FVR leads in 67th Lingayen Gulf Landings
LINGAYEN—Former President Fidel Ramos will be the guest of honor and speaker during the 67th Lingayen Gulf Landings commemoration, also known as the Pangasinan Veterans Day, on January 9 at the Pangasinan Memorial Park here.
The day will mark the landing of the Allied Liberation Forces headed by General Douglas MacArthur in the beaches of the Lingayen Gulf on Jan. 9, 1945 that signalled the liberation of Luzon from the Japanese Occupation Forces.
Archbishop Socrates Villegas will officiate a thanksgiving mass at 7:00 a.m. to be attended by some 1,000 veterans of World War II and their families.
Ramos will lead the wreath-laying ceremony at the Pangasinan War Memorial Shrine.
He will be accompanied by Australian Ambassador Rod Smith; Lt. Col. Michael Ercolano, US Marine Corp Attaché at the United States Embassy; Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin; Defense undersecretary Eduardo Batac; Major General Jose Mabanta, commander of the Philippine Army; and Gov. Amado Espino Jr.
The book “Biographical Sketches of the Pangasinan Heroes of World War II” written by Deborah Beltran-Castillo and Dr. Cecilia Beltran-Daranciang will also be launched.
Ramos and Espino will lead the book launch, along with Ricardo Balbido Jr., president and chief executive officer of the Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB); Col. Emmanuel Ocampo, chairman of the PVB; and Ernesto Carolina, administrator of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office.
The World War II heroes featured in the book will be presented.
Espino, assisted by Dr. Gonzalo Duque, chairman of the Pangasinan Historical and Cultural Commission, and Arabella Arcinue, president of the Pangasinan Heritage Society, Inc., will personally distribute the books to the World War II heroes featured in the book.
Commander Demetrio Cabiles, deputy regional vice president of the Veterans Federation of the Philippines, Region 1, and Commander Marcelino de la Cruz, regional vice president of the VFP Region 1 will do the honor of formally accepting the book for the veterans.
A cultural show over lunch will be presented by the Dangoan Pangasinan Cultural Group at the Sison Auditorium. It will be followed by a medical mission and distribution of gift packs to the veterans and their families in front of the Sison Auditorium.
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