7lst YEAR OF LINGAYEN GULF LANDING

ONLY a few could make it, some already unable to move unless aided by their younger relatives while others came in wheelchairs, yet when the national color passed by and followed by the honor guards of the Philippine Army, they feebly raised their hands in an effort to make a snappy salute just like they did when they were in their teens and early 20s.

They were the heroes of Pangasinan who graced the 71st anniversary of the Lingayen Gulf Landing that happened on January 9, 1945, many of whom saw the actual landing with their own eyes as dutiful soldiers and guerillas who bore arms against the enemy.

“This is the place where we gathered to welcome MacArthur,” was how a veteran in his 90s reminisced.

Gov. Amado Espino Jr., in his speech, noted the thinning of the ranks of Pangasinan veterans joining the Lingayen Gulf Landing and the Veterans Day on January 9.

He said in that fateful dawn of Jan. 9, 1945, the Americans were joined by the British, Australians and New Zealanders, all under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, in landing in the Lingayen Beach to begin the final liberation of Luzon from the enemy.

Undersecretary Ernesto Carolina, a retired army general and administrator of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO), said had there been no Lingayen Gulf Landing, there would have been no battle in Manila and the Philippines may not have been liberated.

So important were the role taken by the Filipino soldiers and guerillas not only in that landing but also in other theaters of operation in that war, that was why the entire Filipino nation and the new generation owe a lot from them, said Carolina.

He lauded the vision of Espino, a retired police superintendent and a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), being the only governor in the history of Pangasinan who institutionalized the yearly celebration of the Lingayen Gulf Landing and the Veterans Day in Pangasinan through a provincial ordinance.

Miguel Angelo C. Villa-Real, vice president of the Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) said there are now only 9,000 surviving World War II veterans throughout the country, from more than 300,000 after the war.

Of the remaining survivors, 1,000 are from Pangasinan. World War II veterans must all be 90 years old and above now, Villa-Real said. (Leonardo Micua)

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