A Glimpse of Colonel Yay Panlilio's Life

by Shen Ramirez, Assistant Researcher and Dr. Stacey Anne Baterina Salinas

​The Imperial Japanese Army’s (IJA) occupation of the Philippines threatened the lives of ordinary citizens, further limiting their freedoms under a new colonial presence. The guerrilla fighters that resisted Imperial Japan’s occupation came from diverse Philippine communities (ethnolinguistic, class, gender, sexual orientations). Yet, the histories that are promoted and do survive about Philippine resistance to Japanese and American imperialism continue to be limited in scope and representation. After World War II, it was traditionally through a Euro-American lens of the guerrilla resistance such as Wendell Fertig. In the process, this creates a patronizing image of citizens of the Philippines as victims caught between larger geopolitical forces rather than agents of change that fiercely mobilized for their and their country’s independence. 

The frame of reference that Euro-American narratives assume is predominantly male-centric (Salinas, Pinay Guerrilleras, 28). The lived realities and histories of people that exist outside these masculine Western narratives are consequently regulated as footnotes, if not completely left out by history, to uphold and reconfirm “cultur­ally entrenched gender conventions” (Salinas, Pinay Guerrilleras, 34). The second edition of Pinay Guerrilleras: The Unsung Heroics of Filipina Resistance Fighters During the Pacific War, written by Dr. Stacey Anne Baterina Salinas, attempts to respond to these historical gaps. Specifically, it highlights the diverse Filipina resistance fighters, guerrilleras, who were vital to forging a pathway towards Philippine sovereignty and liberation and were often the lifeblood of the war efforts in the Philippines. 


Similar to their male counterparts, pinay guerrilleras met all of the incredible odds that stood in their way head-on as the threat of death and torture by the IJA loomed over them. But for women of color in the Pacific, they were vulnerable to other threats; this potentially meant violent sexual and gendered consequences (gendered discrimination, rape, human trafficking, sexual slavery) as individuals who exist within the intersections of gender, sexuality, class, race, and nationality. 

One of the most memorialized Filipina resistance fighters in Philippine history was Colonel Yay Panlilio (‘Yay’ is pronounced Y-I). Born in 1913, Panlilio was a mestiza who was raised by an Irish-American father and a Filipina mother in Denver, Colorado. Always proud of her biracial and multicultural background, Panlilio left the United States as a teenager to pursue a career as a radio news correspondent and journalist in the Philippines. Her professional career proved essential in informing her particular brand of insurgency. She began as a U.S. Intelligence Agent when it became evident that the Japanese would commit a full-blown military occupation of the Philippines. She soon became restless, knowing she could contribute more towards the resistance, and declared herself as a guerrillera. ​

Panlilio utilized her position as a radio news correspondent at KZRH Manila Radio to “facilitate propaganda against the Japanese…send coded messages hinting at information about nearby Japanese activity to the newly forming resistance movement” (Salinas, Pinay Guerrilleras, 69). Panlilio evaded suspicion from the Japanese in Manila for a while but eventually had to make a hasty escape to the jungle when they attempted to arrest her. It was in the jungle that she met Marcos V. Agustin and his unit of guerrilla resistance fighters, who later became an important part of the Marking Guerrillas itself. 


Panlilio’s autobiography, The Crucible: An Autobiography by Colonel Yay, Filipina American Guerrilla, is considered to be one of the best historical records when trying to understand the lived experiences of Filipina resistance fighters who were in positions of authority (Salinas, Pinay Guerrilleras, 67). However, Panlilio, in her written works, notably downplays her contributions to the movement as “an outspoken journalist, guerrillera spy, and Filipino patriot”; instead, preferring to emphasize the contributions of men, like Marcos V. Agustin or Markings, with whom she had an abusive romantic relationship throughout the war and afterward (Salinas, Pinay Guerrilleras, 67). 


Similar to Yay’s tone that diminished her contributions, other Filipina resistance fighters interviewed for the second edition, including Lourdes Poblete and Serapia Aremas, sometimes humbly described their efforts more as support to male officers of higher rank rather than centering their contributions as pivotal to the overall movement. Rigid gender expectations rooted in Western colonialism and imperialism influenced the ways Filipinas either censored themselves or softened their recollection of their roles, likely out of fear of being perceived as arrogant (suplada) or baga og nawong (having no shame) when revealing their accomplishments.


Panlilio’s autobiography should undoubtedly be seen as an accomplishment in itself, mainly because it provides an important and rare glimpse of what the Filipina insurgency was like in WWII. But, it also provides commentary about the delicate dance that Filipina resistance fighters had to undergo as individuals experiencing sexism on both sides of the front, both on the battlefield against the Japanese and in her unit that doubted her leadership capabilities. Overall, the attempts to preserve Philippine history, especially the guerilla resistance that was essential towards national liberation, continue to be a struggle under the constraints of colonial and imperial forces that have silenced narratives about wartime experiences. Unfortunately, Panlilio’s autobiography is an exception to the rule, but it is evidence of the wealth of information there is for the community when individuals can speak for themselves about their lived experiences during a time of total war. 


To learn more about Filipina wartime heroines, please grab a copy of the second edition of Pinay Guerrilleras: The Unsung Heroics of Filipina Resistance Fighters During the Pacific War.