Pampanga-The path to sainthood for three men who served in the same missions of St. Lorenzo Ruiz and soon-to-be canonized Blessed Pedro Calungsod has not been cleared even if their martyrdom was well-documented, according to a review of the book \u201cKapampangan Pioneers in the Philippine Church.\u201d
\nThe book authored by Dr. Luciano Santiago revealed that Juan de Guerra, a seaman from Betis, was beheaded three years after Ruiz was executed in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1637. Nicolas de Figueroa of Bacolor and Phelippe Sonsong of Macabebe, on the other hand, laid their lives defending the Jesuit mission that Fr. Diego Luis de San Vitores led in the Marianas in 1668.
\nSantiago said De Guerra, 33, at the time of his execution, was one of two Filipinos in a crew of 70 who accompanied four Macau diplomats sent to Japan to improve diplomatic relations.
\nBut upon reaching Japan, they were all jailed for spreading the Christian religion. For refusing to renounce their faith, 61 of them were beheaded, including De Guerra. Thirteen others were sent back to Macau to carry the warning to King Philip.
\nAccording to Santiago, the church in Manila celebrated the martyrdom of De Guerra and his unnamed Filipino companion. By 1698 in Madrid, a book documented the execution based on accounts of survivors.
\nDe Figueroa, a boy catechist, also suffered martyrdom but died fighting. A gang of 20 native Chamorros ambushed him and three lay missionaries on April 1, 1672.
\nWhen one of the missionaries was killed, De Figueroa cut off the head of the gang\u2019s leader to scare away the rest. He and his two companions fled, with De Figueroa ending up in a village where he was seized and thrown off a cliff. His body was repeatedly speared.
\nThe natives killed San Vitores and his assistant, Calungsod, the next morning, said Santiago, citing Jesuit records. A Jesuit tribunal was convened in 1673 in Guam to look into the possible beatification of De Figueroa and his companion.<\/p>\n