Sept. 2 special holiday in Ifugao

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – Malacañang has declared the commemoration of the Fall of Yamashita on Sept. 2 as a special holiday in Ifugao. 

In Proclamation 856, President Aquino said the declaration of the holiday would give the people of Ifugao full opportunity to celebrate and participate in the occasion. 

Ifugao Gov. Denis Habawel and Rep. Teodoro Baguilat are expected to lead the event to commemorate the surrender of Japanese Imperial Army Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita in Kiangan town that also marked the end of World War II. 

Ifugao has been commemorating the event as “Victory Day” since 1991 to pay tribute to the sacrifices and valor of Filipino and American soldiers as well as Ifugao guerrillas during the war.

This year’s event, with the theme, “Sustaining Peace through Advocacy and Development,” will start on Sept. 1 with a morning mass and candle lighting at the Yamashita surrender site in Kiangan town.

There will be a parade, wreath-laying at the surrender site at the Kiangan Central School and a 21-gun salute at the town’s War Memorial Shrine on Sept. 2.