Filipinas Heritage Library (FHL) and Central Philippine University (CPU) unveiled Women and War: An exhibition on women workers, warriors, and survivors of World War II on November 12, 2019, at the Henry Luce III Library of CPU in Iloilo City.

The exhibit features stories of Filipina guerrillas, spies, artists, writers and comfort women who played significant roles during the war. Primarily, the goal of this exhibit is to provide additional scholarship on women’s lives and roles in society by mining both FHL’s and CPU’s collection for stories of/by women during WWII. This free exhibit highlights not only the strength of women but also serves as a reminder of the sufferings, sacrifices, and contributions of women during one of the darkest periods in history. 

FHL has previously partnered with CPU for the digitization of its collection of WWII Guerrilla Papers, through the support of FHL’s patron, Mr. Roderick Hall, who has also made this travelling exhibition possible. Mr. Hall is a survivor of the war and his crusade is to make our WWII history known to all. FHL is home of the Roderick Hall Collection of books and materials on WWII in the Philippines. 

Women and War is open to the public and will run until December 12, 2019.

In conjunction with the exhibition opening, the film Honor: The Legacy of Jose Abad Santos was also screened at CPU. The event was graced by the film’s producer, Ms. Desiree Ann Cua-Benipayo who engaged the audience in a Q&A session. She also authored the book of the same title which won a National Book Award. The film was an official selection at the 2018 Cinemalaya Film Festival and was given an A-rating by the Cinema Evaluation Board of the Film Development Council of the Philippines. It also garnered merit awards at the Indiefest Film Festival in San Diego, and was an official selection at the History Film Festival in Croatia, and at the 2018 Cebu International FilmFest.