MacArthur landed in Lingayen!
ESTRELLA ENDS DEBATE
LINGAYEN–The contentious debate over the actual site where General Douglas MacArthur first set foot in Pangasinan when he returned to liberate Luzon during the World War II is finally over.
The general waded ashore for the first time in Lingayen, not in Dagupan.
This was the personal testimony of former Pangasinan Governor Conrado Estrella, now 93, who personally talked to MacArthur himself when the latter and his wife returned to Pangasinan for a personal visit in 1961.
Estrella said when he asked the general to help clear the issue that had sparked endless debates in Pangasinan as to where he first landed, MacArthur did not hesitate in his answer and simply asked where the provincial capitol is.
Estrella then brought MacArthur, who was then 82 years old, to the porch of Urduja House where they had just shared lunch, to show him the capitol.
Estrella said MacArthur then told him he first landed at the back of the provincial capitol in Lingayen.
The former governor, who served Pangasinan from 1954 when he was appointed acting governor up to 1963, played host to MacArthur and his wife Jane on July 6, 1961 when they made their first sentimental visit to Pangasinan.
Estrella was the guest of honor and speaker during the 66th Lingayen Gulf Landings Anniversary and Pangasinan Veterans’ Day celebration at the Pangasinan Memorial Park last January 10.
He said the truth needed to be told before he finally “fades into the night”.
He added there were others with him who heard MacArthur say that he first landed in Lingayen before going back to his flagship “Boise”, which then moved eastward at the gulf.
1ST COMMAND POST
Estrella said this explains why there were pictures and recollections of MacArthur walking ashore in Bonuan, Dagupan City where he established his first command post in Luzon in what is now the Home Economics Building of the West Central School.
Over the decades, Dagupan has laid laying claim as MacArthur’s first landing site and a 20-foot statue of Mac Arthur was erected on January 23, 1984, unveiled by the National Historical Commission and personally attended by American Colonels Robert Lapham and Edwin Ramsey, who led in the resistance against the Japanese during the war.
Estrella said a statue of Mac Arthur should have been erected in Lingayen where MacArthur really first landed.
DAGUPAN
Meanwhile, Dagupan also held a celebration to honor to its war veterans and MacArthur.
“We thank you. Saludo po kami sa inyo,” said Mayor Benjamin Lim during the opening of the World War II memorabilia exhibits at the City Museum.
He said that the people of Dagupan are truly grateful for the supreme sacrifice of the veterans in giving their lives to help liberate the city from the Japanese invaders.
“Hindi natin dapat kalimutan ang kabayanihan ng ating mga magigiting na mga bayani. Today we do not only remember MacArthur as the general who promised to return and liberate us…but also the countless people of our country who sacrificed their lives so we can live in democracy and in peace,” said Lim.
The mayor led the wreath laying at the shrine of MacArthur in Bonuan Gueset and at the Home Economics Building at West Central Elementary School.
Lim said in honor of MacArthur, he will pursue the restoration of the shrine, which is now in a state of disrepair, and move it to another site at the Tondaligan Park.
The mayor said he will also call for the preservation of the Home Economics Building and transform it into a museum.
MACARTHUR HIGHWAY
Estrella became mayor of his town Rosales in 1951 and was picked by President Ramon Magsaysay to become the acting governor when Governor Juan D.G. Rodriquez was named secretary of agriculture.
It was the late President Carlos Garcia who called Estrella about the visit of MacArthur in 1961.
“It was a stormy day yet throngs of people lined up the streets from Carmen in Rosales to Lingayen,” Estrella recollects.
“Mac Arthur was already 82 years old at that time. His old khaki uniform looked as if it was over-sized as he was already emaciated. When he walked up the stairs of the Urduja House, his legs were wobbling,” Estrella continued.
The sentimental visit of the MacArthurs to Pangasinan prompted then President Garcia to name the long stretch of road from Maramba Boulevard in Lingayen to Balintawak in Caloocan City as MacArthur Highway, a suggestion made by Estrella.
Estrella recalled how he suggested to Garcia to lend his car to ferry the MacArthurs to Pangasinan as a means for him (Garcia) to earn some political points as he was seeking re-election that time.
MACARIO
When he brought the MacArthurs to the Magsaysay Memorial Stadium, Estrella was surprised when the general recognized one fellow from the crowd, a man named Macario who served as his long-time houseboy at the Manila Hotel.
“Is that you, Macario?” MacArthur said, as narrated by Estrella.
Macario replied: “Yes, sir. I am Macario but I am out of job”.
Estrella said MacArthur then requested him to give Macario an early Christmas in July by giving him job.
“I made Macario, Mac Arthur’s former houseboy, a gardener at the capitol,” said Estrella
Meanwhile, during the commemoration, the provincial government also presented an award to Glicerio Valdez, a retired US Army sergeant from Alcala town, the oldest living veteran at 100.
A medical mission was conducted after the program proper as part of the privileges granted by the province to the war veterans.–LM, CIO
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