Down by Buenos Aires I saw an astonishing sight: A 4-door Chrysler in front of the Figueras house marked "U.S." front and rear in bold whitewash, around which stood several Filipinos armed with pistols and rifles. And boy, do they glare at you like ferocious animals! Figueras aims to survive and become the champion of U.S. interests.

Mrs. Garriz once had an intermediary ask Figueras to intercede with the Kempeitai to get her brother Carlos Preysler out of Fort Santiago. Figueras answer: "Mrs. Garriz hasn't enough money to pay me for that job." Apparently he was in that "business" too, sometimes taking the money but not always delivering the goods. A Mrs. Tee Han Kee has details, and I'd like to get her story sometime.

While we were talking, a Filipino approached Mrs. Garriz for some rice. She said she didn't have enough to spare and suggested he ask Figueras. "Figueras?" snorted the youth. "We're on to him. You're going to see him hanged yet, and paraded up and down Santa Mesa"!

The charges against Figueras are so many they transcend the imagination: stealing rice, looting, extortion.... No wonder he has so many bodyguards. And he made a big enough pile to keep them all fat and loyal. I found no one with a positive opinion about him.

. . . .

Here in Manga Avenue we have our own hero — Charlie Garriz — one of a set of 18 or 19 year-old twins. He rusted a pistol by carrying it under his belt all the time. "No Jap is going to use that while I'm around," he told me once, pointing to a well-camouflaged pillbox the Japanese built while occupying his house. Charlie returned home when they left, and waited for them to return. To his disappointment, they never did. So Charlie befriended the tank boys and went along when they advanced. A sharp clash ensued around Gilmore, where the Japanese had a position inside, around and atop St. Joseph's Academy. The Americans went via España by crossing a small bridge that was still intact — 1,000 or so men with 20 tanks against a numerically inferior but well defended Japanese position. Three Shermans succumbed to mines alone. Charlie was practically leading them when a bullet made contact with his head. A single 75mm shell promptly tore the roof off the sniper's position. It was just a scalp wound but Charlie was told to get it washed and stitched at a First Aid station behind.

It was there while sitting idly that a machine gun sprayed that unit and another bullet grazed his forehead. The American doctor suggested he get "hospitalized" for two days but Charlie refused. He went back home to report to his mother. The Americans gave him a pair of boots to replace his damaged shoes, as well as a steel helmet and a .45 caliber pistol. He forgot a pair of Japanese field glasses (taken as a souvenir) at the hospital.

...ooOoo...