The Burning of St Paul College

Mural painting by Dr. Abe V. Rotor,
Marlo, Anna and Leo Carlo Rotor

St. Paul College QC, then a Novitiate and Provincial House of the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres (SPC), was made a camp during the Japanese occupation in World War II. Hundreds, mostly Filipinos were held prisoners here, many dying from torture, wounds, diseases, and despair. Then, in 1945, the tide of war changed. Desperately fighting the superior Allied Forces, the Japanese went into rampage, killing civilians and burning buildings - including this building complex that once served as their headquarters. The burning building depicted in the mural is the present High School building, now renovated, and the former Greco-Roman Chapel-Little Theatre complex, now replaced. This mural reminds us to be forever vigilant against “man’s inhumanity to man”.

Light from the Old Arch 2, AVR