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Growing up, I was very close to an elderly uncle, my mother’s eldest brother, who was a WW II veteran. He liked to regale us with stories of his exploits as a guerilla in Cebu as a 20something young man. He had quite the love story too.

On the other side of the family tree, I never got to meet my grandfather on my father’s side. What I knew of him, I heard from stories passed down from generation to another. He too was a young man during the war. He was in his early 30s when as a guerilla in Davao he was picked up by the Japanese and allegedly thrown into the sea, leaving behind a young widow with six children whose ages ranged from 10 to 3.

Stories about WW II veterans have always held a special place in my heart because of the legacy and mystery that these two men left me. That many years later I would find myself married to a man whose interest in books and movies zeroes in on WW II is perhaps serendipitous in a way.

One day about two months ago I had read a short review about a book called “Mga Gerilya sa Powell Street” by Benjamin Pimentel, published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press and I was quite struck by the premise of the story. It told of the struggles of several elderly WW II veterans who regularly met on Powell street in San Francisco — living a difficult life away from their families, and yet, in true Pinoy fashion, managed to find ways and means to bond with one another, finding comfort and humor in their brotherhood in spite of dire living conditions.

I asked H to buy me the book and because the topic interested him as well, he read it ahead of me and would not stop raving about it for weeks. After a month, while vacationing in Guam, I took the book with me on the plane and found myself riveted by the story woven by Pimentel. I was so captured by the book and fully engaged in the lives and dialogue of its colorful characters that I could not put it down! Now, having finished the book from cover to cover in two days is quite a feat for me. Over the last few years, I have been the type to read three books at a time and taking forever, or sometimes, never, to finish it. So this was a first, in many, many years! And even more challenging because it was written in Tagalog!

I was so taken by the book that the writer in me wanted to know it’s back story and my sleuthing around was rewarded by finding Benjamin Pimentel through the mother of all social networking sites - Facebook. It turns out that he was a classmate of several friends from the school across the creek from my high school on Katipunan. What a happy discovery that was for me! In a series of email exchanges, I go to know more about how the book evolved and what inspired Ben to write it. I also found out that the book had been turned into a play that had a highly successful run at the CCP last November, and that it was going to be re-staged at the AFP Theater on Monday, March 30, 2009 at 2:00 PM and at 7:00 PM.

Having enjoyed the book tremedously, this is one play (written by Rody Vera) that I surely will not miss. Secondly, because the beteranos, our forgotten heroes, have been in the news lately. Third, I found a deeper appreciation for their struggles after reading “Mga Gerilya Sa Powell Street” and lastly, because it would be a nice way of honoring and revisiting the gerilyas in my own family. Below is a short interview I did with Gerilya author, Benjamin Pimentel.

Midlife Mysteries (MM): When did you get the idea for the book? Why did you decide to write about the beteranos?

Ben Pimentel (BP) : The beteranos began arriving in America in the early 1990s, around the same time I began working for the San Francisco Chronicle. So I used to see them hanging out at the Powell Street BART station which is just a few blocks from the Chronicle building. I later wrote about them and their struggles when I was the Chronicle’s Asian American affairs beat reporter. My friend Rick Rocamora, who documented the veterans’ plight in moving photographs, and I had thought of collaborating on a non-fiction book about these men. I began interviewing some of the veterans who lived in the Tenderloin district, while Rick took photos. The project eventually fell through when my Chronicle assignment changed. But the stories of these men remained in my head, and I later wrote a short story in English based on their experiences. The story, “Waiting on Powell Street,” won the Bienvenido Santos Short Story contest here in the U.S. and that encouraged me to expand it into a novel. Initially, I tried to write it in English. But the story would not come alive in my head. It was as if the characters were rebelling, telling me, “Bakit mo kami pinag-i-Ingles e mga Pilipino kami.” So I shifted to Pilipino and it was then that the characters came alive in my imagination.

Writing Gerilya was my way of fulfilling a promise I made to myself. I had dreamed of writing a novel since I was eight years old. I had promised myself that I would write one before I reach 40. I actually failed in this. I finished Gerilya after I turned 40, but just a few months before I turned 41. So I’m still happy with that.

I entered the novel in the 2005 Palanca Contest. It lost and I later forgot about it. It would have remained forgotten in my computer hard drive had a friend not suggested that I send it to Ateneo Press which later agreed to publish it.

MM : What kind of research did you do? (The dialogue and the story seem to have come from someone who really immersed himself with the beteranos…)


BP : I interviewed veterans for stories I did for the San Francisco Chronicle. For the book project with Rick Rocamora, I did long interviews with a group of veterans who lived in a room in the Tenderloin district in San Francisco. Rick and I visited them several times so I got to know them well. The men were much like other elderly, working class Pinoy men in the Philippines — they liked to tell each other stories, teased one another and talked about their dreams and life adventures and misadventures. Mahilig mag alaskahan at mag bidahan.

MM: How often did you and see them? And what was that like for you?

BP: The group I followed in the Tenderloin led a hard life. There were about ten of them and their home was a small room that was poorly heated, extremely cramped and had molds in the ceiling. The Tenderloin is known as a rough neighborhood, but these men learned to survive there. Some of them were ill. I remember one of them had a heart condition. One benefit of living in San Francisco was they had access to health care that they probably would not be able to afford in the Philippines. They all had a good sense of humor and told funny stories about their life in America. Still, it was clear that they would rather be home in the Philippines. But they stayed in order to send money back to their families, or to find a way to bring their families to America.

MM: Can you tell me a little about why and how you moved the U.S. yourself?

BP : I came to the US as a grad student in 1990. After college, I had worked as a journalist for a small magazine edited by Pete Lacaba and Greg Brillantes. After three years, I wanted to go back to school and live overseas — to try something new. I went to the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and my plan was to get my degree and then return to the Philippines. I had not planned on staying, but then I met my wife here, got a job as a reporter and fell in love with the San Francisco Bay Area.

MM: Are you still in touch with the beteranos on Powell street? Are they still there after the recent events ? Do you think their lives have been radically changed by these developments?

BP: I have not kept in touch with the veterans I interviewed. I have been in touch with some of their advocates, including Attorney Lourdes Tancinco whose office is located near the Powell Street Station. She is the real Attorney Anna Dizon, but unlike the character in the novel and the play, Attorney Lou is fluent in Tagalog and Kapampangan. As you know, the US government just approved a benefis package for the beteranos. It’s a victory, but a bittersweet one. They are getting a lump sum benefit, but they do not get the other benefits enjoyed by regular US military veterans. I know Attorney Lou is disappointed because the beteranos certainly deserve more. But then fighting for full benefits could mean a longer struggle and many of these men don’t have much time. It’s a tough and painful compromise.

It’s been fun and exciting to hear people’s reactions to the novel, and also to the play written by Rody Vera. I never expected Gerilya to travel so far, and I’m glad more people know more about the sacrifices of the beteranos partly because of the novel.

“Mga Gerilya sa Powell Street” is an original play adapted by Palanca Award-winning playwright Rody Vera from the novel of the same title by Benjamin Pimentel. Pimentel’s original novel won the highest citation in last year’s National Book Awards. The play is staged under the direction of Chris Millado. In the cast are veteran stage thespians Lou Veloso, Bembol Roco, Madeleine Nicolas and other talented guest performers. Please call Tanghalang Pilipino at 832-3661 or 832-1125 local 1620 or 1621 for more information.