May the caves and slopes of Buga-Buga, once places of conflict, now echo prayers of harmony.’

AT the commemorative luncheon for the Leyte Gulf landings anniversary, Gregoria Equipaje Badeo shared her personal experience and her historical notes during the Japanese Occupation: “In Barrio Santa Ana, 13 men were burned to death…Luckily, one man (half-burned) was able to escape the torture and narrate the news to the neighborhood. But this man died, also.”

“The Guerrillas, very much in rage at the cruelties of the Japanese, paved their way to the Japanese garrison at Burauen North Central School. This encounter started in the last week of October 1942 and lasted for almost a week. Soldiers and guerrillas surrounded the garrison and blockaded the Japanese forces.” Mrs. Badeo’s testimony at the Leyte Convention Complex, Barangay Pawing, Palo is part of the permanent record of the Burauen History Club and the commemorative luncheon was sponsored by Leyte Governor Carlos Jericho L. Petilla for the day marking the return of the American military to Bonifacio’s home islands in the climax of World War II in the West Pacific.

Two days before our contact with the Burauen History Club, we delivered the Keynote Lecture for “Padayon Pagbukwat Han Aton Mga Kaagi: An International Lecture Series on World War II Leyte” where Prof. Sungho Kang (Co-President, History NGO Forum for Peace in East Asia) told the Filipinos about “The 1945 Liberation of Korea From Japanese Colonialism,” Lakan Uhay D. Alegre (Member, Leyte-Samar Heritage Society, Inc.) explained “Tawide! Kangleon and the Leyte Guerrillas,” and Hon. Anna Veloso-Tuazon (Representative, Third District of Leyte, House of Representatives) discoursed “On Post WW II Peace-Making and Cathartic Place-Making in Villaba.”

Here, we shared the American view of the guerrillas: “The most important of the guerrilla leaders on Leyte were Lt. Col. Ruperto K. Kangleon and Brig. Gen. Blas E. Miranda. Colonel Kangleon had served for 27 years in the Philippine Army and was a graduate of the Philippine Academy and General Service School. General Miranda, a former member of the Philippine Constabulary, was very hostile to the Japanese and to anyone who surrendered to them. He killed many former prisoners, whom the Japanese had released, on the pretext that they were enemy spies. Miranda was especially bitter toward Kangleon, a former prisoner of the enemy.” [HyperWar.US Army in WWII.Leyte: The Return to the Philippines. Chapter 2]

We also reminded the participants about the signal contribution of the White Rose Movement in resisting the Hitlerites in Nazi Germany and its Manifesto of the Munich Students: “We have only one duty; to fight against the Party. Leave the Party organisations which take from us the right of political expression! Boycott the lectures of the Party professors! We are concerned with true learning and real freedom of thought! No threats can frighten us, not even the closing of our universities! For each one of us it is a fight for our future, our freedom and honour in a nation conscious of its moral responsibility!”

The two-day forum is entitled Padayon Pagbukwat han Aton Mga Kaagi, which translates to “continue unearthing our histories,” and aims to personalize world history, particularly World War II, among Leyteños. For Day 2, Anna Karmina B. Constantino-Torres (Constantino Foundation, Inc.) delivered the Keynote Lecture (“A Past Revised, Usable Past”) and launched the 50th Anniversary Edition of The Philippines: A Past Revisited by Renato Constantino and Letizia Roxas-Constantino. She also turned over copies of the Constantino books to the University of the Philippines Tacloban College, Leyte Normal University, and the Leyte-Samar Heritage Society, Inc.

Hosted by Prof. Patricia Arinto, Ed.D. (Dean, University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College) and sponsored by Hon. Frances Ann B. Petilla (Lead Consultant, Leyte Provincial Tourism), the Leyte-Samar Heritage Society, Inc. (LSHSI) initiated the decolonization of World War II Leyte through unearthing untold stories of struggle, victory, nationalism, and heroism. Ramon Stephen B. Aguilos, STD/Ph.D. (Chair, Board of Trustees, Leyte-Samar Heritage Society, Inc.) explained that the international lecture series serves as a platform to inculcate and disseminate the discourse of local and world history, address gaps in the dominant historical discourse of World War II, and enable institutional and community leaders to set their agenda and directions for community development with historical education in their respective locales and spheres of influence.

Msgr. Aguilos was also in Villaba for this year’s Peace Memorial Day: “O God, Creator of heaven and earth, who made the hills of Buga-Buga a witness to human struggle and Divine Providence, bless the historical markers. May it stand as an enduring testament to the events of World War II here in Villaba — the battles fought, the lives lost, and the resilience of our Leyteño people. Like the martyrdom of Saint Pedro Calungsod, our Visayan brother, let this marker teach us that suffering can lead to glory and forgiveness…May the caves and slopes of Buga-Buga, once places of conflict, now echo prayers of harmony.”