar

Dr. Jose Rizal


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A S t o r y o f P a t r i o t i s m

Prologue

The Hunters

The Arrests

Liberation

Epilogue

The Poem

References


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Prologue

December 1941. Immediately after the bombing of Pearl Harbour,Japanese fighter and bomber planes raided the American air and seabases in the Philippines and demolished the US air power in the islands.A couple of days later, the well-equipped and battle-seasoned Japaneseand Korean invasion forces of Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma

began pouring into the shores of Northern Luzon, Bicol and Mindanaoregions. A few days before Christmas, the main invasion forces landed atLingayen Gulf and Lamon Bay.

Anticipating these landing points in the northern beaches, Philippine-American army regulars rushed to meet the invaders but were driven backby the well-disciplined enemy who had superior skills and firepower. On the23rd of December, General Douglas MacArthur ordered a full retreat of allhis forces to the BataanPeninsula, to establishtheir last line of defence.

The USAFFEs army of eighty thousand men made up of American officersand troops, Philippine scouts, constabulary, horse mounted cavalry, and ahuge majority of untrained and poorly equipped young Filipino recruits in allkinds of uniform began crowding into the Bataan Peninsula to hold off theJapanese invaders until the promised reinforcements from America arrived.

General MacArthur, Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon, other highranking military and government officials, their families and householdhelpers, as well as other American troops including a US marine contingentbrought in from Shanghai holed themselves in the heavily fortified rock

island of Corregidor or The Rock as it was called, just off the coast ofBataan. General MacArthur and his staff supervised the defence of Bataanfrom his underground headquarters in the island of Corregidor

From across the bay along Dewey Boulevard in Manila, people watchedand listened in horror day and night to the constant pounding of Bataan andCorregidor as the Japanese airplanes, tanks and artillery incessantlybombarded the fortifications, tunnels and fox holes where the sick andstarving American and Filipino troops were dug in holding off General

Hommas attacking troops. Everyone confidently hoped and prayed that the


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help from America would come soon.

The Hunters

On January 2, the Japanese entered Manila and in a few months, the entirearchipelago was in their hands except for Bataan, Corregidor and a fewother small-fortified islands in Manila Bay.

Young men, who were somehow left behind and missed joining theUSAFFEs lines of defense in Bataan began forming their own guerrillaunits one of which was the the Hunters-ROTC Guerrillas. The de la

Concepcin brothers,Alfonso, Lino and Leon,were among its the earlyorganizers together withother ROTC and PMAcadets living in theneighbourhood of SanJuan, Rizal. The family

compound in San Juanbecame one of severalmeeting places of theseyoung guerrillas who calledthemselves The Hunters.

During the early part of theoccupation, youngJapanese officers would

occasionally visit the house,trying to befriend the familywhile at the same timechecking on any irregularactivities that might betaking place. These officerswere polite and well

educated. Lino, who wasvery musically talented,sometimes entertained them

Leon and Lino with Cousins and Friends


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in the living room by playing some classical piano pieces, while Alfonsoand Leon hid and met quietly in a room upstairs with other guerrilla friends.

At that time, Lino was a young man of 28 and was just starting his dentalcareer. He and older brother Fernando, another dentist, had just opened adental clinic in Escolta. Every now and then, a few of these young officersvisited them for their dental services.

A good friend of Lino was Antonio Tony Mauri, who joined the USAFFEforces in Bataan. Late one night, during the time that the Japanese wereassaulting Bataan, Fanny, Linos youngest sister received a strange

telephone call. The caller claimed to be Tony Mauri, looking for Lino.Fanny told Lino that he had a phone call but failed to tell him that it was hisgood friend Tony. Lino was exhausted and had already retired for the nightso he asked his sister, to please tell whoever is calling that I'm alreadysleeping." Fanny passed on the message and Tony replied "Dile a Linoque ya me voy." Fanny, not wanting to bother Lino again decided to leaveTonys message for the next day. Later, when Lino found out that Tonycalled, he exclaimed. That can't be! Tony is in Bataan. He left sometimeago!" Then, sometime later Lino learned that his friend Tony was killed in

action on the night of that phone call.

The House in San Juan


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One young friendly Japanese officer used to come to the house to visit. Attimes, he would bring along some rice grain wrapped in a woollen sock forLino and his wife, Teresita Muoz. The couple gratefully accepted the gift

but always wondered where the socks came from so, they washed the ricevery well before cooking it. Very much later during the war, this youngofficer made a last visit and bade his farewell with tears in his eyes as hewas on his way to the frontline to fight the returning American troops. Theynever saw him again.

On The 11th of March, General MacArthur quietly slipped out of Corregidorby submarine and escaped to Australia leaving his beleaguered armybehind and ordering them to hold on at all costs for a couple of months

longer until he returned with reinforcements.On April 9, 1942, the defences collapsed and Bataan fell to the Japanese.Then, a month after, the last Filipino-American stronghold in Corregidor

surrendered and the whole of MacArthursUSAFFE army capitulated and were marchedto the concentration camps of Luzon.

After the fall of Bataan, The Hunters went tothe mountains of Rizal, there, they established

a base camp in Malabanca, Antipolo, andbegan their guerrilla campaign against theJapanese. They recruited and trained newmembers, retrieved arms and ammunition fromabandoned and hidden military caches andkept them in other hideouts in the Rizalcountryside.

Alfonso, now a captain and first lieutenantsLino and Leon became heavily involved in

these underground activities.

At one time Leon led his men to raid and loot aJapanese storage depot of arms andammunition captured from the USAFFE. Theytransported the captured cargo through thedangerous streets of the city to the countrysideto be used by the fighting guerrillas.

Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!


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Alfonso and Linoclandestinely retrieved a Pan-Am Airway radio transmitterburied in Camp Murphy Juan by the withdrawing Americans. They repairedthe radio and transported it through Japanese lines to Antipolo to be put to

use.

At another time, under the pretext of being gardeners doing clean-up workand uprooting some plants and trees, Alfonso and Lino and a few others,dug up some buried arms and ammunition from a yard of the SanMarcelino convent in full view of Japanese soldiers loitering in theirbarracks in a building just across the estero.

One day, Lino and a group of guerrillas were on patrol in the mountains ofAntipolo, when a big snake sprung across their path and startled everyone.In his haste to avoid the snake was darting towards him, Lino dropped andstepped on his eyeglasses. As they returned to camp, Lino noticed that hiseyeglasses were crushed and needed serious repair, so he gave them toFlorentino Tinoy Bernardowho was on his way home. Tinoy, arrivinghome from the long journey, feeling tired and exhausted, sadly looked atFernando and handed him Linos broken bifocals without saying a word.Upon seeing Linos crushed bifocals, Fernandowent pale and exclaimed,mi pobre hermano! Thinking that his younger brother Lino had been killedbut only to find out moments later that there was nothing to worry after all.

One late evening, with the curfew on, Alfonso, Lino and Max Agudo(Marcelino Erfe-Mejia), an ex-PMA cadet, were cruising in a black car, onsome daring mission disguised as Japanese officers. Sticking out of thecars front hood proudly fluttered the Japanese flag with the "rising sun"indicating that it was a ranking officers vehicle. The three men insideteasingly joked and laughed as they made fun of the Japanese flag callingit "la bandera del huevo estrellado". Donned in their Japanese juniorofficers uniforms complete with caps were Max, the driver, and Lino seatedbeside him. Alfonso sat at the back dressed as a high-ranking officer. Maxdrove the car along Riverside street in San Juan when they came into anewly installed Japanese checkpoint. It was too late to change direction sothey decided to proceed cautiously, hoping they wouldnt be noticed.Alfonso quietly cocked his pistol as the Japanese sentry approached withhis flashlight. Pulse rates raced and everyone in the car tensed up as thecar came to a halt. Linos thoughts were to jump off the car and make adash to open the checkpoint gate if things went awry. Bahala na! hethought. The sentry hesitated for a moment and lowered his flashlight afraidthat he might offend the officers inside the car if he pointed the light straight


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at their faces. He looked at Max, whose slit eyes resembled those ofJapanese, and then at Lino and Alfonso, whose caps partly covered theirfaces. Then, he gave them a snappy salute and ordered the gates openedto let the car pass.

As time went by, the guerrilleros became comfortably established in theircamp routine. Lino, Leon and a company of friends were one day seatedaround the camp enjoying some empanaditas prepared by their mother,Doa Paca when one of the men grabbed the delicious pies and beganhorse playing and pretending to shoot anyone who tried to take the piesaway from him. In spite of his companions warnings, he persisted claimingthat the chamber was empty, and to prove it, pointed the gun to his templeand pressed the trigger. The gun went off, blasting bits and pieces of hisscalp and brain on his friends. The blood profusely gushed out of his head

wound like a fountain. Lino who was a medical officer tried to apply first aidby covering the wound with his hand to stop the bleeding but nothing couldbe done to save their friends life. This was to be the first fatal casualty inthe young mens adventure.

In July 1942, the Japanese launched a surprise raid on the Hunters campin Malabanca. Mike Ver the leader and a founder of the group was killed onthe spot during the fire fight. The Japanese captured the camp.Theguerrillas escaped and the de la Concepcion brothers with them. TerryAdevoso was chosen to become the next leader of the Hunters replacingMike Ver, the second casualty in the group.

While in the mountains of Rizal, Lino had to go home after he contractedmalaria and became very ill. Shaking with a very high fever for severaldays, he marched with his guerrilla companions through the bush evadingthe Japanese patrols until he was able to get back home safely torecuperate. Through all these dangers and risks, Lino had a very specialdevotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and he kept the holy rosary with him allthe time. He always believed that his intense devotion to the rosary was

what saved his life at that time and on various occasions later during thewar.

In August 1942,Alfonso, Lino and Leon, joined another guerrilla groupcalled FAIT short for Fil-Am Irregular Troops. It was led by Col. HughStraughn, a retired U.S. Army colonel. Alfonso, the eldest of the brothers,was promoted and tasked to organize the 1st battalion, Manila Unit, MilitaryPolice. He worked closely with his friend, the groups chief liaison officer,Col. Quintin Gellidon.


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In the two years that followed, the 1st battalion under lieutenant colonelAlfonso's leadership, helped by his brothers, under directions from Col.Quintin Gellidon, actively recruited members, procured arms, ammunition,food, clothing, medical supplies, radio equipment and sent them to the

various combat units in the mountains of Rizal. The clandestine meetings inthe de la Concepcion family house in San Juan continued.

The first blow came in September 1942. The Japanese Military Policearrested Alfonso while at the San Juan house and detained him in FortSantiago. There, he was tortured and kept for eight months under sub-human conditions, living with his fellow inmates in the filth and stench withthe rats, cockroaches and flies until he got sick and developed acute skinailments.

One day, during one of Linos visits, Alfonso complained about the difficulttime he was having with the tortures. A plan was therefore concoctedbetween Fernando and Lino to deliberately infect Alfonso with a virus sothat he would get sick and be able to rest in the infirmary. However, after awhile, realizing the risks involved on Alfonsos health, the brothersabandoned the idea.

Then, the Japanese military policearrested Leon together with his brother-in-law, Jesus "Susing" Fabie and a friend,

Ramon "Monching" Abad. The Japanesedetained them at the "Airport Studio" nearDivisoria. They were beaten up withbaseball bats until they became numb.Leon was later released through theintervention of his godfather, a lawyer,Mariano Laureola, who had politicalconnections but only after Leon agreed tosign a document promising that he would

not join any guerrilla movement again.

On March 1, 1943, Lino was appointedAssistant Battalion Commander, to act inbehalf of his brother Alfonso who was still

imprisoned at Fort Santiago.Linoreceived orders to organize two morebattalions for Manila and Rizal and tocontinue the operations of theorganization. Together with Fernando, and future brother in law, Ramon

Fernando and Rosita Sandejas, Teresita

Munoz and Lino, with Mama Francisca

de la Concepcin


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Diaz, a survivor of the "Bataan Death March", they undertook the task oforganizing the new battalions. Additionally they immersed themselves onIntelligence activities like gathering information on enemy strength,movements, fortifications, ammunition dumps, airfields, reporting damages

caused by American air raids, listing spies and collaborators and theiractivities, as well as doing propaganda work by disseminating Radio SanFrancisco news and other prohibited broadcast news through printedleaflets.

In May 9, 1943, Alfonsowas transferred from Fort Santiago to the NewBilibid Prisons (NBP), Muntinlupa, and began serving his 1 year and 8month sentence. Shortly after, he recuperated and resumed to directguerrilla activities from inside the prison. Information and instructions wereclandestinely passed to and from Alfonso and other imprisoned guerrilla

leaders with the help of underground members employed as prison guards,employees and doctors.Dr. Gilbuena, the physician of the NBP dispensary,and an underground guerrilla himself, madeAlfonso his assistant. Thisgave Alfonso more access to the outside guerrillas through other patientsand visitors.

The guards at the NBP, Muntinlupa allowedimmediate family members to visit theirprisoner relatives. Teresa Pacheco, Alfonsoswife and Angelita "Liling" de la Concepcin, asister, often visited Alfonso in prison. Duringtheir visits, Angelita carried secret informationin and out of prison for her brothers. On a fewoccasions,Raul Manglapus, also an inmatewho worked at the NBP dispensary wouldrequest Angelita to deliver some letters for hismother who lived in San Juan. On anotheroccasion in San Juan, while carrying somesecret maps and letters in her body, Angelita

was almost caught when she was stoppedand frisked by the Japanese sentry in acheckpoint. Luckily, she was not discoveredand the sentry let her through.

One day,Lino and his friend Juvy Cervania, were visiting and sitting arounda table withAlfonso. As Juvy was seated close to Alfonso and Lino in frontof his brother,Alfonso bent over and sneaked a piece of note inside thehem of Juvys pants. This note carrying important information was later

Liling de la Concepcin


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passed out through the guards unnoticed.

In August 1943, Col Hugh Straughn was captured and executed. Major

General E.P. Ellsworth, who was actually Major General Vicente Lim,WestPoint graduate, a commanding officer of the USAFFE forces inBataan, and former ROTC commandant of Letran College where the de laConcepcion brothers studied, replaced Colonel Straughn. He issued neworders for Lino to organize three battalions for Manila alone. Lino, againwith the help of Fernando and Bataan veteran Ramon Diaz undertook theorganization of the additional battalions. During this time, all three of themwere promoted to the rank of Major.

On December 3, 1943, the Japanese capturedCol Quintin Gellidon. Hewas imprisoned at NBP Muntinlupa with Alfonso and other capturedguerrillas.

All reports collected by Linos group continued to be relayed to Alfonso whoby now had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and to Colonel Quintin

Gellidon who together with other captured guerrillaleaders continued directing operations from inside theprisons. Lino and other guerrillas held conferenceswith these imprisoned guerrilla leaders inside the

NBP Muntinlupa

The Arrests

By mid 1944, activities were seriously hampered bythe mass arrests and executions of guerrilla leadersand members by the Japanese Military Police but the

organization kept up its activities despite its depletednumbers. Lino and Fernando were forced to closedown their dental clinics and lie low. Eventually, Linoand brother Leon were placed on the wanted list andwere forced to go into hiding. By this time, theJapanese had already noticed the secret meetingstaking place in the family house in San Juan, andbegan staking-out the place waiting for any of thebrothers to show up. At times Japanese soldiers

Col. Quintin

Gellidon

Alfonso de laConcepcin


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climbed on top of trees to observe the familys activities taking placeinside the house.

To minimize detection by the Japanese, the group developed a systemwherein members were kept unknown to each other and ignorant of theirsuperior officers except the one who originally contacted them. Thus, thedanger of spread was minimized. Only Alfonso and Captain Vicente Keirulfkept a list of the members of the organization. Eventually, Captain Keirulfwas killed in action while serving as a guide to the American troops as theyrolled towards Manila.

By mid Aug 1944, Lino and his group prepared a plan for a rescue party tobe led by Leon to liberate their brother, Alfonso and other guerrillasimprisoned in Muntinlupa. The plan never materialized because before they

could execute it, Leon and hisother guerrilla companionswere captured. One evening,the Japanese conducted a"Zona" and cordoned off theneighbourhood in San Juan.Leon was caught in the familyhome while visiting his wife

Josefina Jo Fabie. His twoyounger brothers Miguel (16years old) and Carlos (14years old) who used to tagalong to help in their brothersguerrilla activities were alsotaken. Leons brother in-lawand friend, Jesus "Susing"Fabie who was with them that

evening was also captured.The group had just finishedhaving a meeting and decidedto spend the night over whenthe Japanese Arrived.

The Japanese Military Policesurrounded the house and

started banging loudly on the

front door with their rifle butts.Josefina Jo Fabie and Leon


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Liling first heard the loud footsteps and then the banging on door. She wentto the living room and with Miguelings help unlocked the heavy woodenfront door. These were much older Japanese officers who came. Leonknew that his time was up and prepared to surrender. He was feeling

unwell and dizzy as he came down the stairs with his wife. One of theofficers asked for a glass of water and Liling thought that the water was forLeon who was unwell. Instead, the officer drank the water and spat it atLeons face. This infuriated Migueling who challenged and began fightingthe officer. Liling had to calm him down. The Japanese soldiers ransackedthe house looking for evidence. They found Lolo Miguels old Knights ofColumbus uniform with sword and all. Thinking that this was the uniform ofan important military man, they confiscated this. Then the Japanese took allthe men and boys away.

Luckily, Lino escaped capture when he left early that evening just beforethe Japanese cordoned off the place, as the story goes, Lino brought hisbaby son Jojo along with him to San Juan. After the meeting, the brotherswere invited to stay for the night. As fate had it, Leon decided to stay withhis wife. But because Linos baby boy was getting hungry and fidgety, Linobegged off and left with the boy to look for milk. They then proceeded toSanta Mesa where Linos wife, was staying with her sisters.

Learning of his brothers' capture, and concerned about the implications itwould have on his safety, Alfonso, and other fellow guerrilla inmates,namely, Father Jaime Neri, Ladislao de Joya, and Manuel Fruto pursuedthe escape plan from inside Muntinlupa. On the evening of 25 of August1944, the 4 men with 84 other inmates including Quintin Gellidon, with thehelp of some Filipino prison guards and employees, bolted out of NBPMuntinlupa. After his escape, Alfonso fetched his wife and childrenincluding his mother and sisters from their house in San Juan, hid in Cavitewith his guerrilla friends, and resumed active command as AssistantDivision Provost Marshall under the alias "Carlos de Marias".

Later on, fearing for his younger sisters safety against some banditsposing as guerrillas in Cavite, Alfonso moved his whole family to arelatives vacant house in Pasay, where they continued hiding from theJapanese Military Police.

On Oct 1, 1944, as the American forces drew nearer Manila, Lino waspromoted to Lieutenant Colonel and appointed by Colonel Quintin Gellidonas Liaison Officer of the 1st Division, 4th Army Corps, Markings UnitedStates and Philippine Island Forces (USPIF).


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On December 5, 1944, the Japanese sentenced Leon to 10 years in prisonfor violation of military regulations. However, on January 11, 1945, justbefore the liberation of Manila, the Japanese executed him and his brotherin law, Jesus "Susing" Fabie in Fort Santiago. The two other younger

brothers,the young boys, Migueling and Carlos were never to be heard ofagain. It was rumoured that both of them were beheaded somewhere in theNorth Cemetery together with other captured young men. The Japanesecould not afford to waste any more ammunition then as the Americanliberation forces were on their way.

On December 15, 1944, the Japanese Military Police raided the house inPasay where the de la Concepcinfamily had moved in, and re-capturedAlfonso. He was betrayed by a fellow guerrilla who used to tag along withthe group and who turned out to be a Japanese collaborator.

The Japanese again missed Lino who also happened to be secretly visitingthe family but left early. That afternoon Lino and Alfonso were having a fewdrinks. Alfonso was already slightly inebriated and asked Lino to stay overfor the night. Lino rang his wife, Teresita to inform that he was staying over.Teresita, however, insisted that he come home and buy Ovaltine chocolatemilk for their little boy who would not stop crying. Lino excused himself fromhis older brother, Alfonso and had to leave.

Though inebriated, Alfonso was very calm and in control of himself when

the Japanese took him. He changed his clothes and stood erect as he wasled away. Then, he turned back and looked at his children and his youngersisters and winked as if to say dont worry, Ill be back. The Japanesefailed to retrieve the list of guerrillas that Alfonso kept. His wife managed todestroy it on time.


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Liberation

Rumours were that Alfonso struggled and fought with his guards as he was

being led out of his cell in Fort Santiago to be executed. He held tight to theprison railings until they broke and severed his arms. He finally succumbedand was shot to death.

It didnt take long for their Guerrilla friends of the family led by Linos closefriend, Antonio Tony Andia to catch up with the man who betrayedAlfonso. The honour of executing the traitor was first offered to Lino but hedeclined. His guerrilla friends nevertheless did the job.

After that event, Lino, still being sought by the Japanese, was transferred to

a safer place in Cavite after being assigned to the headquarters of thefourth Army Corps in that province. From there, he resumed serving theorganization via couriers to the remaining de la Concepcin operative inManila - Major Fernando, who continued looking after the organizationsoperations.

On Feb 1, 1945, Lino, together with his guerrilla friend Antonio "Tony"Andia, contacted the American forces of the Eleventh Airborne Division atNasugbu, Batangas. He remained in the company of the EleventhAirbornein Tagaytay serving as the Liaison Officer for the Fourth Army Corps,

Teresa Teresing Pacheco and Alfonso


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USPIF and the U.S. Army under the direct command of Major Jay D.Vanderpool, the Guerrilla Coordinator of South-western Luzon.

From a distance atop Tagaytay Ridge, Lino andhis companions watched Manila burn for

several days as the retreating Japanesesoldiers torched the city and randomlymassacred men, women and children. In theevenings, before the blazing red northern skieshe wondered if his wife and son that he leftbehind were still alive and he prayed that hewould see them again when he returned.

On February 1945, the scorched and ruined city

that once was beautiful Manila was liberated.Linos prayers were once again answered as

his loved ones survived the Japanese armysfinal desperate slaughter. Many other familyfriends and relatives were not as fortunate.

After the Japanese were driven out of the Philippines, Straughns Guerrillasand all other guerrilla organizations volunteered to join the American -Philippine Army for the invasion of Japan. Because of the re-organization

of Markings US-Philippine Island Forces (USPIF) and to conform to thenew table of Organization, Lino was given a Captain's commission in thePhilippine Army.

As everyone knows, the invasion of Japan did not push through afterHiroshima and Nagasaki was bombed and Japan surrenderedunconditionally on the 2nd of September 1945.

Epilogue

June 1992

In 1992, the 50th anniversary of the Hunters Guerrillas, a special tribute waspaid to the original founders the courageous souls who, in completedisregard of personal and familial safety, chose to defend their country.

Teresita Titit Muoz and Lino


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In giving special honours to the original founders who joined the resistancemovement between January 15, 1942 and July 4, 1942 this is not meantto lessen the honour due to all other Hunters who joined after, but only toconfirm, for the sake of historical accuracy those who came first.

In June of 1992, Alfonso, Lino and Len de la Concepcin wereposthumously given the Merit Award.

Following is a poem written in 1945 by Fernandodedicated to his fourfallen brothers.

The Poem

Holocausto

By Fernando de la Concepcin

(A mis hermanos y sus compaeros de guerrilla,

Muertos por el patrio Ideal 1945.)

Cmo sangra el alma al evocarlos,

En momentos al recuerdo abiertos!

Alfonso, Len, Miguel y Carlos,

Cuatro hermanos, por la Patria, muertos!

(Miguel y Carlos barbilampios

A los diecisis y catorce aos

En su inocencia y afn de nios

An no saban desengaos!)


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Conjuros de ardido patriotismo,

Urgieron sus pies a la aventura,

Tal vez con un ingnuo heroismo

Que no conoce hiel ni amargura.

Fieles, oyeron el sacro grito

Que en sus almas tuvo resonancias,

Como de voces del infinito

Que acuciaran exaltadas ansias.

Y se lanzaron al campo, en pos

Del ideal puro y sacrosanto,

Sin musitar un ltimo adis

A la Madre, que llor, sin llanto!

Patritico celo y fe sensilla,

Fueron su coraza singular,

Fue su muerte, oblacin sin mancilla,

Por Dis, por la Patra, y el Hogar!

Mas, su vidas tronchadas en flor,

En holocausto puro y sublime,

Supieron de un infinito amor.

De un generoso amor que redime!

Y, hoy, el pecho, con gravidos carios,

Llora al recuerdo triste de sus nombres;

Jugaron a la guerra como nios,


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Pero la guerra los mat como hombres!

Y, al fondo, en silenciosa agona,

Por cada hijo siempre perdido,

Cuntas, (pobrecita madre mia!)

Cuntas muertes su alma ha padecido!

1922 - Fernando, Alfonso and Lino de la Concepcin

Twenty years before Japan invaded the Philippines


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References

Letters, guerrilla reports and affidavits dated 1942 to 1945 fromguerrillas Lino, Fernando and Alfonsode la Concepcin and theirsuperior officers. Copies of these documents are with the children ofLino de la Concepcin - Jojo, Titina, Danny, Rene and Ernie.

Thede la Concepcin Family History Book put together by Maribel

Diaz Chandler.

Angelita de la Concepcin - Bernardos (Tita Liling) Feb 1999memoirs

Stories related to his children by Lino de la Concepcin and otheraunts and uncles.

Josefina Pinet de la Concepcin and Ramon Diaz

the de la concepcion's of san juan

Documents