“MAY you have all that you need, because the sharing of gifts is our exercise of security in the abundance the Almighty gives us constantly. May you constantly find reasons to feel joy, and to share that joy, thus making it grow exponentially. We were all created to find joy, and share that joy with our Maker and the communities in which we dwell. May you always find peace, that grain of truth that holds the heart of you together through good times and bad times. That is the spark of the divine that can grow into the most glorious flame when you nurse it and allow it growth. It is where you find the space and time to listen – to God, to yourself, to those around you. May you always be surrounded by people who love you and care for you, and may you reciprocate that loving and caring well so that the good cycle continues.” – Alma Anonas-Carpio, Dec. 24, 2018.
Alma Anonas-Carpio’s Christmas Eve Facebook post became my source of light. I wondered what it might be like to be in the dark, during the Japanese bombing of the Philippines? What if you were Rosa, 9 months pregnant?
Do you recall Mary, a young teenager, who travelled with Joseph, on a donkey, in the cold desert, climbing mountains, and looking for a place to give birth, yet no one would let them in, until they had to stop at a trough, where animals were fed? It was a feeding trough for animals where Jesus was born over 2,000 years ago.
An infant born in a dugout during the Japanese bombing of the Philippines
“I was 17, a student in Manila, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 8, 1941. That same day, the airfield in Manila and other military installations in the Philippines were also bombed. Schools were immediately closed,” F. Sionil Jose wrote in the New York Times on August 13, 2010.
That same fateful day, Gregorio San Luis and his 9-months pregnant wife Rosa Licauco left for Santa Rita, Pampanga — 18 miles from Clark Air Base — where the Japanese Imperial Army destroyed parked fighter planes.
They made their risky travel from Manila. Thinking Pampanga would be safer than Manila, they were not aware that Clark was also being bombed. Gen. Douglas MacArthur had convinced Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt that he could contain the Japanese Army, if he had more fighter planes and 8,000 more soldiers and be the defensive shield in the Far East.
Gen. MacArthur got the increased resources, but failed to give the command for the pilots in their fighter planes and soldiers to be deployed. Consequently, the biggest error of this General resulted in destroyed fighter planes in Clark, and U.S. soldiers marching to their deaths in Bataan, when MacArthur ordered their retreat to Bataan.
More than 76,000 prisoners of war (66,000 Filipinos and 10,000 Americans) were force-marched and 2,500 Filipinos and 500 Americans died during the march.
Hardships, pain, and suffering marked the San Luis journey to Pampanga. By some miracle, Gregorio and Rosa reached Sta. Rita. They travelled different ways: kalesa (horse-drawn carriage) and jeepneys, as buses were not available, until the couple ultimately reached Sta. Rita, 49 miles from Manila.
In Pampanga, they got to the house of Grandma Silvina Valencia San Luis, who instantly looked for a midwife. She sent for her niece, Nurse Remy, who lived in nearby Barangay San Matias. With no phones to reach her, Gregorio walked to Remy’s house and back again, to get to Rosa, who was now in labor.
The family stayed fearless, even as they heard the sounds of the bombs dropping in nearby Clark, destroying fighter planes, and kept their focus on getting this baby born.
They went into a dugout with a flashlight covered with cloth, to mute the spray of beams, so as not to attract the Japanese soldiers, who were holed up in a nearby bridge, lest all will perish.
At 4 a.m., infant Luchie, (luces meaning lights) was born on Dec. 13, 1941. She was swaddled in a saya (overskirt) worn by her grandmother.
In the dugout, her newborn skin was kept warm by the soil on the ground, as their only way of protection without being killed by the Japanese Imperial Army Soldiers.
For a year, she was covered with galis (scabies), and her grandma was worried that she might not outgrow it, but she did.
Those were her first two miracles, imprinted on her, as memories that she was blessed and cherished, by her grandmother who related to her the story, helped raise her, as well as her parents who travelled to protect her from the dangers of bombing.
Luchie was second in the family, the eldest is Mel, and other siblings include Tess, Rosemarie, Celedonia, Tony and Jun.
When the war ended, Luchie was 7 years old. The family moved to Manila. Her father opened up a drug store, which became an on-the-job-training (unpaid) place for future pharmacists who went to the University of Santo Tomas. One of his distributors became the owner of Mercury Drug, which swallowed up the smaller drugstores, to eventually become the biggest pharmacy.
It also meant family adjustment to subsist on only one income of her mother, Rosa, a paper flower maker for carosas (festival floats). To help out her mother to fill up orders whose specialty was legendary for roses and orchids, Luchie made a pact with Mel for her to stay in school, while she dropped out to become a flower entrepreneur, like her mother. After she finished, it would be her turn to go to school.
Festival float organizers who wanted good roses and orchids would order from Rosa, including large flower distributors like El Carlos and El Arte Filipino. El Carlos would order 20 dozens orchids and Luchie and her mother would frantically work all night to fill up those orders.
One day, May 22, feast of Saint Rita, namesake of the province wherein she was born, Santa Rita, Pampanga, the source of delicious turones de casoy, and the province that popularizes St. Rita de Cassia, the Saint of the Impossible, Luchie witnessed another miracle.
She went to mass with her mother, Rosa. They saw Mother Carmen of SRC who asked what happened to the San Luis children, who went to Saint Rita for their schooling.
Rosa shared their economic plight that their pharmacy was swallowed up by the bigger company, Mercury Drug, and that now, her family subsisted on just her seasonal flower business.
Mother Carmen asked all of the San Luis children to come back to SRC. Three of the children became SRC teachers. SRC was run by the Augustinian Recollect Missionaries (ARM), and at its peak, operated 31 schools, all over the Philippines in 1967.
Luchie additionally obtained her Bachelor’s in Science in Education at SRC, and while training to be a teacher, an opportunity came up to become a trainee-instructor, replacing the critic teacher who got sick in mid-semester.
She became the high school’s teacher in home economics, English and Literature including mythology, for four years. Batch 1967 became memorable for her as 20 of them became loyalist-followers of the Legion of Mary and three tightly vied for Valedictorian.
My classmates and I also formed a singing group, Ritzeeners, and practiced a lot. Our voices harmonized that Luchie suggested we join an intercultural high school competition. She became our official chaperone. Against all odds, SRC’s Ritzeeners won first place and as a reward, Sor Esperanza, the directress, gave us a day’s field trip to Luneta.
But, Luchie had a bigger vision for the Ritzeeners and she shared it with Sor Esperanza that we join the Student Canteen’s competition on television. That would have put the school on the map. But, the principal, Sor Josefa, blocked the idea. She reasoned that the high school girls would prematurely meet high school boys, a forbidden cultural practice at that time.
Luchie challenged the ultra-conservatism in 1967, and countered that a better practice would be to expose the girls, now seniors, to the boys, in a supervised environment, like a high school prom, to promote healthy social skills.
Sor Josefa would not budge and Luchie believed that to have this conflict meant a premature career dead-end. That became the push factor for her to go abroad, as well as her desire to help the family economically, since Php 400 a month of a teacher’s salary was insufficient to help her siblings.
“I want to be a light: I want to bring joy”
She applied for a visa to go abroad and when she got her approval on a Wednesday, by Saturday of that week, she was on her way to America. Her spiritual mentor, Fr. Manalili, advised her to go ahead with her plans. Fr. Barquin heard about her plans and quickly wrote a letter to Fr. Iros of San Vicente Church in Los Angeles. In that letter were Fr. Barquin’s instructions to assist her to get to a bank, to get a social security card, and with that letter, was also a $25 gift. Fr. Iros was even asked to help her find a job.
As luck would have it, a telegram was also sent to Fr. Barquin’s friends, the Paez sisters, to meet Luchie at the airport. They did and even fed her at their apartment. But their two-bedroom apartment was max’d out with four residents.
That same evening, they asked if she had a hotel to go to. She had none and her dollars would not be enough. She remembered Lucy Godoyo and the Paez sisters gave her a ride to Godoyo’s place. Days later, another roommate joined them.
She applied for work on a Monday, and by Thursday, she had a job and Josie Villa, her supervisor, gave her rides to and from work at the California Credit Union. She worked long hours, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., as a filing clerk, until her promotions.
One day, a Japanese colleague saw her crying. She was going through a bout of self-pity, while she recalled her life in the Philippines, with an assistant.
But, she persisted and soon, her Japanese colleague became her friend, and started to invite her for breaks.
Every Wednesday, her father, Gregorio wrote a letter, which kept her connected to her birth home. That Wednesday letter became her life link, which kept her spirits up. She recalled with pride how much love she felt when her father would send her a birthday telegram when he missed her birthday, as he travelled for work.
At the airport, she recalled her dad’s anger, who shook her, touching her shoulders, “Is this what you want?” He felt despair that he would not be able to help her, if something bad happened. He was quite protective of her, having witnessed her birth under war conditions.
Her miracles kept manifesting. Within the first month of leaving the Philippines, she was able to send dollars to her parents and regularly thereafter, every end of the month.
In the credit union, she was sent to three summers of continuing education to become a manager and attended the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) School. Her supervisor liked her work, how she filed, and how she handwrote the deposits accurately. She rose through the ranks and got four promotions: file clerk, payroll clerk which put her in touch with the people, assistant manager and assistant vice president, until her retirement after 32 years.
During her management tenure, her leadership exploded their business volume. How? She visited schools and talked to school principals and persuaded them that the credit union can help the teachers secure car loans, house loans and student loans for their continuing education, until these schools transferred their funds to the California Credit Union’s portfolio, outcompeting the bigger banks.
A Luchie San Luis Quemuel Award existed at this credit union for exemplary leadership in financial growth and teamwork. Her team garnered the highest volume of $4,000,000 in loans and income, yet it was the smallest branch.
Today, the California Credit Union has 20+ branches, with its 2017 financial report “concluded another strong year for California Credit Union with net income totaling $15.4 million, return on assets of 0.52 percent. These results include the impact of merging with North Island Credit Union on March 1, 2017. The regulatory net worth ratio is 10.51 percent.” Their declared mission is “California Credit Union puts our members first; through accessibility and convenience, we offer the service, security and stability they will always rely on, and the solutions and education they need to secure a stronger financial future.”
Luchie met the love of her life, Rod Quemuel and together, they have built several businesses, the last one was a caregiving facility with six beds, and their last client was Julia Roth, Mayor Eric Garcetti’s maternal grandmother, whom he visited regularly and was close to.
When Rod and Luchie got married on Dec. 23, 1971, they went on a 37-day honeymoon. Rod asked her to buy boots and coat and she questioned the added expense, thinking they were just going to San Francisco, but off they went to Europe.
In the Quemuel family, kids are born after 13 years of marriage. Luchie got married at 30 years old. To have a kid after 13 years meant being pregnant at 43 years old, so she prayed for a miracle and wanted to go to Our Lady of Fatima.
But, Rod got sick and was feverish the night before. Not knowing how both of them could proceed to visit Our Lady of Fatima the next day, she prayed fervently. That entire evening, it rained hard, with thunder and lightning. Could it be the coming of the Holy Spirit at this point?
The next day, Rod miraculously got well and even got up early. Luchie kept asking the tour driver if the tour to the Fatima should proceed, given the heavy rains. While inside the tour bus, the rains kept up. But, the moment they alighted the bus, the rains stopped. The sun was bright and the streets were dry. Then and there, she knew she would get the miracle that she prayed for.
When they got home, she felt queasy and indeed, the miracle happened, as she became pregnant with Rowell. One more son was to be born five years later, Reggie.
In her stay in the U.S., her high school students are still integrated in her life, joining them for mini-reunions in Long Beach, San Diego, Manila, Chicago, Temecula, and at times, organizing them to get together in her own home, as other SRC Batches in Las Vegas.
For her 77th birthday, Batch 67’s Natimarie Pagayucan, a laboratory technologist in Chicago; Patty Ramsey, a nurse in Arizona; Nancy Walber, a nurse in Chicago; Elsa Azote, a nurse in Oceanside; Carol Arcelo, a retired communications manager in San Francisco; Elizabeth Cortez, a bank trust officer in Toronto; Linda Rozales, a realtor in Orange County and this writer all joined her for her celebration of 77 years of God-centered life in Los Angeles. My sister, Asuncion Ferrer, who also was her student, joined us too.
Special thanks to Mon and Carlo David who serenaded her in Kapampangan and sang Christmas carols. Mike Zuñiga lovingly prepared the arroz caldo bar while Elaine Quadra had her flair for artistry on display as a tablescape. Fr. Camilo Pacanza led the group in prayers and a special thanks goes to Hydee Ursolino for curating a special photo album to remind us all that caring is in how someone makes you feel: their kindness, their concern and their consistent, positive and joyful actions.
“They may forget what you said but they will not forget how you made them feel.”- Carl W. Buechner
Alma’s Christmas greetings captured it well, as her post coincidentally described the hand of God in Luchie’s 77 years of life: gratitude is a prelude for grace and even more so when one lives a life of hope, love, joy and peace.
Happy New Year to you all! May we all have peace from a safe, prosperous, just and truthful America!
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Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz, J.D. writes a weekly column for Asian Journal, called “Rhizomes.” She has been writing for AJ Press for 10 years. She also contributes to Balikbayan Magazine. Her training and experiences are in science, food technology, law and community volunteerism for 4 decades. She holds a B.S. degree from the University of the Philippines, a law degree from Whittier College School of Law in California and a certificate on 21st Century Leadership from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She has been a participant in NVM Writing Workshops taught by Prof. Peter Bacho for 4 years and Prof. Russell Leong. She has travelled to France, Holland, Belgium, Japan, Costa Rica, Mexico and over 22 national parks in the US, in her pursuit of love for nature and the arts.
