Angels of the Underground: The American Women who Resisted the Japanese in the Philippines in World War II by Kaminski Theresa

Author:Kaminski, Theresa
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2015-10-09T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

THE MANILA UNDERGROUND

CLAIRE PHILLIPS’S DAYS AND NIGHTS REVOLVED AROUND SUPPORTING the guerrillas and the men in Cabanatuan. Her ability to do so depended on how much money the Club Tsubaki brought in. Despite brisk business at the club, the voracious needs of the prisoners and guerrillas stretched Claire to the financial breaking point.

In mid-February 1943, John Boone’s most trusted courier—now his wife—Mellie, arrived at the club with a note. His guerrilla camp had been raided by the Japanese and all the supplies Claire sent were gone. Claire knew Boone’s men needed new provisions as soon as possible. Because of her work for Cabanatuan, though, she was low on cash. She made a quick choice: “I glanced at my diamond ring, and decided it must go the way of all things.”1

Claire knew someone at Remedios Hospital who would help pawn the jewelry. One of the volunteers there was a tall, attractive, forty-year-old Spanish woman, Angustias Mencarini, who had hosted Peggy Utinsky’s birthday party the previous August. Married to a prosperous Manila businessman, Angustias divided her time between taking care of her three children and nursing patients at the hospital. Claire heard stories around Remedios that the Mencarinis collected money “for our cause,” even selling their own possessions for cash to help the civilian internees at Santo Tomas.2

Handing Angustias Mencarini the diamond ring, Claire said she needed quick cash for the guerrillas, a request that did not startle the Spanish woman in the least. Angustias eyed the diamond, estimated it would fetch 3,000 pesos, and completed the transaction in a day. When Claire pocketed the pesos, Angustias said, “Come to my house for lunch day after tomorrow at one o’clock.” Trying to beg off, Claire replied that between the Club Tsubaki and her work at the hospital, she did not have time for socializing. “You will have time for this,” Angustias assured her. “A few people will be there whom you will enjoy meeting, and you must know.”3

The Mencarini home was located on Taft Avenue, Manila’s most elegant thoroughfare. When Claire arrived, she was surprised to see so many familiar faces among the dozen or so guests: the Amusateguis and the Atienzas, Father Lalor, Naomi Flores, and Evangeline Neibert. When they all sat down at the luncheon table, Angustias said, “Since we are all doing the same kind of work, I thought that it would be nice for us to become acquainted.” She introduced each person along with their code name and a description of their activities in aiding the cause. In that room, Claire faced a significant portion of Manila’s underground. These were the people the Japanese wanted to neutralize. Yet here they sat, with all the naiveté of amateurs, talking about code names and resistance strategies.4

Claire learned the identities of the other guests: German Eroles, young, slender, with blond hair and blue eyes, worked as a cashier in the Marfusa Restaurant, a popular Russian eatery. His code name, Fancypants, was apt as he favored custom-tailored clothing. Sitting next to him was Maria Martinez (Papaya/Sunflower), who lived nearby on Taft Avenue.

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