Bahay na Pula

It was constructed in 1929 at Barangay Anyantam under the orders of Don Ramon Ilusorio[1] of the Ilusorio family, who owned vast hacienda lands in the area. as a family mansion with two storeys.[2] It was made largely out of wood and painted red on the outside, giving it its name. The house was surrounded by large gardens filled with tamarind, camachile, and duhat trees.[1]

During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, on November 23, 1944, the Geki Group of the 14th District Army under Japanese Imperial Army General Tomoyuki Yamashita attacked Mapaniqui, Pampanga. The town was suspected by the army to be a stronghold of the Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon or Hukbalahap. All men in the area were gathered, beaten up, and murdered afterwards in a genocide-like fashion. A verified report noted that one man had his genitals hacked off and was forced to eat them. The bodies of the men were all thrown into a huge pile and set on fire. No religious practices for the dead were allowed to be performed for the murdered men.[1]

The Japanese Imperial Army afterwards looted numerous households in the area. In contrast, the women were brought into Bahay-na-Pula, which had been captured by the Japanese. The women, who numbered more than a hundred and came from the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga, were told to bring items, and once they arrived, they were all raped routinely and repeatedly by an entire army of Japanese soldiers. Several of the girls were eight and nine years of age. Girls and women who fought back were stabbed to death using bayonets. Some of the women managed to escape, but many were forced into slavery and became sex slaves or "comfort women".[3] Documented reports have showed various human rights violations. One account says that the Japanese army at Bahay-na-Pula had a "favorite slave", who was raped by different Japanese soldiers 30 or more times every single day. The woman was later murdered through drowning after she fought back.[1]

Most of the survivors have changed residences due to the memories of the Japanese occupation in the area and the atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial Army. In 1997, "The Malaya Lolas" (The Free Grandmothers), an organization of former comfort women fighting for their rights and compensation for the losses from the war, was established in Pampanga. However, the privately funded Asian Women's Fund, an organization providing atonement and support for Japan's aging victims, did not categorize the Mapaniqui women as comfort women despite the documentation the Malaya Lolas had collected. Because of this, they have not received money nor medical care from the Fund.[1]

In 2014, the Supreme Court of the Philippines denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Malaya Lola, who wanted to declare the Philippine government guilty of grave abuse of discretion for refusing to support their claims against the Japanese army for war crimes and crimes against humanity.[1] The house was partially dismantled after 2014 and was in danger of collapse.[4]

In 2016, due to a feuding internal conflict between members of the Ilosorio family, the heritage structure was partially demolished. The house was allegedly going to be rebuilt in Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bataan province. The framed and roof of the house has remained and still features its iconic base and color.[5] In November 2016, several human rights group, including Bertha's Impact Opportunity Fund, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, and the Center for International Law, Manila, traveled to Geneva to seek the United Nations' support on behalf of the group. In 2017, Cinema One Originals launched a full-length documentary film about Bahay-na-Pula, the comfort women who suffered, and the battle they are facing even up til now, where most of the women are now in their 80s and 90s.[1]

Some historians and cultural heritage workers have expressed the need for the site's conservation and value to humanity's universal memory of things that must never be repeated. The structure that remains on the site has been lauded as Bulacan's stern reminder to the world about the savagery committed by Japanese soldiers and the negative effects of war.[1]

• Malaya Lolas

• Virtual tour: Bahay na Pula

Media related to Bahay na Pula at Wikimedia Commons