North Jersey native's children's book spotlights Filipina resistance fighters of WWII

During World War II, the Philippines was a U.S. commonwealth and heavily involved in the war effort. Some 260,000 Filipinos fought alongside American forces during the war and more than 57,000 Filipino troops died while their homeland was occupied by the Japanese.

Also fighting against the occupying Japanese forces was a resistance movement led by guerrilla groups. Many of them included women like those featured in a new children's book, "Kalayaan: Filipina Heroines of World War II."

The book is the brainchild of Filipina author Kathryn Serrano, 42, who grew up in Edgewater and now resides with her husband and three sons in Weehawken. She said she embarked on the project after surfing the internet about two years ago.

That introduced her to Remedios Gomez-Paraiso, also known as Kumander Liwayway and one of the leaders of the Hukbalahap guerrilla group. In the book, Serrano notes her reputation as a "feminine warrior" who wore dresses and bright red lipstick and went into battle with her nails painted. Gomez-Paraiso survived the war and died in 2014 in the Philippines at the age of 95.

"Kalayaan" means "freedom" in Tagalog, or Filipino (the national language of the Philippines), and the book casts a spotlight on several female resistance fighters who helped battle Japanese occupation during the war, among them Maria Orosa, Josefa Llanes Escoda, Nieves Fernandez, Valeria Panlilio, Januaria Constantino Keller, Josefina Guerrero, Magdalena Leones and Simeona Punsalan-Tapang.

Images of the women, drawn by Brooklyn-based artist Casielle Santos-Gaerlan, who is also Filipina, accompany brief profiles that describe their involvement in the wartime rebellion and their accomplishments away from the resistance.

Learning more about the ancestors

"Once I read about Remedios Gomez-Paraiso, who was a beauty queen, then that's when I was inspired and started to do more research and I realized there were so many [resistance fighters], and I was like, 'I wish I had this when I was younger,'" Serrano said. "I wanted to make sure that the next generation had this information, so they can see ancestors that look like them."

More: Paramus swears in Filipino councilman who hopes to be a voice for the borough's diversity

Serrano said that while she was growing up in North Jersey, which has one of the largest Filipino populations in the state, her parents never told her about these female resistance fighters, as they knew nothing about them. She believes that's because the war was a dark chapter in the country's history that people did not want to discuss.

After her discovery of Gomez-Paraiso, she began to look up other Filipina resistance fighters like Josefina Guerrero, who took on the dangerous work of being a spy and messenger for resistance forces while afflicted with leprosy. Guerrero also survived the war and died in 1996 at the age of 79.

"Living with this sickness, she was resilient and ended up fighting in the war," Serrano said. "I loved all their stories and how they fought for the Philippines to get freedom. Filipino women are normally considered to be docile, and I wanted to show us in a positive light."

Some of the women featured in the book unfortunately did not survive the war. One of them was Maria Orosa, a chemist famous for inventing the popular Filipino condiment banana ketchup. Orosa was part of the Marking guerrillas group when she died in 1945 at 52.

Serrano said her research has helped her reconnect with her culture, since she did not grow up in areas where there was a large Filipino population. She hopes that young people and their parents who read the book, particularly Filipinos, will gain a greater appreciation of these women, whose service in wartime has been largely forgotten in history.

Forgotten fighters: Filipino World War II veterans honored with medal 75 years later

"I want them to learn more about these women and reconnect with their history and also find strength in our ancestors," Serrano said.

The book is selling for $21.99 and can be found at the website of Mahal Publishing, the company created by Serrano to publish the book, and at WORD Bookstores in Jersey City.

Ricardo Kaulessar is a culture reporter for the USA TODAY Network's Atlantic Region How We Live team. For unlimited access to the most important news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com

Twitter: @ricardokaul

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Female Filipino wartime resistance fighters get their due in new book