AS THE COUNTRY finishes celebrating the 30^th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution, it is time to remember a darker chapter in Philippine history: the 71^st anniverary of the Battle of Manila, when the people of what was then considered “The Pearl of the Orient” found themselves trapped in the city with bloodthirsty Japanese soldiers fighting to their last breath, and the approaching American Army which pounded the city to dust with artillery before finally entering to mop up what little was left. It has been estimated that 100,000 Filipino civilians were killed in a month — Feb. 3 to March 3, 1945 — marked by carnage and destruction. Manila’s historic core, the Walled City of Intramuros, was destroyed. The City of Manila was never the same again.