Ifugao upland town marks Yamashita’s surrender

KIANGAN, Ifugao — This little known highland town does not have much to offer such as tourist spots. But its people were teeming with pride of history yesterday.

Unknown to most Filipinos, it was in Kiangan where Japanese Maj. Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita, the so-called "Tiger of Malaya," surrendered to US forces, virtually ending the Second World War.

Kiangan’s Lt. Santiago Balajo, perhaps the oldest living World War II veteran at 95, recalled that they jumped with joy when Yamashita, who had his last defense here, finally gave up.

President Arroyo, along with Sen. Richard Gordon and National Historical Institute director Ludovico Badoy, handed a commemorative badge to Balajo yesterday as part of the 60th anniversary commemoration of Yamashita’s surrender.

In her speech, Mrs. Arroyo thanked the Ifugaos "for liberating us and for supporting me."

She likened the current political turmoil to the "folly of war that is very much like the scourge of a degenerated political system."

"It stains the people with hunger and anguish. We must reform this political system if we will be true to the sacrifices of those who perished in bringing about the end of the Second World War," she added.

Present during the event were Japanese Ambassador Ryuichiro Yamazaki, US Embassy charge d’affaires Daryl Johnson, Australian Ambassador Anthony John Hely, and New Zealand Ambassador Robert Carey Moore Jones.