When you pass by Palo in Leyte, you cannot miss the Leyte Landing Shrine, officially the Leyte Landing Memorial National Park. The site commemorates General Douglas MacArthur's return to the Philippines on October 20, 1944, marking the beginning of the campaign to liberate the country from Japanese forces.
MacArthur could have returned and liberated Luzon first, or Mindanao, but he chose "the center" of the archipelago, the Visayas, and particularly Leyte.
Two days before MacArthur, Carlos P. Romulo and other soldiers waded in Palo's fine shores, American ships bombarded the beach fronts of Tolosa and Palo to destroy Japanese positions.
But their carpet-bombing threatened the lives of Filipino civilians in Tolosa, for the Americans did not know exactly where the Japanese were.
Scouts Valeriano Abello, Antero M. Junia and Vicente Triston used their scouting signal skills, particularly hand flags, to communicate with the Americans. Their heroic act saved Tolosa and nearby towns from devastation, and generations of residents honored them as local heroes through the years.
Signal Day on Oct. 18 in Tolosa, Leyte is a special event for the town's residents every year. It was when three brave patriotic scouts saved thousands of Waray lives from bombardment by both Japanese and American warships and planes.
Many Filipinos living today, including this writer, did not witness the suffering and hardship, hunger and sacrifices of our kababayan during the three years of Japanese occupation.
These war atrocities and crimes of the Japanese cannot be forgotten by the peoples of the world, especially Filipinos. The horror started on December 7, 1941 or 84 years ago, when Japanese planes swooped down on Pearl Harbor to attack US naval forces.
Hours later on December 8, they bombed Davao, Tuguegarao, Baguio and Tarlac, all US military facilities.
The Japanese government has long apologized for these atrocities and retribution came in the form of war reparations and compensation payments. War and violence were renounced in their Constitution, and Japan observed a foreign policy of pacifism.
Until current Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made a complete turn, unmasking her hawkish character. She said Japan would respond militarily if China makes a move to take control of Taiwan by force.
Kyodo News also disclosed that Japan under Sanae is having informal talks with the Philippines under Bongbong Marcos to sell surface-to-air missile systems.
Kyodo said a substantive study on exporting Japanese-developed Type-03 Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile is expected to start once the government formally scraps a rule limiting defense equipment exports to five noncombat purposes, such as rescue and surveillance.
Many Filipinos are enraged by these developments, surprised that Takaichi has taken the aggressive road even as no Japanese leader before her dared to comment on Taiwan for fear of stoking a spat with China.
Beijing responded by warning its citizens not to travel or study in Tokyo, and saying that there would be no market in China for Japan's seafood exports. The Japanese tourism industry immediately felt the backlash.
Both the Japanese people and Filipinos, and the rest of Southeast Asia do not want war. They do not want a repeat of Palo and Tolosa, Bataan, Corregidor, Manila and Nanjing.
Sanae and Bongbong should be aware of this all-consuming sentiment.
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