MacArthur’s landing in Leyte

By: Modesto P. Sa-onoy

THE National Historical Commission of the Philippines is holding here in Tacloban City, a national conference to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the landing of the American Forces in Leyte on October 20, 1945.

General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander of Allied Forces in the Pacific during World War II, led the invasion of the Philippines with all sorts of warships, aircrafts and troops ever assembled in that war. Opposing that landing were also hundreds of Japanese ships, planes and thousands of troops. Filipino guerrilla units joined in the fight.

The fighting for the liberation of the Philippines from Japanese occupation lasted until the Japanese accepted the unconditional surrender of its Empire on August 14, 1945. Two atomic bombs were dropped in Japanese cities and with millions of its people killed all over Pacific Japan had to capitulate.

The landing of MacArthur was captured in a photograph showing him wading on the beach of Palo, Leyte. That photo is well-known not only for its historic significance but also for its dramatic effect. After he landed, MacArthur issued the most electric message ever delivered on Philippine soil, a message that reverberated throughout the world.

“People of the Philippines. I have returned.  By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil – soil consecrated in the blood of our two peoples. We have come dedicated to the task of destroying every vestige of enemy control over your daily lives, and of restoring upon a foundation of indestructible strength, the liberties of your people.”

His message was a redemption of his promise “I shall return”, the phrase that kept the Filipino people hopeful for deliverance while under Japanese occupation. This promise was made in Australia in 1942 after he left the Philippines on order of President Franklin Roosevelt to organize the allied forces for the counterattack and the final conquest of Japan.

The NHCP has assembled 15 of us, all historians from different regions and institutions of learning in the country with one from the University of Tokyo, to relate the events of that war. I will lecture today on “The Setting of the Rising Sun in Negros” which will be a brief summary from my two-volume book, Against the Rising Sun: Guerrilla War in Negros, 1941-1945. My lecture will deal only with the military aspects of that war since this conference is focused on.

The venue of the conference is the Leyte Normal University which partnered with the NHCP for this commemorative assembly. The conference theme: “Turning the Tide: stories of resistance, resilience and resurgence in the Philippines from 1942-1945.”

The conference focuses on the history of the Philippines during the Japanese occupation from the Fall of Bataan and Corregidor to the Allied Forces Landing in Leyte and their impact on the liberation of the Philippines in 1945. The presentations include local experiences in the provinces and personalities during the war and “particularly during 1944 which were influenced by the historic landings. These local histories will enrich and deepen our overall understanding of World War II in the Philippines.”

The list of topics sent to the lecturers earlier provided a panoramic, albeit limited, view of how the different provinces reacted to the Japanese occupation and the American liberation.

The topics and the abstracts we received before the conference show the wide and many ways that Filipinos lived and reacted to the war. In Occidental Negros, over 10,000 men and women were engaged in that war, with thousands more in support services. Our World War II veterans alone is over 8,000. But how many now recognize their efforts?

In truth many today have no idea about that war, thanks mainly to the failure of our government, particularly the Department of Education in practically removing the study of our history in favor of other “priorities”.

This is true not only about World War II but all other significant national experiences that shaped our mentality. Of course, the DepEd reacts to the momentariness of the time but Congress should have provided the guidance to ensure that our people are well-versed in their history.

Other speakers express the same lament about the level of knowledge of our national history. The NHCP is doing its best but that agency has no national reach compared to DepEd.

Anyway, there are still historians that keep the knowledge alive.