TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — For the first time, the anniversary celebration of the historic Leyte Gulf Landing will be held in the presence of only a few officials and personalities, and livestreamed on social media.
Gov. Leopoldo Dominico Petilla will lead the ceremony for the 76th anniversary of the Leyte Gulf Landing today at the MacArthur Shrine in Palo, Leyte.
Petilla said the shrine would be off-limits to the public and tourists during the event.
The program will start with a flag-raising ceremony, wreath-laying and 21-gun salute.
Video messages from the ambassadors of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the US will be shown on television monitors set up at the venue.
No foreign and national officials will be physically present to deliver their messages.
Local officials are expecting a message from President Duterte will be delivered virtually.
“There is no point for guests to deliver messages here because there is no crowd who will listen to them. We may even lock down the area to ensure there will be no large gathering,” Petilla said, ad-ding that even media coverage is strictly limited.