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

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 Concepcións of San Juan
1941- 1945
By Danny de la Concepción
(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, ciprés, laurel ó lirio,

Cadalso ó campo abierto, combate ó cruel martirio,

Lo mismo es si lo piden La Patria y el hogar

… Dr. Jose Rizal

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A Story of Patriotism

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 sea
bases in the Philippines and demolished the US air power in the islands.
A couple of days later, the well-equipped and battle-seasoned Japanese
and Korean invasion forces of Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma
began pouring into the shores of Northern Luzon, Bicol and Mindanao
regions. A few days before Christmas, the main invasion forces landed at
Lingayen Gulf and Lamon Bay.
Anticipating these landing points in the northern beaches, Philippine-
American army regulars rushed to meet the invaders but were driven back
by the well-disciplined enemy who had superior skills and firepower. On the
23rd of December, General Douglas MacArthur ordered a full retreat of all
his forces to the Bataan Peninsula, to establish their last line of defence.
The USAFFE’s army of eighty thousand men made up of American officers
and troops, Philippine scouts, constabulary, horse mounted cavalry, and a
huge majority of untrained and poorly equipped young Filipino recruits in all
kinds of uniform began crowding into the Bataan Peninsula to hold off the
Japanese invaders until the promised reinforcements from America arrived.
General MacArthur, Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon, other high
ranking military and government officials, their families and household
helpers, as well as other American troops including a US marine contingent
brought in from Shanghai holed themselves in the heavily fortified rock
island of Corregidor or “The Rock” as it was called, just off the coast of
Bataan. General MacArthur and his staff supervised the defence of Bataan
from his underground headquarters in the island of Corregidor
From across the bay along Dewey Boulevard in Manila, people watched
and listened in horror day and night to the constant pounding of Bataan and
Corregidor as the Japanese airplanes, tanks and artillery incessantly
bombarded the fortifications, tunnels and fox holes where the sick and
starving American and Filipino troops were dug in holding off General
Homma’s 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 entire
archipelago was in their hands except for Bataan, Corregidor and a few
other small-fortified islands in Manila Bay.
Young men, who were somehow left behind and missed joining the
USAFFE’s lines of defense in Bataan began forming their own guerrilla
units one of which was the the Hunters-ROTC Guerrillas. The de la
Concepción brothers,
Alfonso, Lino and Leon,
were among its the early
organizers together with
other ROTC and PMA
cadets living in the
neighbourhood of San
Juan, Rizal. The family
compound in San Juan
became one of several
meeting places of these
young guerrillas who called
themselves “The Hunters”.
During the early part of the
occupation, young
Japanese officers would
occasionally visit the house,
trying to befriend the family
while at the same time
checking on any irregular
activities that might be
taking place. These officers
were polite and well
educated. Lino, who was
Leon and Lino with Cousins and Friends
very musically talented,
sometimes entertained them
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in the living room by playing some classical piano pieces, while Alfonso
and 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 dental
career. He and older brother Fernando, another dentist, had just opened a
dental clinic in Escolta. Every now and then, a few of these young officers
visited them for their dental services.

A good friend of Lino was Antonio “Tony” Mauri, who joined the USAFFE
forces in Bataan. Late one night, during the time that the Japanese were
assaulting Bataan, Fanny, Lino’s 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 his
good friend Tony. Lino was exhausted and had already retired for the night
so he asked his sister, to please tell whoever is calling that I'm already
sleeping." Fanny passed on the message and Tony replied "Dile a Lino
que ya me voy." Fanny, not wanting to bother Lino again decided to leave
Tony’s message for the next day. Later, when Lino found out that Tony
called, he exclaimed. “That can't be! Tony is in Bataan. He left sometime
ago!" 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. At
times, he would bring along some rice grain wrapped in a woollen sock for
Lino and his wife, Teresita Muñoz. The couple gratefully accepted the gift
but always wondered where the socks came from so, they washed the rice
very well before cooking it. Very much later during the war, this young
officer made a last visit and bade his farewell with tears in his eyes as he
was on his way to the frontline to fight the returning American troops. They
never saw him again.
On The 11th of March, General MacArthur quietly slipped out of Corregidor
by submarine and escaped to Australia leaving his beleaguered army
behind 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 MacArthur’s
USAFFE army capitulated and were marched
to the concentration camps of Luzon.
After the fall of Bataan, The Hunters went to
the mountains of Rizal, there, they established
a base camp in Malabanca, Antipolo, and
began their guerrilla campaign against the
Japanese. They recruited and trained new
members, retrieved arms and ammunition from
abandoned and hidden military caches and
kept them in other hideouts in the Rizal
countryside.
Alfonso, now a captain and first lieutenants
Lino and Leon became heavily involved in
these underground activities.
At one time Leon led his men to raid and loot a
Japanese storage depot of arms and
ammunition captured from the USAFFE. They
transported the captured cargo through the
dangerous streets of the city to the countryside
to be used by the fighting guerrillas.

Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!

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Alfonso and Lino clandestinely retrieved a Pan-Am Airway radio transmitter
buried in Camp Murphy Juan by the withdrawing Americans. They repaired
the 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 work
and uprooting some plants and trees, Alfonso and Lino and a few others,
dug up some buried arms and ammunition from a yard of the San
Marcelino convent in full view of Japanese soldiers loitering in their
barracks in a building just across the estero.
One day, Lino and a group of guerrillas were on patrol in the mountains of
Antipolo, when a big snake sprung across their path and startled everyone.
In his haste to avoid the snake was darting towards him, Lino dropped and
stepped on his eyeglasses. As they returned to camp, Lino noticed that his
eyeglasses were crushed and needed serious repair, so he gave them to
Florentino “Tinoy” Bernardo who was on his way home. Tinoy, arriving
home from the long journey, feeling tired and exhausted, sadly looked at
Fernando and handed him Lino’s broken bifocals without saying a word.
Upon seeing Lino’s crushed bifocals, Fernando went pale and exclaimed,
mi pobre hermano! Thinking that his younger brother Lino had been killed
but 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, on
some daring mission disguised as Japanese officers. Sticking out of the
car’s front hood proudly fluttered the Japanese flag with the "rising sun"
indicating that it was a ranking officer’s vehicle. The three men inside
teasingly joked and laughed as they made fun of the Japanese flag calling
it "la bandera del huevo estrellado". Donned in their Japanese junior
officers uniforms complete with caps were Max, the driver, and Lino seated
beside him. Alfonso sat at the back dressed as a high-ranking officer. Max
drove the car along Riverside street in San Juan when they came into a
newly installed Japanese checkpoint. It was too late to change direction so
they decided to proceed cautiously, hoping they wouldn’t be noticed.
Alfonso quietly cocked his pistol as the Japanese sentry approached with
his flashlight. Pulse rates raced and everyone in the car tensed up as the
car came to a halt. Lino’s thoughts were to jump off the car and make a
dash to open the checkpoint gate if things went awry. Bahala na! he
thought. The sentry hesitated for a moment and lowered his flashlight afraid
that 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 of
Japanese, and then at Lino and Alfonso, whose caps partly covered their
faces. Then, he gave them a snappy salute and ordered the gates opened
to let the car pass.
As time went by, the guerrillero’s became comfortably established in their
camp routine. Lino, Leon and a company of friends were one day seated
around the camp enjoying some “empanaditas” prepared by their mother,
Doña Paca when one of the men grabbed the delicious pies and began
horse playing and pretending to shoot anyone who tried to take the pies
away from him. In spite of his companions’ warnings, he persisted claiming
that the chamber was empty, and to prove it, pointed the gun to his temple
and pressed the trigger…. The gun went off, blasting bits and pieces of his
scalp 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 aid
by covering the wound with his hand to stop the bleeding but nothing could
be done to save their friend’s life. This was to be the first fatal casualty in
the young men’s adventure.
In July 1942, the Japanese launched a surprise raid on the Hunters camp
in Malabanca. Mike Ver the leader and a founder of the group was killed on
the spot during the fire fight. The Japanese captured the camp. The
guerrillas escaped and the de la Concepcion brothers with them. Terry
Adevoso was chosen to become the next leader of the Hunters replacing
Mike Ver, the second casualty in the group.
While in the mountains of Rizal, Lino had to go home after he contracted
malaria and became very ill. Shaking with a very high fever for several
days, he marched with his guerrilla companions through the bush evading
the Japanese patrols until he was able to get back home safely to
recuperate. Through all these dangers and risks, Lino had a very special
devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and he kept the holy rosary with him all
the 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 the
war.
In August 1942, Alfonso, Lino and Leon, joined another guerrilla group
called FAIT short for Fil-Am Irregular Troops. It was led by Col. Hugh
Straughn, a retired U.S. Army colonel. Alfonso, the eldest of the brothers,
was promoted and tasked to organize the 1st battalion, Manila Unit, Military
Police. 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 colonel
Alfonso'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 in
the de la Concepcion family house in San Juan continued.
The first blow came in September 1942. The Japanese Military Police
arrested Alfonso while at the San Juan house and detained him in Fort
Santiago. There, he was tortured and kept for eight months under sub-
human conditions, living with his fellow inmates in the filth and stench with
the rats, cockroaches and flies until he got sick and developed acute skin
ailments.
One day, during one of Lino’s visits, Alfonso complained about the difficult
time he was having with the tortures. A plan was therefore concocted
between Fernando and Lino to deliberately infect Alfonso with a virus so
that he would get sick and be able to rest in the infirmary. However, after a
while, realizing the risks involved on Alfonso’s health, the brothers
abandoned the idea.
Then, the Japanese military police
arrested Leon together with his brother-in-
law, Jesus "Susing" Fabie and a friend,
Ramon "Monching" Abad. The Japanese
detained them at the "Airport Studio" near
Divisoria. They were beaten up with
baseball bats until they became numb.
Leon was later released through the
intervention of his godfather, a lawyer,
Mariano Laureola, who had political
connections but only after Leon agreed to
sign a document promising that he would
not join any guerrilla movement again.
On March 1, 1943, Lino was appointed
Assistant Battalion Commander, to act in
behalf of his brother Alfonso who was still
imprisoned at Fort Santiago. Lino
received orders to organize two more Fernando and Rosita Sandejas, Teresita
Munoz and Lino, with “Mama” Francisca
battalions for Manila and Rizal and to de la Concepción
continue the operations of the
organization. Together with Fernando, and future brother in law, Ramon
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Diaz, a survivor of the "Bataan Death March", they undertook the task of
organizing the new battalions. Additionally they immersed themselves on
Intelligence activities like gathering information on enemy strength,
movements, fortifications, ammunition dumps, airfields, reporting damages
caused by American air raids, listing spies and collaborators and their
activities, as well as doing propaganda work by disseminating Radio San
Francisco news and other prohibited broadcast news through printed
leaflets.
In May 9, 1943, Alfonso was transferred from Fort Santiago to the New
Bilibid Prisons (NBP), Muntinlupa, and began serving his 1 year and 8
month sentence. Shortly after, he recuperated and resumed to direct
guerrilla activities from inside the prison. Information and instructions were
clandestinely 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, made Alfonso his assistant. This
gave Alfonso more access to the outside guerrillas through other patients
and visitors.
The guards at the NBP, Muntinlupa allowed
immediate family members to visit their
prisoner relatives. Teresa Pacheco, Alfonso’s
wife and Angelita "Liling" de la Concepción, a
sister, often visited Alfonso in prison. During
their visits, Angelita carried secret information
in and out of prison for her brothers. On a few
occasions, Raul Manglapus, also an inmate
who worked at the NBP dispensary would
request Angelita to deliver some letters for his
mother who lived in San Juan. On another
occasion in San Juan, while carrying some
secret maps and letters in her body, Angelita
was almost caught when she was stopped
and frisked by the Japanese sentry in a
Liling de la Concepción checkpoint. Luckily, she was not discovered
and the sentry let her through.
One day, Lino and his friend Juvy Cervania, were visiting and sitting around
a table with Alfonso. As Juvy was seated close to Alfonso and Lino in front
of his brother, Alfonso bent over and sneaked a piece of note inside the
hem of Juvy’s pants. This note carrying important information was later

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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 in
Bataan, and former ROTC commandant of Letran College where the de la
Concepcion brothers studied, replaced Colonel Straughn. He issued new
orders for Lino to organize three battalions for Manila alone. Lino, again
with the help of Fernando and Bataan veteran Ramon Diaz undertook the
organization of the additional battalions. During this time, all three of them
were promoted to the rank of Major.
On December 3, 1943, the Japanese captured Col Quintin Gellidon. He
was imprisoned at NBP Muntinlupa with Alfonso and other captured
guerrillas.
All reports collected by Lino’s group continued to be relayed to Alfonso who
by now had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and to Colonel Quintin
Gellidon who together with other captured guerrilla
leaders continued directing operations from inside the
prisons. Lino and other guerrillas held conferences
with these imprisoned guerrilla leaders inside the
NBP Muntinlupa

The Arrests

Col. Quintin
Gellidon By mid 1944, activities were seriously hampered by
the mass arrests and executions of guerrilla leaders
and members by the Japanese Military Police but the
organization kept up its activities despite its depleted
numbers. Lino and Fernando were forced to close
down their dental clinics and lie low. Eventually, Lino
and brother Leon were placed on the wanted list and
were forced to go into hiding. By this time, the
Japanese had already noticed the secret meetings
taking place in the family house in San Juan, and
began staking-out the place waiting for any of the
brothers to show up. At times Japanese soldiers
Alfonso de la
Concepción 14
 climbed on top of trees to observe the family’s activities taking place
inside the house.

To minimize detection by the Japanese, the group developed a system

wherein members were kept unknown to each other and ignorant of their
superior officers except the one who originally contacted them. Thus, the
danger of spread was minimized. Only Alfonso and Captain Vicente Keirulf
kept a list of the members of the organization. Eventually, Captain Keirulf
was killed in action while serving as a guide to the American troops as they
rolled towards Manila.
By mid Aug 1944, Lino and his group prepared a plan for a rescue party to
be led by Leon to liberate their brother, Alfonso and other guerrillas
imprisoned in Muntinlupa. The plan never materialized because before they
could execute it, Leon and his
other guerrilla companions
were captured. One evening,
the Japanese conducted a
"Zona" and cordoned off the
neighbourhood in San Juan.
Leon was caught in the family
home while visiting his wife
Josefina “Jo” Fabie. His two
younger brothers Miguel (16
years old) and Carlos (14
years old) who used to tag
along to help in their brothers’
guerrilla activities were also
taken. Leon’s brother in-law
and friend, Jesus "Susing"
Fabie who was with them that
evening was also captured.
The group had just finished
having a meeting and decided
to spend the night over when
the Japanese Arrived.
The Japanese Military Police
surrounded the house and
started banging loudly on the
Josefina “Jo” Fabie and Leon front door with their rifle butts.
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Liling first heard the loud footsteps and then the banging on door. She went
to the living room and with Migueling’s help unlocked the heavy wooden
front door. These were much older Japanese officers who came. Leon
knew 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 the
officers asked for a glass of water and Liling thought that the water was for
Leon who was unwell. Instead, the officer drank the water and spat it at
Leon’s face. This infuriated Migueling who challenged and began fighting
the officer. Liling had to calm him down. The Japanese soldiers ransacked
the house looking for evidence. They found Lolo Miguel’s old Knights of
Columbus uniform with sword and all. Thinking that this was the uniform of
an important military man, they confiscated this. Then the Japanese took all
the men and boys away.
Luckily, Lino escaped capture when he left early that evening just before
the Japanese cordoned off the place, as the story goes, Lino brought his
baby son Jojo along with him to San Juan. After the meeting, the brothers
were invited to stay for the night. As fate had it, Leon decided to stay with
his wife. But because Lino’s baby boy was getting hungry and fidgety, Lino
begged off and left with the boy to look for milk. They then proceeded to
Santa Mesa where Lino’s wife, was staying with her sisters.
Learning of his brothers' capture, and concerned about the implications it
would have on his safety, Alfonso, and other fellow guerrilla inmates,
namely, Father Jaime Neri, Ladislao de Joya, and Manuel Fruto pursued
the escape plan from inside Muntinlupa. On the evening of 25 of August
1944, the 4 men with 84 other inmates including Quintin Gellidon, with the
help of some Filipino prison guards and employees, bolted out of NBP
Muntinlupa. After his escape, Alfonso fetched his wife and children
including his mother and sisters from their house in San Juan, hid in Cavite
with his guerrilla friends, and resumed active command as Assistant
Division Provost Marshall under the alias "Carlos de Mariñas".
Later on, fearing for his younger sisters’ safety against some bandits
posing as guerrillas in Cavite, Alfonso moved his whole family to a
relative’s vacant house in Pasay, where they continued hiding from the
Japanese Military Police.
On Oct 1, 1944, as the American forces drew nearer Manila, Lino was
promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and appointed by Colonel Quintin Gellidon
as Liaison Officer of the 1st Division, 4th Army Corps, Markings United
States and Philippine Island Forces (USPIF).

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On December 5, 1944, the Japanese sentenced Leon to 10 years in prison
for violation of military regulations. However, on January 11, 1945, just
before the liberation of Manila, the Japanese executed him and his brother
in law, Jesus "Susing" Fabie in Fort Santiago. The two other younger
brothers, the young boys, Migueling and Carlos were never to be heard of
again. It was rumoured that both of them were beheaded somewhere in the
North Cemetery together with other captured young men. The Japanese
could not afford to waste any more ammunition then as the American
liberation forces were on their way.
On December 15, 1944, the Japanese Military Police raided the house in
Pasay where the de la Concepción family had moved in, and re-captured
Alfonso. He was betrayed by a fellow guerrilla who used to tag along with
the group and who turned out to be a Japanese collaborator.
The Japanese again missed Lino who also happened to be secretly visiting
the family but left early. That afternoon Lino and Alfonso were having a few
drinks. Alfonso was already slightly inebriated and asked Lino to stay over
for the night. Lino rang his wife, Teresita to inform that he was staying over.
Teresita, however, insisted that he come home and buy Ovaltine chocolate
milk for their little boy who would not stop crying. Lino excused himself from
his 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 was
led away. Then, he turned back and looked at his children and his younger
sisters and winked as if to say “don’t worry, I’ll be back”. The Japanese
failed to retrieve the list of guerrillas that Alfonso kept. His wife managed to
destroy it on time.

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 Teresa “Teresing” Pacheco and Alfonso

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 the
prison railings until they broke and severed his arms. He finally succumbed
and was shot to death.
It didn’t take long for their Guerrilla friends of the family led by Lino’s close
friend, Antonio “Tony” Andia to catch up with the man who betrayed
Alfonso. The honour of executing the traitor was first offered to Lino but he
declined. 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 the
fourth Army Corps in that province. From there, he resumed serving the
organization via couriers to the remaining de la Concepción operative in
Manila - Major Fernando, who continued looking after the organization’s
operations.
On Feb 1, 1945, Lino, together with his guerrilla friend Antonio "Tony"
Andia, contacted the American forces of the Eleventh Airborne Division at
Nasugbu, Batangas. He remained in the company of the Eleventh Airborne
in Tagaytay serving as the Liaison Officer for the Fourth Army Corps,

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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 and
his companions watched Manila burn for
several days as the retreating Japanese
soldiers torched the city and randomly
massacred men, women and children. In the
evenings, before the blazing red northern skies
he wondered if his wife and son that he left
behind were still alive and he prayed that he
would see them again when he returned.
On February 1945, the scorched and ruined city
that once was beautiful Manila was liberated.
Lino’s prayers were once again answered as
his loved ones survived the Japanese army’s
Teresita “Titit” Muñoz and Lino final desperate slaughter. Many other family
friends and relatives were not as fortunate.
After the Japanese were driven out of the Philippines, Straughn’s Guerrillas
and all other guerrilla organizations volunteered to join the American -
Philippine Army for the invasion of Japan. Because of the re-organization
of Marking’s US-Philippine Island Forces (USPIF) and to conform to the
new table of Organization, Lino was given a Captain's commission in the
Philippine Army.
As everyone knows, the invasion of Japan did not push through after
Hiroshima and Nagasaki was bombed and Japan surrendered
unconditionally on the 2nd of September 1945.

Epilogue
June 1992

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

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In giving special honours to the original founders who joined the resistance
movement between January 15, 1942 and July 4, 1942 – this is not meant
to lessen the honour due to all other Hunters who joined after, but only to
confirm, for the sake of historical accuracy those who came first.
In June of 1992, Alfonso, Lino and León de la Concepción were
posthumously given the Merit Award.

Following is a poem written in 1945 by Fernando dedicated to his four

fallen brothers.

The Poem
“Holocausto”
By Fernando de la Concepción
(A mis hermanos y sus compañeros de guerrilla,

Muertos por el patrio Ideal 1945.)

Cómo sangra el alma al evocarlos,

En momentos al recuerdo abiertos!
Alfonso, León, Miguel y Carlos,
Cuatro hermanos, por la Patria, muertos!

(Miguel y Carlos barbilampiños

A los dieciséis y catorce años
En su inocencia y afán de niños
Aún no sabían desengaños!)

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 Conjuros de ardido patriotismo,
Urgieron sus pies a la aventura,
Tal vez con un ingénuo 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 último adiós
A la Madre, que lloró, sin llanto!

Patriótico celo y fe sensilla,

Fueron su coraza singular,
Fue su muerte, oblación sin mancilla,
Por Diós, por la Patría, 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 cariños,
Llora al recuerdo triste de sus nombres;
Jugaron a la guerra como niños,

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 Pero la guerra los mató como hombres!

Y, al fondo, en silenciosa agonía,

Por cada hijo siempre perdido,
Cuántas, (pobrecita madre mia!)
Cuántas muertes su alma ha padecido!

1922 - Fernando, Alfonso and Lino de la Concepción

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Twenty years before Japan invaded the Philippines
 Josefina “Pinet” de la Concepción and Ramon Diaz

References

• Letters, guerrilla reports and affidavits dated 1942 to 1945 from

guerrilla’s Lino, Fernando and Alfonso de la Concepción and their
superior officers. Copies of these documents are with the children of
Lino de la Concepción - Jojo, Titina, Danny, Rene and Ernie.
• The de la Concepción Family History Book put together by Maribel
Diaz Chandler.
• Angelita de la Concepción - Bernardo’s (Tita Liling) Feb 1999
memoirs
• Stories related to his children by Lino de la Concepción and other
aunts and uncles.

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