It is one abandoned and uncultivated barren piece of land for many years which I called The Sanctuary. I make an effort to visit this barren land whenever I visit SunShine Village. It is like a pilgrimage for me to fulfill each time I come for a visit. With all the dead roots surrounding this place, it looks like a burial ground -- a Cemetery. I go up the hill even just to walk by and stay for few moments to view the village and the golden rice fields. It brings me back the memories of my childhood and the stories behind and occupies one soft spot in my heart. I sit down in one of the roots to feel that "homeliness" of this forgetten barren piece of land. I can still imagine myself on vigil during the night. There used to be 3 barns to dry tobacco leaves. I used to stay all night with elders to watch and maintain the "cooking" process of tobacco leaves. As a kid, it was fun watching and sleeping outside the house. It was an adventure.

But dad has lots of stories to tell about this land, that he never has forgotten, which involved his life during the Japanese Occupation. Roots of dead trees that surround the area remind me the passage of time. They seem to be witnesses of the history of this barren land and stay as reminders what happened in this place.

Dad !!! His stories are so fresh in my mind and remind me of the brutality of war I read in history books. Dad must have told the stories of this place many times and knows them by heart. This is the land where he was almost executed, being accused as a traitor to his mother land. One good man saved his life; that Dad is never a traitor. He was on his knees and his hands tied behind his back and the sharp edge of a sable was about to fall.

This is The Executioners' Land during the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines. How many have been executed in this land? Beneath this ground were remains of executed people accused of being spies or collaborators for the Japanese. They dug their own graves as ordered before the sharp blade of a machetti sliced into their necks. There are many stories untold about the brutal and inhuman torture that our loved ones have suffered during the war, which lasted from 1941 to 1944, until the great American General came to the rescue that ended the Japanese Reign in the Philippines. To our loved ones who died and buried under this barren land, we salute you for what you have done for our Great Country !!!