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By APD writer Melo M. Acuña
**MANILA, Aug. 25 (APD) ** – Two elderly women, now 90 years old, braved intermittent rains and attended the Mass dedicated to the old men and women at the Redemptorists Shrine in Baclaran, Paranaque City this early Sunday morning.
Accompanied by their relatives and supporters from Gabriela party list, Wa Chi guerillas’ descendants, Lila Pilipina and other groups that formed the coalition called Flowers for Lolas, Estrelita Dy and Narcisa Claveria, called on the congregation not to forget the bitter chapters brought about by World War II.
“We should never allow a repeat of our bitter experiences during World War II,” Mrs. Estrelita Dy told a congregation of over a thousand people at the shrine.
Later, during the short program at the church compound, Mrs. Dy said she is grateful she met a husband who understood her bitter experience and took her as a lifetime companion.
On her part, Mrs. Narcisa Claveria expressed her appreciation for the concern and care extended to them by various groups. However, she called on the general public to help in the location of the bronze statue entrusted to its sculptor after it was removed at a national road on April 27, 2017.
Estrellita Dy calls on younger generation not to forget the bitter lessons of the Second World War as Catholic priest Teodulfo Holgado prays for the war victims, especially the war time sex slaves. /Melo M. Acuna
Rev. Frs. Victorino Cueto and Teodulfo Holgado of the Redemptorists said they welcomed the relocation of the over a meter bronze memorial into their piazza but likewise appealed to the people to help in the recovery of the commissioned sculpture worth P1.2 million paid for by Tulay Foundation.
Civic leader Teresita Ang See, who chairs Flowers for Lolas said she could hardly believe the reasons given by the sculptor that unidentified men took the bronze statue from his workshop. Meanwhile, lawyer Virginia Lacsa-Suarez said the statue cannot easily be transferred from one place to the other as it took a small crane to remove it from its original location at Roxas Blvd. more than a year ago.
After the Mass and blessing members of the coalition Flowers for Lolas offered flowers at the foot of the pedestal where the bronze statue should have been placed.
(Top image: Two elderly women, both victims of sex abuse during World War II called on the public to help in the recovery of the more than a meter bronze statue which should have been installed today. /Melo M. Acuna)
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
