Don Honorio Canciller Evangelista

Don Honorio Canciller Evangelista: Aristocrat, Veterinarian, Decorated War Hero

Don Honorio Canciller Evangelista, a veterinarian by education, was a highly decorated war hero who fought against the Japanese Imperial Army in World War II. He was a member of the Evangelista Clan, a Principalia Family and one of the largest landowners in Pampanga during the Spanish Colonial Rule.

Don Honorio was born into wealth and privilege as the son of Don Santiago Canciller Evangelista and his third wife Doña Maria Pilar Salunga y Dantis on November 21, 1891, in Candaba, Pampanga. His uncle Municipal Presidente Don Gregorio Canciller Evangelista stood as his godfather at his baptism on November 24,1891, at the San Andres Apostol Catholic Church in Candaba. Don Honorio was only 3 years old when his father died suddenly of a stroke in March 1895. He had a very strict upbringing under the watchful eyes of his aristocratic mother who lavished on his education. He was sent to Manila for his studies like many patricians of his day.

As his family owned numerous livestock, Don Honorio graduated as a veterinary surgeon from the College of Manila. In 1913, a year before the Great War which would overtake Europe, he arrived in San Francisco, California on board the ship Chiyo Maru to study for his Doctorate at the San Francisco Veterinary College. In April 1917, just as Don Honorio was wrapping up his postgraduate studies, the United States declared war on Germany and entered World War I. As the first U.S. troops arrived on European soil that June, Don Honorio was drafted into the U.S. Army. His Draft Registration Card described him as single, medium built with brown eyes and black hair. He stood 5 ft. 7 inches tall.

On June 6, 1917, the day after he was drafted by the U.S. Army, Don Honorio married his American sweetheart Pauline Kearns (1898-1968) in Oakland, California. There are no records showing that Don Honorio was sent to fight in the European theater. Instead, Don Honorio brought his bride back to the Philippines and on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, their daughter Peace Kathryne (Katingca) Evangelista y Kearns was born in Manila. Don Honorio set up his veterinary practice in the Philippine capital, and the family shuttled between Manila and Candaba until 1925, when Pauline together with their daughter Katingca returned to the United States. On September 1, 1925, Pauline filed for an international divorce which was finalized in October 1926. About a year later, Pauline remarried to Rafael Alvarez Lalinde, a much older wealthy widower who was the pioneer of coffee industrialization in El Salvador. He adopted Peace. For the rest of her life, she was known as Peace Kathryne Alvarez.

By this time, Dr. Honorio Canciller Evangelista had moved to Shanghai, China, a bustling prosperous metropolis then dubbed as the Paris of the East, with his second wife Carmen Lacanilao (1903-1995) of Baliuag, Bulacan. Their union produced a daughter, Leonor Evangelista y Lacanilao (wife of Atty. Emmanuel Tinawin Jacinto), who was born on July 1,1924. Leonor was such a beautiful mestiza child her paternal grandmother Doña Pilar Salunga really doted on her. Carmen also had another daughter, Asuncion (wife of Candaba Mayor Anastacio Gallardo), from her first marriage to Dr. Federico A. Castro, whom Don Honorio adopted and raised as his own child. His reputation as an outstanding veterinarian had spread so swiftly that in a few short years, Dr. Honorio Canciller Evangelista had moved his prestigious veterinary practice to Shanghai in the 1920s, upon a special invitation of Shanghai's ruling class to care for their prized horses. This reflected the esteem to which Dr. Evangelista was held by the international social set.

In Shanghai, the Evangelista family lived in one of the most affluent areas, on Hart Road off Bubbling Well Road, in the International Settlement, where most of their neighbors were British and Americans. Their two daughters Asuncion (Sunny) and Leonor (Nonong) lived a life of privilege. They attended a private British school where they acquired British accents.

Dr. Honorio Canciller Evangelista, the only veterinarian in Shanghai in the early 1930s, enjoyed a special place of honor among the elite of the city, from both locals and foreigners alike. A man of varied interests, Dr. Evangelista was an excellent marksman. He won the Municipal Challenge Cup in 1935. He was part of the Filipino Rifle Company, a three-man team which won the Shanghai Rifle Association's International Cup in 1934 and 1935. Highly respected, Dr. Evangelista also became the Captain of the all-Filipino Company of the Shanghai Volunteers Corps, a multi-ethnic volunteer force under the Shanghai Municipal Council which governed the International Settlement.

For over 10 years, Dr. Honorio Canciller Evangelista and his family lived a cosmopolitan lifestyle in the International Settlement. But by 1937, war was on the horizon with the escalating hostilities between China and Japan. Dr. Evangelista's wife and two daughters returned to the safety of the Philippines.

Don Honorio served as the Captain of the Philippine Company of the Shanghai Volunteers Corps in Shanghai, China, during the 1930s fighting the Japanese Imperial Army. On August 12, 1937, the Shanghai Volunteers Corps was mobilized and its sophisticated team of volunteers (bankers, local investors, lawyers, doctors, engineers, businessmen), including Captain Honorio Canciller Evangelista and his Filipino Company took up their defensive positions along the perimeter of the International Settlement under the B Battalion. The Filipino, Portuguese, and American machine gun companies occupied the Polytechnic Public School on Pakhoi Road. As they waited for the fighting to begin, the International Settlement was inundated with nearly half a million Chinese refugees trying to flee into the safety of the area. Only a short time later, the fighting began and the International Settlement sustained several bombings. In the midst of this chaos, Captain Evangelista lost contact with his family. By the time the battle ended on November 26, 1937, the International Settlement found itself surrounded by Japanese troops. The Filipino Company distinguished itself in the Battle of Shanghai for exemplary display of valor while carrying out several dangerous missions. Captain Evangelista was wounded and a 22-year old Chinese nurse, and Shanghai native, named Nancy Ting, who would later become his third wife, looked after him.

The International Settlement was dissolved on December 8, 1941, when Japanese troops entered and occupied the entire area, and in Hawaii, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. World War II had officially begun. The Shanghai Volunteers Corps was disbanded early in 1942 after the Japanese took over the International Settlement.

Throughout the Second World War, Dr. Honorio Canciller Evangelista, separated from his wife Carmen and their two daughters, stayed in Shanghai to help the resistance movement, and used his influence to undermine the efforts of puppet Filipino organizations. He also volunteered to care for American internees detained at the Swiss Consulate. He refused any pay for his work, using his own personal fortune in the struggle against the mighty Japanese Imperial Army.

On February 28, 1944, Dr. Evangelista, along with five other Filipinos, were rounded up and arrested by the Japanese Gendarmerie in Shanghai on the grounds of spreading anti-Japanese propaganda and for opposition to the Philippine puppet government under President José P. Laurel. Dr. Evangelista was the main target of the Japanese because of his work in the American Section in the Swiss Consulate. The six men were taken to the Japanese Gendarmerie Headquarters at 94 Jessfield Road, Shanghai, where they were detained, beaten and tortured for 3 months. Dr. Evangelista was savagely beaten about the head and body by Japanese Imperial Army Warrant Officer Kunitada Mukoyama (or Kukoyama). The men were finally released in May 1944. Dr. Evangelista was re-arrested shortly thereafter by the Japanese and was sentenced to a 3-year prison term. He was released in June 1945. By this time, Chinese forces had retaken several Chinese cities back from the Japanese. After two atomic bombs were dropped by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan officially surrendered on September 2, 1945.

After the war, Dr. Honorio Canciller Evangelista testified at the trial of several Japanese charged with war crimes. Kunitada Mukoyama, his torturer, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. Refusing salary or reimbursement of expenses, Dr. Evangelista worked pro bono on behalf of United States' agencies in Shanghai. For his exceptionally meritorious service which had aided the United States in the prosecution of war against a common enemy during the period from January 1944 to September 2, 1945, Dr. Evangelista was decorated by the American Consul General in China with the Medal of Freedom from U.S. President Harry S. Truman. He was also awarded a Ribbon of Merit, and given a Letter of Commendation by a high American military authority in China. Throughout it all, Dr. Evangelista maintained his decorum. He was never the kind who was boastful or would draw attention to himself deliberately.

On January 17, 1948, Dr. Honorio Canciller Evangelista arrived back in San Francisco, California with his last wife Nancy Ting whom he married in Shanghai in 1943. He had had enough of war. Now in his late 50s, Dr. Evangelista still wanted to make good use of his time and talent. He joined the Bureau of Animal Industry, Agricultural Research Department, United States Department of Agriculture, as an inspector. A year later, H.R. Bill 1866 was introduced into the United States Congress granting him and his wife permanent residency in the United States, a just reward for his service to the country in its time of need during World War II. At that time, the San Francisco Immigration Office called the bill the most meritorious one that was ever referred to their office for review and investigation.

The last surviving child of Don Santiago Canciller Evangelista and Doña Maria Pilar Salunga y Dantis, Don Honorio Canciller Evangelista - the pride of Candaba and the Evangelista Clan - passed away peacefully at home on May 7,1978. He was laid to rest at Cypress Lawn Cemetery, in Colma, California. A simple tombstone marks the grave of one of the greatest Evangelistas who ever lived, who made a great selfless contribution to humanity.

In 2019, the Chinese government announced it would erect a monument in Dr. Honorio Canciller Evangelista's honor, a statue in his image in what was once called Manila Road in Shanghai. A fitting tribute to a great man. For his heroic and exemplary conduct during some of mankind's darkest days, Dr. Honorio Canciller Evangelista does not just belong to the Evangelista Clan, he belongs to the world.

In 2023, Don Honorio Canciller Evangelista’s life was immortalized in the Evangelista Clan book, “Recuerdos de Candaba: Casa de Evangelista, Familia Principalia.”