US grandma gets early birthday gift, wins battle vs. renaming of PHL street

Los Angeles County-based Pilar Mencias Kierulf got an early gift for her coming 90th birthday now that the street in the Philippines named after her father has been officially recognized as historic and therefore may not be renamed.

Last month, Kierulf’s relatives on three continents embarked on a campaign to dismiss a proposed ordinance renaming a street honoring revolutionary hero General Antonio Luna and epidemiologist and World War II guerrilla sympathizer Dr. Bonifacio Lopez Mencias, her father.

One of Kierulf’s granddaughters, Manila-based Mariel K. Asiddao, drew international support when she informed relatives in and beyond the Philippines of the effort to rename the street.

Aunts and uncles in Illinois, California, British Columbia, and even Benin, Africa, crowded cyberspace with strong sentiments they condensed into a letter dated March 1, that they addressed to the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and mayors and council members of San Juan and Mandaluyong, the cities traversed by the national road bearing their patriarch’s name.

Asiddao later launched an online petition that generated 200 signatures in 24 hours.

Their effort resulted in their favor:  The NHCP on March 12 objected to the proposed ordinance, affirming the street’s historical significance.

“Today we have...good news that Mandaluyong City is to keep the name of Luna Mencias,” Mariel Kierulf Asiddao announced April 7 on Change.org.

Dr. Mencias was Dean of Faculty at the University of Santo Tomas College of Medicine from 1938 until he was captured by soldiers of the Japanese Army in January 1945 along with his son Eleno Mencias for tending to wounded WWII guerrillas.

The future Dr. Eleno Mencias escaped from Fort Santiago, but his father was never seen nor heard from since. UST records say he is believed to have been executed.

Touched by Dr. Bonifacio Mencias’ martyrdom, city founders affixed his name to that of "A. Luna" as the new name of the street where the former had built a home in the 1930s for his nurse wife Barbara Sacro and their six children.

Nine branches of the family have continuously lived on the street for almost 80 years.

Supporters of the proposed ordinance on February 26, 2015 sought to rename the street after another deceased resident, Congress member Rufino D. Antonio, an architect who served one term in the Philippine Legislature. He is remembered for leading the move in the 1970s to annex the Philippines as the 51st of the United States of America.

On the day of the hearing in Mandaluyong City, Asiddao, her sister Joanne Asiddao, their aunt Consuelo Q. de Leon, uncle Gerardo M. Castaneda and cousin Francoise K. Bejasa, learned that the NCHP had objected to renaming Luna Mencias on policy grounds.

The commission, in a letter dated March 12 and signed by Chairwoman Maria Serena Diokno, “advised Mandaluyong to keep the name of the street… agrees with the historical significance of Dr. Mencias’ actions… and also advised that the name of the place has been sanctified by usage,” Asiddao said in her update on Change.org.

The same was contained in the NHCP reply also dated March 12 to the appeal from the Mencias heirs.
 
Republic Act 10066 or the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009 states that streets in existence for 50 years or more are "sanctified by usage, and therefore considered historic," the letter stressed.

"We have communicated our position to the San Juan and Mandaluyong city councils," Diokno added.

The commission, in a letter also dated March 12, 2015 to Mandaluyong Sanggunian Secretary Jimmy Acebal, suggested that the pro-Antonio camp “consider other significant ways to honor” the late lawmaker "such as naming a new or unnamed street or structure after him."

A street abutting Luna Mencias on the Mandaluyong end is already named after Antonio.

Asiddao applauded the Mandaluyong city council for agreeing on the “need to educate people about history so that stories such as those of Dr. Mencias will not be forgotten.”

The clan burned Viber with positive reinforcement after disclosure of the city council decision following the NHCP dictum.

“We salute chairwoman Diokno and commission members for adhering to their mandate to protect historic sites such as our street,” Asiddao said. “We thank everyone who supported and encouraged us in our appeal.”

The clan also expressed gratitude to the Antonios for inadvertently reuniting their family members throughout the globe.

“The proposed ordinance was a blessing,” said Socorro Mencias Kierulf-Gonzalez, a paralegal in Los Angeles. “It brought to light Lolo Boni's significant contribution to Philippine history."

The outcome elated the late doctor’s surviving daughters.

Pilar M. Kierulf, who will turn 90 on October 1 and is called Grandma the Great by her greatgrandchildren, recalled that Janet Walker, an American living on Luna Mencias who had befriended the family, had instigated the move to honor Dr. Mencias after the end of WWII.

Kierulf’s sister and San Juan City resident Margarita M. Castaneda, 85, was thankful her father will "not be forgotten," said Castaneda’s daughter Dr. Zita M. Castaneda Ong of Chicago.

“All this is not for naught,” said Mariel Asiddao, who spearheaded the outreach, “because we are keeping alive the legacy of people not celebrated in history books.” She had immersed herself in UST archives and several search engines to uncover facts about her ancestor. Armed with the result of her copious research, she, her aunt and cousin walked confidently into the April 7 hearing in Mandaluyong City, where the decision turned in their favor.

“This serves as a lesson for us that we need to tell and retell our history and pass on the great stories of those who came before us,” the executive at an information technology company who is pursuing her MBA at the University of the Philippines in Diliman concluded her victory statement. —Philippine News
 
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Cherie M. Querol Moreno is the elder daughter of Rosario Mencias Querol, eldest of Dr. Bonifacio Mencias' six children.