PRESS RELEASE: PINAY GUERRILLERAS BY STACEY SALINAS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
Melis Degirmencioglu/ Public Outreach at Pacific Atrocities Education
[email protected]

Filipina women faced the combined threats of rape, kidnap, torture, and murder, but yet joined the resistance war against the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific Asia War.

In Pinay Guerrilleras: The Unsung Heroics of Filipina Resistance Fighters During the Pacific War (Pacific Atrocities Education: January 25th, 2019), Stacey Salinas, author of Philippines’ Resistance: The Last Allied Stronghold in the Pacific, thoroughly covered Filipina guerrilla history during World War 2.
In order to understand the complex issues that Filipina guerrillas faced during and after the war, Stacey interviewed war survivors, collected primary documents, and examined the contribution of Filipina women to the Pacific Asia War. This required knowledge of historiographies of various fields, including WWII, women’s, American, Asian American, immigration, and Philippines history.
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THIS BOOK WILL COVER
The Japanese Occupation of the Philippine Islands:  Pinays Answering the Call to Arms
The Hearts of the Huk: The Fierce Heneralas and Kumanders of the Hukbalahap Guerrillas
The Glamorous Guerrilleras: Amazons of the Pacific Theater
Filipina American Veterans: Recovering the Extraordinary Feats of the Ordinary Pinays
The Legacy of the Asian Woman Soldier

The Pinay Guerrilleras is a must-read for policymakers, educators, gender studies researchers, historians, and activists who are interested in discovering a largely overlooked part of world history.

About the Author

Stacey Anne Baterina Salinas is a history Ph.D. student currently attending the University of California, Davis. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Irvine and her Master’s degree from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, both in American History. Her research focus is on Asian American History, centering on the roles of Asian American women and their impact on America’s Civil Rights Movement(s) and contributions to the diversity of American women’s experience. She dedicates her late nights of research and writing to the many men and women who fought for her grandparents’ and parents’ native homes in the Philippines. Her maternal grandfather served as a Filipino USAFFE soldier, drafted from Baguio City, and survived the Bataan Death March. His history, along with her paternal grandmother’s late night tales of her terrifying confrontations with the Japanese as a young girl in the northern provinces of Luzon, serve as proof of the impacts and legacies of Asian America. Their stories and perseverance helped fuel her desire to write histories on the humble heroes and innocents unable to give voice to their struggles, wisdom, and experiences.    

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About the book

Pinay Guerrilleras
The Unsung Heroics of Filipina Resistance Fighters During the Pacific War
On sale: January 25th, 2019 | ISBN 978-1-947766-07-5
​Price: $12

December 8th, 1941 marked the start of the full-scale invasion of the Philippines. With the surrender of the Bataan Peninsula and the fortified island Corregidor in the Spring of 1942, all hope seemed lost. But, almost overnight, the Philippine underground resistance began to take shape. Units made up of guerrilla volunteers from all walks of life participated in the liberation of the Philippines. The women guerrillas of the resistance, or guerrilleras, are one such group who have received less attention in Pacific Theater histories. The names and faces of those Filipina guerrilla soldiers, who led their own units, conducted espionage, nursed the wounded, led raids, or raised armies, have nearly been forgotten. The rigid gender barriers guerrilleras faced both on and off the field of duty resulted in their stories being silenced or relegated to less commanding roles in the aftermath of the war. This book attempts to bring these stories to light so that the legacy of these unsung Filipina resistance fighters lives on.  ​​

For more information on Pinay Guerrilleras and Stacey Salinas, please contact:
Thalie Adolphus, Public Outreach, [email protected]
Visit Pacific Atrocities Education on the website: www.pacificatrocities.org