Martin Leonson Dayao

Atty. Martin Dayao, 97, died Tues, June 8, 2016 in the Philippines from natural causes.

He is survived by his 9 children & their spouses (TERESITA & Terry Macalalad, MARTIN Dayao Jr., MARY Barrios, ANA & Arnold Perper, MARTHA & Teny Ocampo, HELEN Milan, NONA & Jose Palarca, OLIVER & Nadia Dayao, and JOSEPHINE & Lee Dickerhoff). He is also survived by his 22 grandchildren and about 6 great grandchildren.

He was born in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, the son of Esteban and Teodora Dayao. He was the only member of his family to obtain a college education, worked his way from being a policeman to finally becoming a criminal lawyer. He did this while raising his family of 9 children. He was married for 65 years to Mercedes Icasiano, the daughter of Judge Mariano & Concepcion Icasiano.

He was inducted into the USAFFE in 1941 as 1st Lt of 1st Division PA and was active until 1946. He was a survivor of the Bataan Death March in 1942 during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, when some 75,000 Filipino & American troops were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps and eventually to their deaths. He and 2 American soldiers escaped by crawling through a sugarcane field. When they managed to reach a small farmhouse, he entrusted the 2 American soldiers to its residents for their safety.

Atty. Dayao was the founder and father of the Musa Block Rosary Crusade, a devotion to Our Lady of Fatima that has been in existence for 56 years to date. This crusade was instrumental in transforming a gang-infested community to one that is devoted to the Blessed Mother.

Funeral services will be held at Forest Lawn in Hollywood Hills, California.