“I fought to win not just freedom from invaders, but freedom to be able to express myself and to be who I am”, Remedios Guinto Gomez Paraiso. In 1942, at the age of 22, Guinto joined the Huk resistance movement after receiving news that her father had been killed by the Japanese invaders. Gomez was born to a vice mayor, Maximiana Guinto, and Basilio Gomez in Pampanga, Philippines, on July 12, 1918. Raised a pageant queen and fashionista, Gomez valued her self-expression.
Combining her father’s brutal death with her strong dislike of oppression, Gomez bit the bullet and joined the war. In her own words, “rather than die without putting up resistance”, she chose to fight. She enlists as a nurse and eventually makes her way to the position of an officer, all while doing it in style.
Gomez had passion in every foot she set on the battlefield. As a nurse, she remained expressive and was sure to wear looks that could kill. This ensured her cause of fighting for self-expression was loud and clear. One out of the ten percent of women serving during that time rose through the ranks in just months. She was one of the few who did, and she never believed in losing herself in war.
Gomez received a Marxist education, combat training, the title of commander, and her very own squadron. With a squad of about 100-200 men, Gomez and her men operated in Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales. The battle that made her known was the Battle of Kamansi, in which she and her squad overtook the Japanese and forced them into retreat even after having been outnumbered and ordered to retreat themselves. All the while dolled up. She believed in fighting in style and dying beautiful, even in a warzone.
One of a small number of high-ranking female officers, Liwaway took on the role of being a woman and a soldier. She fought for freedom of expression along with that of her people and the right to a choice. She fought until the war eventually ended. Regardless, in her daily life, she continued to serve as a Huk resistance leader.
Henceforth, when the fight came against the government that was prosecuting and convicting believers of communism. Gomez was from then on a leader in the People’s Liberty Army. The government had called for their disarmament, but instead, it inspired a resistance against the government.
The People’s Liberty Army believed in pure equality in class, resources, and freedom of expression. This was inherently a belief of Gomez’s, as shown in her actions. This ended as she was later captured, which ended her struggle but not her cause.
After her release, she joined the expansion force in Visayas alongside her husband, Bani Paraiso. Unfortunately, that same year, during a raid, Gomez was recaptured, and her husband was killed. This would be the end of her military career after she retires to take care of her son when acquitted.
Gomez becomes a single mother and a market seller, living a simple life. However, steady in her belief, Gomez fought for recognition for her and her companions to be considered World War 2 veterans. She spoke for the contributions of Filipino women in war and lobbied for military pensions. Her story would end at the age of 95, as she suffered cardiac arrest in 2014.
Gomez made sure to make the most of her career as a commander through self-expression and revenge. While serving in the military, Gomez managed to find the Japanese officer who killed her father and inflicted on him the same torture, pain, and execution. She is remembered as a vital part of the anti-colonial revolution in the history of the Philippines. At first, a fashion-obsessed teenage girl, then a commander who wore lipstick to the battlefield, and at last an ordinary mother and advocate. Her story lets the world know anyone can be it all.