Josefa Llanes Escoda
A Filipina Patriot
You may have seen her face on your 1,000-peso bill. Perhaps her name always pops into your mind every time you hear “Girl Scout of the Philippines.” Whatever the case, the story of Pepa, as she was fondly called, is way more amazing than we give it credit for.
For one, Pepa has a very impressive resume. She earned her master’s degree in social work (on scholarship!) from Columbia University. It was also in the US where she trained in girl scouting. You know what happened next: She returned to the Philippines, trained young girls, and organized the GSP as its first National Executive.
During World War II, Japanese forces invaded the Philippines. By 1944, news of the underground activities of Josefa Llanes Escoda and her husband Antonio reached far and wide. As the Japanese Army pushed deeper in the country, The couple had intensified their activities of supplying medicine, food, clothes and messages to both Filipino war prisoners and American internees in concentration camps.
Lt. José L. Llanes, Commander of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, said he saw Josefa Llanes Escoda on 14 January 1944 in the presence of her husband, Antonio Escoda. Josefa Llanes Escoda left this final message to Lt. José L. Llanes:
"I have done my duty to my country and God! To my mind the most I have done is having helped with the little I could do to save the lives of the surrendered soldiers of Bataan and Corregidor. I have offered myself as a guarantor for men later released by the enemy, that they commit no anti-Japanese act, men who, if they had the guts left would continue their resistance. I have acted as guarantors not only for the sake of humanity, but also to encourage them to fight again. If you happen to survive, and I fail, tell our people that the women of the Philippines did their part also in making the ember sparks of truth and liberty alive till the last moment."
Antonio was first arrested in June 1944, and Josefa Llanes Escoda was also arrested two months later on 27 August. She was imprisoned in Fort Santiago, the same prison as her husband, who was executed in 1944 along with General Vicente Lim, who was imprisoned with him. On 6 January 1945, Josefa Llanes Escoda was then taken and held in one of the buildings of Far Eastern University occupied by the Japanese. She was last seen alive on January 6, 1945, severely beaten and weak, and was transferred into a Japanese transport truck. It is presumed that she was executed and buried in an unmarked grave, either in the La Loma Cemetery or Manila Chinese Cemetery, which Japanese forces used as execution and burial grounds for thousands of Filipinos who resisted the Japanese occupation.
The Japanese learned about their heroic efforts and soon arrested Pepa and her husband, Antonio Escoda. Many believe that both were executed, although Pepa’s death remains a mystery.
One posthumous award after another was given to honor Pepa’s contributions, the most prestigious of which was the Philippine Legion of Honor Medal from the AFP and the Silver medal from the American Red Cross.
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