This is supposed to be "Uncle Willie" William Suarez Buch; according to my father, his elder brothers and other relatives. Apparently, my Uncle "Joe' Jose Suarez Buch, who had a 10,000 hectare plantation in Malita, Davao, was given this photograph by one of the kris wielding Bagobos. It was found in a Japanese camp near Zamboanga, Mindanao in 1945.
The attack was in reprisal against the beheading of Commander Suarez as an American Officer and Spy. The fierce Tausugs of Sulu Archipelago, joined the vengeful Manobo and Bagobo tribes, in the attack against the Japanese where, it was said that they did not stop until they stood ankle deep in blood.
The attack was in reprisal against the beheading of Commander Suarez as an American Officer and Spy. The fierce Tausugs of Sulu Archipelago, joined the vengeful Manobo and Bagobo tribes, in the attack against the Japanese where, it was said that they did not stop until they stood ankle deep in blood.
William seems to have been an attractive man. Indeed, even without the blindfold, he bears a striking resemblance to my handsome son, Marc'Aurelio also known as Tung Chi.
His body language tells us that he was calm, dignified and proud even as he stares ahead (blindfolded) into the future perhaps? or towards a rich and dangerous life with few or no regrets. William did what he had to do for the Filipino People, his people. In a sense it was also for the ethical, moral, and republican principles which he thought(then) America possessed.
I say, what a waste of Youth and Talent!
He has become a legend with the Manobo and Bagobo tribes in Mindanao.
Observe that life as a guerilla living in the deep tropical jungle, eating fruits, tubers, fish, oysters, snakes, wild fowl, etc. and drinking rainwater from crystalline streams, must have been a healthy diet, apart from the constant stress of being an Outlaw with a price of several thousand dollars U. S. for his capture dead or alive. He looks surprisingly fit and lean, almost this side of thinness until one notices his legs.
He was betrayed by a Makapili - a Mestizo ( racial mixture of Spanish and Filipino) for a great deal of money, said to be twice the original amount offered The Makapili whether for money or revenge drugged him with a cup of cha ( green tea) heavily laced with belladonna - a hallucinogenic drug. He was then delivered unconscious to the Japanese. The Makapili betrayed many Filipinos, Americans and those of us so called Illustrious families. They believed in Japan's declared aims for an Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
I think my Uncle was a Romantic Adventurer. He died in a most heinous way, not realizing he had been duped by the True Powers. Wars are nothing but huge rackets run by Hucksters for the benefit of a FEW.
I hope to God he never realized that it was all one giant LIE; a crock of human feces.
The tribes people in Mindanao and in the Sulu Archipelago, still see him as an inspiring icon of bravery and DIGNITAS( in the ancient Roman sense of the word)
Zorayde, my paternal Sephardic Jewess grandmother, who had been brought up as a Catholic and died of tuberculosis as a devoted and pious woman in 1943 in Manila, never had to face the execution of three of her formidable sons She birthed 12 sons; all tall, healthy, athletically built, handsome, green or blue eyed, with dark wavy hair, fair skin and all without exception: independent spiritually, financially and psychically.
It was a common expression in Bicol Province to exclaim,"Nobody owns the Suarez Buch men, not even God. They own themselves."
His body language tells us that he was calm, dignified and proud even as he stares ahead (blindfolded) into the future perhaps? or towards a rich and dangerous life with few or no regrets. William did what he had to do for the Filipino People, his people. In a sense it was also for the ethical, moral, and republican principles which he thought(then) America possessed.
I say, what a waste of Youth and Talent!
He has become a legend with the Manobo and Bagobo tribes in Mindanao.
Observe that life as a guerilla living in the deep tropical jungle, eating fruits, tubers, fish, oysters, snakes, wild fowl, etc. and drinking rainwater from crystalline streams, must have been a healthy diet, apart from the constant stress of being an Outlaw with a price of several thousand dollars U. S. for his capture dead or alive. He looks surprisingly fit and lean, almost this side of thinness until one notices his legs.
He was betrayed by a Makapili - a Mestizo ( racial mixture of Spanish and Filipino) for a great deal of money, said to be twice the original amount offered The Makapili whether for money or revenge drugged him with a cup of cha ( green tea) heavily laced with belladonna - a hallucinogenic drug. He was then delivered unconscious to the Japanese. The Makapili betrayed many Filipinos, Americans and those of us so called Illustrious families. They believed in Japan's declared aims for an Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
I think my Uncle was a Romantic Adventurer. He died in a most heinous way, not realizing he had been duped by the True Powers. Wars are nothing but huge rackets run by Hucksters for the benefit of a FEW.
I hope to God he never realized that it was all one giant LIE; a crock of human feces.
The tribes people in Mindanao and in the Sulu Archipelago, still see him as an inspiring icon of bravery and DIGNITAS( in the ancient Roman sense of the word)
Zorayde, my paternal Sephardic Jewess grandmother, who had been brought up as a Catholic and died of tuberculosis as a devoted and pious woman in 1943 in Manila, never had to face the execution of three of her formidable sons She birthed 12 sons; all tall, healthy, athletically built, handsome, green or blue eyed, with dark wavy hair, fair skin and all without exception: independent spiritually, financially and psychically.
It was a common expression in Bicol Province to exclaim,"Nobody owns the Suarez Buch men, not even God. They own themselves."
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