As we continue to remember #Manila1945, the Urban Roamer recently paid a visit to one of the few spots in the city that have served today to remember everything that was lost in the Battle of Manila in 1945: the Memorare Manila 1945 at the Plazuela de Santa Isabel in Intramuros, Manila.
Located a few steps away from the Manila Cathedral, Plazuela de Santa Isabel used to form part of the old campus of Santa Isabel College before it was erased from existence during the Battle of Manila, along with almost everything else in the city. In its place, a memorial was placed which was first unveiled during the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Manila in February 18, 1995.
The memorial features a work by Peter de Guzman (who, incidentally, also made the sculpture dedicated to the La Sallian brothers who were killed in the Battle of Manila during the De La Salle Massacre) which shows various figures representing the victims of the battle: those who have died, wounded, raped, tortured, distraught, weakened by hunger. Comforting them is a cloaked figure whose face is unseen, representing a mother who mourns their loss.
One may be reminded of the famed sculpture by Michelangelo, The Pieta, upon seeing this sculpture, which can be taken as an inspiration for this work, only that this one bears more gloom and a sense of lost hope for what was lost and could never be regained.
For an event as massive on a scale and tragedy as the Battle of Manila, the Memorare Manila 1945 stands today as an overlooked landmark in the Walled City, which somehow reflects the sad state of things today as far as how we remember the events of Manila1945. The least we can do at this point is pay a visit to this landmark and take time to remember and pay tribute to the victims of this dark chapter in our history that we and future generations would never go through the suffering that they went through.
