By Rex Catubig

 

WHILE the hotly debated issue of where Gen. Douglas MacArthur landed along the Lingayen Gulf’s color-coded beaches may never be resolved, the one incontrovertible fact that we Dagupeños are rightly proud of and no one else can lay claim to, is upon his return, when he landed ashore, he set up his headquarters and lived in Dagupan.

The young lass Juling Vallejos from Careenan (who later became a long-term Kapitana of her barangay), fondly recalled how she would, along with others, gleefully flash the V sign and shout Victory Joe to the band of Liberators, who had taken shelter at the West Central Elementary School Gabaldon Building. She vividly remembered her up close and personal encounter with the General who appeared to her as god-like, yet totally human.

Regularly, she would run up the flight of stairs leading to the second floor, go to the General’s room and collect his dirty clothes. Then she would run back to their house in Careenan, a stone’s throw away from West Central, and dutifully washed the General’s laundry.

For some historic moments, Gen MacArthur was our next-door neighbor Joe, who while plotting the liberation of Luzon, lived the simple life among village folk.

  In fact, there are pictures that show him walking down the main street, Torres Bugallon Avenue, like any other Dagupeño.

And while his military leadership and personal integrity had also been called into question, his role in the liberation of the Philippines and the end of WWII is beyond dispute. In fact, he accepted the surrender of the Japanese Imperial Forces in his capacity as the Commander in the Southwest Pacific and Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers.

It can also be deduced that the General’s sojourn in Dagupan was the crucible that fired up the aspiration of the municipal leaders, and after the war was won and freedom was regained, emboldened them to take up the task of transforming the bustling town into a city. Which they eventually boldly took to the national level by urging the sponsorship by then Speaker Eugenio Perez of the enactment of its City Charter.

Two years after Gen MacArthur landed, lived in Dagupan, and liberated the country in 1945, Dagupan was subsequently granted its City Charter in 1947.

To mark and establish once and for all the General’s historic Landing and pay homage to the valiant General not only for leading the momentous task of liberating the country, but for his role in the city’s development, the grateful Dagupeños upon the initiative of war veteran Major Moises Maramba, erected and dedicated a beach memorial in his honor and the many local veterans who fought valiantly by his side.

But this patriotic gesture drew flak and triggered controversy, perhaps even more than the disputed Landing site. At issue was the unfounded alleged vested interest, which is sadly akin to the snafu that surrounded the aborted building of a new City Hall.

At present, the move of the memorial to a new site is again gathering storm.

Regardless, may the heroic memory of the beloved General live on. Because old soldiers never die. And heroes are bigger than any controversies that may mar their memory. And great monuments are erected in the hearts and minds of those who lovingly remember.

Mabuhay, Joe!#

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