PVAO wants Yamashita surrender included in school books, curriculum

PHILIPPINE Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) Administrator Ernesto Carolina wants the events that transpired in Kiangan, Ifugao and in Baguio 73 years ago to be taught in schools as part of history lessons.

The formal surrender of Japanese Imperial Army leader Tomoyoki Yamashita in Baguio on Sept. 3, 1945 marked the country’s victory, ending World War II, Carolina said in an interview on Monday.

Gen. Yamashita, he related, actually surrendered in front of a classroom in the compound of the Kiangan Central School in Kiangan, Ifugao on Sept. 2, 1945. That same afternoon, he was flown to Baguio City via the Bagabag Airport in Nueva Vizcaya, located less than an hour away from the town. The following day, he signed the formal surrender document at the United States Ambassador’s Residence in Camp John Hay, which marks the end of the second World War.

However, nothing about this is found in today's history books, Carolina lamented.

He said Kiangan in Ifugao is a significant place in history, which must be made known to the youth.

“Hindi masyadong naisulat sa kasaysayan ito. Sa ifugao alam, pero pag pumunta ka sa Manila, hindi,” he noted.

Carolina said PVAO is now working to make this part of history a part of the school curriculum, as well.

“Kaya sinulat yung librong ‘Victory in Northern Luzon’, nilalakad namin ngayon maisama siya sa syllabus sa paaralan para maituro sa mga kabataan. Hopefully, mailagay natin yan,” Carolina said.

He added PVAO is also putting up a Philippine Center for World War II Studies on Mt. Samat in Bataan to put everything in history on paper.

Carolina said documents on World War II and the events that happened in northern Luzon are at the Maryland National Archives in the United

States and which, PVAO is currently trying to digitize.

In a separate interview, Baguio City Schools Assistant Superintendent Soraya Faculo said the “Images of Valor” and other authentic materials will help in the planned inclusion in the school curriculum of the participation of Kiangan, Ifugao and Baguio in Philippine history.

“These are authentic references that we need in our schools, especially in teaching history in Grades 6, 7, and 10,” she said.

She said the education department's divisions in Ifugao and Baguio have included the Kiangan and Baguio events in their Indigenous Peoples' Education materials, which are now actually taught to Grades 6, 7, and 10 in their Philippine history subjects.

Meanwhile, PVAO is backing a bill pending in Congress, which seeks to declare Sept. 3 of each year as a national holiday to commemorate the country’s victory against the Japanese forces.