To mark the liberation of the Philippines from Japanese forces 81 years ago, The Butcher wrote a column last month condemning wars and how humanity is affected by nations fighting each other. And now, it’s the US and Israel vs. Iran.

While the Philippine government is trying its best to repatriate our poor overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), a lot of them are still trapped in the Middle East, fearing for their safety. Tragically, a Pinay caregiver named Mary Ann Velasquez de Vera died during a missile strike in Israel while trying to save her patient during the attack.

Apart from deaths and massive destruction, war also brings rationing. That is the fear of every Filipino now. Gas prices did not only shoot up, but until when would supply last? And what about the price — and availability — of basic commodities? We should also worry about that.

During the Japanese Occupation, Filipinos did not only fear for their lives. They also went through food rationing and lack of fuel for transport. Below are real-life accounts of how our local movie stars suffered from deprivation during the Second World War.

Armida Siguion-Reyna

Armida didn’t suffer like most other Filipinos during the early phase of the war. Her maternal grandparents (the Liwanags), after all, still had a thriving business making hats (worn by every gentleman in the past) even during the Japanese Occupation. Her father, the lawyer Alfonso Ponce-Enrile, was also lucky to have found a job as treasurer of the Manila Jai-alai almost immediately after his law firm was shut down.

Getting to work became a problem for Atty. Siguion-Reyna, though. Automobiles were confiscated by the Japanese. And even if one still had a car, there was no gasoline to run it since the Japanese controlled fuel supply. That was when the “dokar” (from dogcart) was introduced here in the Philippines and even in Indonesia.

The “dokar” was very much like the calesa. It was a carriage that was also pulled by a horse. In time, however, even the “dokar” disappeared from the streets of Manila. Some of the horses that were used to run the “dokar” — horrors! — were slaughtered and consumed by a starving population. Even dogs, cats and — ugh — rats vanished from city streets and turned into food. Hunger numbs even the most discriminating palate.

To solve his transportation woes, Atty. Ponce-Enrile got himself a bicycle and pedaled away from his in-laws’ house in Pinaglabanan in San Juan to the Jai-Alai office along Taft Avenue. That was no mean feat, especially since he had to bike under the scorching afternoon sun every day and race back home at night to beat the 8 p.m. curfew.

During the early part of World War II, Armida’s mother, the opera singer Purita Liwanag, was still able to make native cakes for her mahjong sessions with friends (there was nothing much to do around that period). But as the war deepened, they had to make do with “castanog.” “Castanog” was a marriage of two words: castañas (chestnut) and niyog (mature coconut).