POST-WAR ERA TAGALOG MOVIES # 11: CARMEN ROSALES (IN THE TITLE ROLE), CELSO BALTAZAR, TITA DURAN, OSCAR MORENO, MARIA CRISTINA IN "GUERILYERA" (1946)

Carmen Rosales gracing the cover of Ilang-Ilang Magazine, May 4, 1946 issue

Did you know that Carmen Rosales was a guerrilla fighter during World War II? In a magazine article by Ceres Doyo, Rene Navales, eldest son of Carmen Rosales, claimed that “my mother‘s underground work took her to Santa Rosa, Laguna, where she was involved in the killing of a makapili (Japanese collaborator). She later fled to Silang, Cavite to evade capture by the Japanese. My mother was a sharpshooter who toted a .45 and sometimes wore a moustache in order to disguise herself…”

“She was taken to Pangasinan by an enamoured Japanese colonel named Yamamoto who wanted her to star in a propaganda movie--- or else he would kill Filipinos. Rosales gave in but the film was never finished because American troops arrived. For her act of sacrifice to save a community, the popular star earned the people’s gratitude and a barrio, Carmen, in Rosales town, Pangasinan, was supposedly named after her…”

A movie, titled Guerilyera was made in 1946.

References: "Carmen Rosales: The Original Superstar" by Ceres Doyo/Sunday Inquirer/ February 16, 1992; A Movie Album Quizbook by Jessie B. Garcia/2004

"Guerilyera" (1946)
Sampaguita Pictures
Release Date: October 13- 24, 1946/ Dalisay Theater
Writers Octavio Silos and Susana de Guzman
Director Octavio Silos
Cast Carmen Rosales, Celso Baltazar, Tita Duran, Oscar Moreno, Maria Cristina