Filipino-Australian movie producer Mark Smith wants to tell his Lola’s wartime love story.
Discover the fascinating story of the Dagaraga family’s journey, their resilience, and the generational ties that continue to shape their legacy. Above is the only known photo of young Donata Uayan Dagaraga taken in the 1950s.
Telling his grandmother’s story
Filipino-Australian movie producer and screenwriter Mark Smith discovered his grandmother’s incredible wartime love story and early life on Camiguin Island and wants to share the tale with Filipino audiences.
Mark Smith’s mother Fe, migrated to Australia in 1980 to live in Adelaide, South Australia, where he has lived all his life. Mark studied history and political science at Adelaide University and worked in government and as an aide to elected politicians before turning to his passion for writing and storytelling.
Since the sudden passing of Mark’s father in late 2022 he has been delving deep into his family history both in Australia and the Philippines. He began talking to many long-lost relatives after his father’s funeral in the famous St Peter’s Cathedral, in Adelaide, known as the city of churches.
“My father’s passing reminded me that we won’t be here forever so it is important to learn, document and share our family history while we still can. We only have a few photos of the Dagaraga’s early life, as many photos were lost in floods and sudden family relocations over the years. There is only one photo of my Lola as a young woman taken in the 1950s.”
Only a few photos survived
“I wondered why there weren’t any photos of my Lola and Lolo as children or of their wedding?”
“When we went to the Philippines in the early 1990s to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary there were no old photos on display. When I asked aunties, uncles and other relatives they started to tell me about 1940s wartime on Camiguin Island, and how my grandparents had to move around and hide in the jungle to avoid the Japanese soldiers. They were brutal, particularly on young women.”
“Then after the war things finally settled down, but another enormous life changing event forced them to evacuate to mainland Mindanao. The violent eruption of Mount Hibok-Hibok. They set up a new life with their three children, adding six more over the years including my mother in 1957. By this time they were living in Butuan City in northern Mindanao and my Lolo had become a popular local barber with the mayor and congressmen as regular customers.”
Escaping the Japanese invasion and the volcano
Mark’s Lola, Donata, her husband Agustin and their three children left Camiguin Island at the time of the eruption of Mount Hibok-Hibok, which killed more than 3000 people and forced almost 35 000 to evacuate.
Born in 1949 on Camiguin, Rosario Abasolo now 71 with five children of her own, said,
“Our family went in a small fishing canoe toward a large passenger ship in the Bohol Sea. The Captain told them it was destined for Hawaii and asked to keep their baby, me Rosario, in exchange for providing safe passage to the mainland. Donata clung to her child and refused. The Captain relented and agreed to take them as far as Balingoan, the main Port where today tourists board the ferry bound for Benoni.”
The Dagaraga family at Christmas in the 1960s in Butuan City. (L-R back row) Maharlika Guillena, Zenaida Dagaraga, Rodolfo Dagaraga, Rosario Abasolo, Agustin Dagaraga Junior (deceased) and Tita Legaspi. Mark Smith’s mother Fe Dagaraga Smith is seated between her parents Agustin Dagaraga and Donata Dagaraga with Julio Dagaraga (deceased) in front of her. Leonie Casino is in front of her father. Rodoflo (deceased 2015), Zenaida (deceased 1977) and Rosario were born on Camiguin before the 1951 eruption of Mount Hibok-Hibok.
“The family then lived on a farm in Buenavista for a while where my father Agustin worked hard. Back on Camiguin he loaded sacks of rice onto ships, not realising the permanent damage he was doing to his back, which gave him tremendous pain in his later years. X-rays showed his spine was curved.”
“Before they were married, my mother Donata was living in Mumbajao with her father, sister and seven half siblings from her father’s second marriage, after her mother had died when she was very young. As she grew into her teenage years Donata was very beautiful and attracted a number of local suitors, some from rich families. For some respite Donata’s father sent her to stay with his brother in Sagay for a while, but it was not long before the local boys heard of a beautiful young lady staying in the town.”
Agustin lived with his family in Sagay where he worked on the rice terraces and helped local fishermen. He was drawn to Donata and became a permanent fixture outside of her house to make it clear to other interested parties to stay away. Agustin wanted to get married but Donata was only fifteen.
“My mother agreed to get married if he bought her a brand new wedding dress.” Mrs Abasolo said who lives in Cabadbaran where she was married to the local Deputy Chief of Police SPO 4, Timoteo Abasolo.
In mid 1942, Japanese forces invaded Mumbajao, and soon the footsteps of heavily armed soldiers could be heard on the beaches of Sagay. Donata and her family were warned to quickly pack-up the food they were cooking and flee into the hillside jungles. This was to be their life for the next few years of Japanese occupation, living high in the mountains and living off the land, eating wild fruits and sweet potatoes.
“They would cook food at night so the Japanese soldiers would not see the smoke from their cooking fires,” Mrs Abasolo said.
The couple was married in Sagay in the heritage listed church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, in a ceremony of whispers to avoid detection from nearby Japanese soldiers.
Camiguin Island is a perfect movie setting
Camiguin Island was explored by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 and is the second smallest province in the Philippines, by both population and land size, and is home to seven volcanoes.
It has become a popular tourist destination known for the white island, volcanic hot springs, waterfalls and the eerie sunken cemetery of Catarman, which was swallowed by the ocean after a volcanic eruption in 1871. The sunken cemetery has been declared a National Cultural Treasure, along with the Old Bonbon Church ruins in Catarman and the Spanish-era watchtower in Guinsiliban.
It also holds many incredible stories including the love story of Donata and Agustin, and the impact world war two had on their lives. Their Australian grandson Mark, wants to tell their remarkable story on the screen,
“I came to know my grandparents well, when they migrated to Australia in 1988, to help look after me as a child. I was only three. Australia was a big new and unexpected chapter in their lives, and it gave them access to world class healthcare, which prolonged their lives. Eye surgeries, heart medication and other care which we often take for granted in Australia. I was the only child at school who had their hair cut at home as my Lolo had brought his barber’s blades all the way from the Philippines.”
Mark Smith with his newborn baby brother Stephen James Jose Smith in Adelaide in 1991, sitting between his Lolo Agustin Dagaraga and Lola Donata Dagaraga who became Australian citizens in 1988.
A Legacy Worth Celebrating
The bio-pic love story has a working title of, “Escape from Camiguin,” and Mark wants to work with Filipino screenwriters to develop the script.
“I think the best way to share this story is to partner with Filipino production companies and provide opportunities for Filipino acting talent to shine.”
Mr Smith has been working with Hollywood actor and movie director Mark Webber on a movie about his Australian grandmother, Isabel Smith, called Finding Miss Almond, which is in pre-production. Mr Webber has had success with his movies at international film festivals including Robert Redford’s Sundance Film Festival in Utah and in 2024 starred alongside Jessica Alba in the Netflix action hit, Trigger Warning.
“Mark Webber has taught me so much about movie making. I want to use those skills to tell this Filipino story of love, the displacement of family and navigating the challenges life presented to my Lola and Lolo including war and natural disaster.”
“Having visited Camiguin Island I know what a naturally spectacular and special place it is and it should be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.”
The movie: Escape from Camiguin
Donata is 15 and living on the remote volcanic island of Camiguin in the Bohol Sea as the Philippines is being drawn into the second world war in 1942.
As Japanese forces invade and take over the capital of Mambajao, unmarried girls of all ages rush to find husbands and marry in secret to deter those soldiers’ intent on forced gratification. Donata’s sedate life in the town of Sagay is turned upside down.
Among the disruption a chance meeting leads to a secret romance with admirer Agustin as they meet at night in the jungle to avoid detection. Their parents don’t know and Agustin, six years older, is cautious about telling them because Donata is so young.
Donata begins a relationship and is faced with a choice, uproot her life and move into the jungles of the high volcanic mountains, or stay with her aging father and risk brutality at the hands of the Japanese.
For more go to: www.liveheart.com.au/escape-from-camiguin