Because They Were Here

Part 1

"Tear it down! Tear it down!" The crowd chants in a sing-song tone as they march around the statue. Lola Anna watches the crowd as they break her heart into two. Her granddaughter must have noticed her grandmother's anguish because she tugs on the woman's sleeve and looks up at her. "Why don't they like it Lola? What's wrong with it?" she asks. Elizabeth does not yet know much about the world including what happens during wars. There are more to it than just guns and death. There are different kinds of suffering. Lola Anna hoped that the girl would never come to know this kind of pain. Something that Lola Anna was denied at her granddaughter's age. Lola Anna looks up at the statue of the short-haired girl wearing a hanbok as the sun shined upon its bronze material. She stares at it as if it really is her. She began to sing as a rush of memories hit her.

It was almost Christmas. The busy streets of Olongapo were filled with women clutching onto heavy weaved bags spilling with goods. While children laughed and ran as they played street games such as patintero.

The booths of the palengke were crammed together, allowing the heat to become harsher, but it did not bother anyone who was looking forward to the season. "Parol! Ma Parol! Bumili na po kayo! Christmas lanterns! Some Christmas lanterns! Buy some now!" There were venders who yelled out tempting deals as they fanned the flies away from what they claimed were fresh goods. While others scolded children who smuggled a few small fruits here and there from the scattered floors of their booths. Occasionally, they would chase after them with a deadly slipper in hand.

That was what had happened to twelve-year-old Anna. When Manang Isa was too busy with a bartering customer, she came in like a fox; quick and sly. The twelve-year old girl scooped up a few oranges and took off. "Hoy! Bayaran mo yan! Hey, you need to pay for that!" Isa ran after her but Anna was much younger and faster than she was. The sound of slippers making frequent contact with the cement floor was heard widely at this section of the palengke. Shoppers shouted as they were shoved out of the way as the cat chased the mouse. Fruits and baskets jumped into the air as they were knocked off from their hands. Isa almost lost sight of the tiny girl as they neared a corner. However, the palengke was not dubbed the wet market for nothing. The girl had slipped in a puddle and her armful of aromatic fruits rolled out onto the gravel floor. Two pairs of feet passed the space of her vision and scooped up the oranges and fled. They stolen her treasure. Soon after, Isa picked up Anna by the back of the shirt as if the girl were a dirty rag.

Despite her loss, she laughed and wiped off the brackish water that had managed to enter her mouth as Isa yelled at her demanding that she pay for the lost goods. "Ikaw bata ka ha, lagi na lang kita na huhuli, hindi ka titigil no? You stupid child, I always catch you. Yet you never seem to stop don't you?" Stupidly, the child shrugged and instead gave a toothy grin. Isa rose a hand, but before she can further punish the thieving child, Maria showed up. "Ate!" Anna cried and wailed like a mistreated baby. "Pinalo niya ako sa muka! She hit me on the face!" She even mustered to roll tears down her cheeks. Isa outraged at the false accusation, actually considered smacking the tears right off her face.

However, Maria stopped her and gave her a few pesos. She then apologized for her little sister's foolishness by bowing her head in respect and afterward took the latter's hand to take her home. Anna was scolded but even so, still managed to laugh a little and made jokes about Manang Isa's reaction. On the way home, they passed by more tinderos and more thieving children as usual. However, today was not a usual day.

In the middle of the plaza was a young woman on a soapbox. She was surrounded by a crowd who listened to her preach as she displayed a poster and hung it out for everyone to see. Her entourage passed out paper to whoever was in their radius. One even approached the sisters who had squeezed their way through the crowd. Before they had the chance to read it, the woman announced, "Yun ma Japon ay hindi natin kalaban! Sala ay ma kaybigan natin! The Japanese are not our enemy! They are our friends!" At this declaration, angry shouts spread like wildfire prompting a war on the streets. The sisters quickly withdrew and ran home to tell their father and mother.

The Japanese came on December 8, 1941 on their ships sliding into the northern islands of the Philippines right after they had declared war on the West by bombing Pearl Harbor. There were tales growing from the north that these imperialists had forced the brave, tired defenders to walk under the hot sun; which unfortunately shines all year long on the equator. They are monsters, many had said. Whether the rumors were true or not, it terrified little Anna.