during the second world war, the statue was saved by the parish priest of ermita church, fr. blas de guernica, and a justo n. lópez. they hid the statue in a niche of the church's crypt a few weeks before the allies liberated manila in february 1945. after the battle, fr. rogelio bedonia, along with a chaplain and four soldiers of the united states army, went to the completely-ruined shrine, retrieved the icon, and brought it to a safer place. until the construction of a temporary chapel, the icon stayed in a private house on taft avenue, in san miguel de mayumo and finally in quiapo. the current shrine was built in 1947.