During the Jap occupation, this building housed the Academy for Bureau of Constabulary Pro-Japanese Philippine soldiers trained to become non-commissioned officers. It was in this building where I worked as a janitor after I gave up my job as Cochero.
This place being nearer the apartment of Aning, we returned there from Pandacan.
My job as janitor required me to be there very early every morning. At first I hiked the distance, walking on top of railroad rails to avoid stepping on human waste, as the squatters who built their huts along the track used it as their toilet.
After a few days I observed that a train stopped at the station in Blumentritt Avenue and Rizal Street, then its next stop was near the Legarda Elementary School in Sampaloc very early before sunrise.
I got a free ride from this train every morning between Santa Cruz and Sampaloc districts of Manila stations. I saved one hour of walking! Praise the Lord!
It was in this building where our boss was Major Pio Pragaino, a very [opinionated] egotistic officer who told us that even though we died twice, we wouldn’t be able to reach his rank. (He was killed in Batangas by the Huks, or Communists, as collaborator.)
In this building a Corporal Obina became my friend. He was the clerk of Major St. Tomas, Fin. O. of Sgt. Getez.
Obina became a student cadet when I was Chief Clerk in Banbang Building #1 because he was single, and became an officer. He followed Col. St. Tomas, who became Provincial Commander of Nueva Vizcaya when we evacuated there. I envied him because he was the commanding officer of the Constabulary soldiers in Bayombong, like my uncle, Lt. Antonio Bravo, before the war, when I was in 3rd year high school, in 1933-1934.
When Gen. MacArthur landed in Leyte, Col. St. Tomas left for Manila and never returned. Obina succeeded him as Provincial Commander. When the soldiers joined the guerillas in Nueva Vizcaya, Obina and other officers were executed by Japs!
Leave a Reply