10 FEBRUARY

1945 - Manuel C. Colayco, Filipino "liberation hero" dies after an enemy hand grenade explodes in front of the University of Santo Tomas' main gate where he was pointing out to his fellow guerrilla soldiers the strategic spots and important buildings in the campus; Colayco's group was leading the rescue operations to free Filipino and Americans being held captive by the Japanese in UST during World War II; a lawyer, faculty member and editor, Colayco enlisted in the Philippine Army during the American colonial era and volunteered to serve in the first line of defense of Bataan when the Japanese occupied the Philippines when Pacific theater of WW II broke out; he survived the brutal Death March and was later released by the Japanese in Capaz enabling him to reestablish and head the 7th Manila Unit of  the Allied Intelligence Bureau in October 1942, and to publish the guerrilla newspaper "Freedom"; the guerrilla operation that caused him his life involved leading forces to Manila and through the gate of UST, with the prisoners in the University eventually liberated.


Photo credit:  http://nemoto2009.blog73.fc2.com/blog-date-20100308.html