At 90, sis of WWII soldier visits his grave after decades long search

MANILA, Philippines — For only the second time in eight decades, Adelaida Samonte, 90, traveled from Batangas to Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City on Saturday, to visit the grave of her older brother, a World War II soldier.

It was only last year when her family discovered where Victor Samonte, who died of an illness in 1945, had been buried.

Samonte’s granddaughter, Jessa Laig, finally located his grave at the military cemetery last year as a gift for her grandmother’s 90th birthday.

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On Saturday, Samonte returned to her brother’s grave for the second consecutive year, accompanied by relatives and fellow senior citizens who traveled from Lipa City, Batangas.

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READ: No flowers, no visitors: The forgotten graves of Undas

The group left Lipa around 5 a.m. and reached the cemetery after a journey of about an hour and a half, ahead of the expected “Undas” crowds.

“I was still very young when he left. I was only 6 years old,” Samonte told the Inquirer in Filipino, recalling the last time she saw her brother before he left to serve in the military.

READ: Undas 2026: Passengers flock to terminals; cemeteries begin to draw crowds

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Victor was the second eldest of six siblings, while Adelaida was the youngest.

According to Samonte, Victor was around 25 when he went to war. He died of an illness in 1945, rather than in combat, and never married or had children.

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Samonte, who is turning 91 this year, is the only surviving sibling in the family.

“I’m his younger sister. I’m the only one left among us siblings, so my granddaughter searched for him,” she said.

Birthday gift

Laig said the family had long believed Victor was buried in Capas, Tarlac.

Last year, she traveled to Tarlac to search for his grave but learned that his remains had been transferred to Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Laig went to the Taguig cemetery that same day, where soldiers helped her locate his burial site.

“We asked the soldiers, and they found out that he was indeed buried here,” she said.

Laig said she decided to look for Victor’s grave because her grandmother was approaching her 90th birthday.

“She was about to turn 90, so I thought that would be my birthday gift to her. I had to find him,” she said.

Laig never met Victor and knew him only through photographs and stories shared by her family.

“I only saw his picture at home. They would always mention him because they had not been able to visit his grave,” she said.

Return visit

Adelaida was accompanied on Saturday by Belen Laig, 69; Rosie Medrano, 77; Lorna Medrano, 69; and Delia Mercado, 70.

“We also came here last year,” she said.

The group also visited the grave of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., to whom Samonte said they pay their respects whenever they visit the cemetery.

“Out of respect for a president. Out of love,” she said.

Their visit came as thousands of families were expected to flock to Libingan ng mga Bayani for the observance of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

Cemetery management said it expected more than 99,000 visitors during the Undas period.

Lt. Col. Joanne Paule Villareiz, commanding officer of the Grave Services Unit under the Philippine Army’s Support Command, meanwhile, told the Inquirer that around 20,000 visitors were expected on Saturday and another 30,000 on Sunday.

More than 3,300 people and 1,123 vehicles entered the cemetery on Friday, according to Villareiz.

The 103-hectare Libingan ng mga Bayani was established in May 1947 as the Republic Memorial Cemetery before being renamed in 1954, according to an Inquirer Research report published in 2016.

The cemetery is the final resting place of more than 30,000 World War II veterans, along with former presidents, military personnel and other prominent Filipinos, the report said.

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Among those buried there is Victor, whose youngest sister now has a grave to return to after decades of not knowing where he had been laid to rest. /cb