Lydia Villanueva-Arguilla

Among the intellectuals who joined the guerrilla movement was the writer and painter Lydia Villanueva Arguilla. Her husband, the fictionist Manuel Arguilla, worked with the Japanese Propaganda Corps but leaked out intelligence to the guerrilla leader, Colonel Yay Panlilio. He was killed by the Kempeitai in Fort Santiago in 1944. After the war, Arguilla opened the Philippine Art Gallery on Azcarraga Street (now Recto Avenue), Manila, one of the first galleries in the country that was dedicated to displaying, collecting, and promoting Filipino modern art.