NOV.

16, 2011 DATE

NR # 2589
REF. NO.

House body passes bill declaring September 3 of every year as National Victory and Liberation Day
The House Committee on Basic Education and Culture has reported out for floor deliberation a measure declaring September 3 of every year as National Victory and Liberation Day in the Philippines. Rep. Bernardo M. Vergara (Lone District, Baguio City) urged the committee to fast track the approval of House Bill 5068 given its historical significance. It is long overdue, but then, better late than never said Vergara, who authored the bill. I hope that the bill will see the light of day and be enacted into law this 15th Congress, considering its historical impact. The fall of Bataan, Fall of Manila, Death of Rizal, among other celebrations of defeat, hoped to trigger inspiration, but if there is something victorious event to be celebrated, we would rather remember and celebrate the victory, said Rep. Salvador st Escudero III (1 District, Sorsogon), Chairman of the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture. Vergara said it was on September 3, 1945 when Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita and Vice Admiral Denhici Okochi, two of the highest army and navy Japanese officers in the Philippines, surrendered to Maj. Gen. Edmond Leavey in a ceremony held at the United States High Commissioners Residence at Camp John Hay, Baguio. The memory of this date ended the darkest interlude in the history of the Philippines (1941-1945), a period when Filipinos were plunged into the lowest depths of deprivation and sufferings characterized by innumerably brutal and merciless atrocities committed especially against helpless civilians. It ended the painful suppression of all democratic institutions and processes under the heel of a foreign totalitarian and militaristic oppressor, Vergara said. Vergara noted that Reps. Mauricio Domogan (Lone District, Baguio City) and Solomon Chungalao (Lone District, Ifugao) separately filed bills to this effect during the 13th Congress. The bills were consolidated as per Committee Report 1951 on September 27, 2006 but did not have the chance to reach the plenary, Vergara said. According to Vergara, the bill encourages all Filipinos to remember a victorious day in the history of our country, stressing that the freedom, the privileges, the fruits of democracy we now enjoy should not make us blind to the fact that these were products of blood and tears which finally ended on that glorious day of September 3, 1945.

NOV. 16, 2011 DATE

NR # 2589
REF. NO.

It is often said that, in many cases, Filipinos celebrate their defeat Fall of Bataan, Fall of Manila, death of (Dr. Jose) Rizal, to cite a few, and not their Victory Days. September 3 is a victory day and much more, a liberation day, Vergara said. This date ushered a new era of hope, unity and intense feeling of patriotism. It symbolized the unleashing of the dove of peace that would bring about the realization of democratic principles of human rights, of self-respect among free nations of the world, and socio economic and political freedom an aspiration nurtured for the past 350 years of foreign colonial dominion, Vergara added. Earlier, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) sent an official letter recognizing the importance of September 3 in the history of the country. The NHCP finds it appropriate to remember September 3, in this manner for on that day, 1945, at 12:10 hours, in a ceremony held at the U.S. High Commissioners Residence at Camp John Hay, Baguio, Mt. Province, General Tomoyuki Yamashita and Vice Admiral Denhici Okochi, two of the highest army and navy officers of Japan in the Philippines, signed the instrument of surrender, NHCP chairman Maria Serena I. Diokno said in a letter read by Committee Secretary Josefina Ricafort. Major General Edmond H. Leavey, the American officer in charge, announced his acceptance of the surrender, signed each copy and pronounced the ceremony concluded. This ceremony officially ended the war in the Philippines, Dioknos letter said. Diokno stressed that while we commemorate the Bataan Death March as Araw ng Kagitingan, it is equally important that we celebrate and honor the end of World War II in the Philippines, which marked the end of the unspeakable suffering of our people. Through a motion of Rep. Dante Antonio L. Tinio (Party-list, ACT Teachers), the committee agreed to reformulate the bill and remove the name of Yamashita whose actions as a war criminal included the atrocities committed by the Japanese troops in Manila, infamously known as the Massacre of Manila, which claimed the lives of over 100,000 Filipinos. Yamashita was tried and executed as a war criminal for his actions during the war in Singapore. The law will stand without the need to enshrine in our law the name of this criminal, Tinio said. (30) jsc