Moscow Wants to Build a Museum in Eastern Samar to Remember Russian Refugees in the Philippines

Moscow Wants to Build a Museum in Eastern Samar to Remember Russian Refugees in the Philippines

The story of Russian refugees finding a second home in Eastern Samar is one of those rare lost footnotes in history that tie the two countries together. There was a time when 6,000 Russian refugees stayed in the Visayan province. This peculiar period for the two countries will now be immortalized in a museum, based on a new report.

The Moscow government expressed interest in building such a museum on Tubabao Island recently. Guiuan Mayor Annaliza Gonzales-Kwan met with key officials during the International Cultural Heritage Council and the 2nd International Symposium of International Council on Monuments and Sites in Moscow, Russia in late November.

Gonzales talked to members of the Department of External Economic and International Relations of the Moscow Government, as well as the Foundation of the Russian Heritage Abroad. While no final budget was agreed upon, it was championed as an initiative to bring more Russian tourists into Guiuan.

The White Russians, as they were called, escaped the Russian Civil War. They got their moniker from the Soviet Red armies and the opposing “Whites,” which came from the uniform of the Tsarist court. Eventually, the escapees settled in China, specifically in Harbin and Shanghai. When China ceased formal ties with the Russian Empire, some of them returned to their homeland while others chose to go elsewhere and sought asylum.

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Some of them found it in the Philippines. In 1949, President Elpidio Quirino responded to their letter requesting refuge and put up a settlement to welcome the Philippines’ newest visitors. Tubabao Island was once a former U.S. Navy base during World War II. This would become the White Russians’ temporary home while awaiting asylum.

Inside the camps, a community of engineers, artists, doctors, teachers, priests, and more became acquainted with the local Filipino community. Concerts and cultural shows were held for the locals. They even learned how to fish while children learned piano and ballet. Tubabao was described as a “paradise.” One such refugee, Michael Borisovitch Maximovitch, lived in Tubabao and would eventually be named St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco by the Russian Orthodox.

The White Russians left the Philippines in 1951 and would go on to live their lives in countries like the United States, France, and South America, among others. Their short stay in the Philippines serves as a reminder of the compassion and humanity of the world in times of crisis.