SEVENTY years after Gen. Douglas MacArthur waded ashore in Leyte to fulfill his “I shall return” promise to the Filipino people, the alliance between the Philippines and the US continues to go stronger, Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr. said.
“The commitment shown by the United States through the actions of General MacArthur in 1944 still remains up to the present,” Cuisia said during the ceremonies commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Americans’ landing in Leyte at the MacArthur Memorial.
“The shared Filipino-American experience in the Philippines during the Second World War continues to permeate Philippine-US bilateral relations and to nurture the alliance,” Cuisia told Filipinos and Americans, who attended the commemoration of the landings that signaled the start of the liberation of the Philippines after three years of Japanese occupation.
MacArthur, feeling the pressure of advancing Japanese forces in 1942, left Corregidor island on a patrol torpedo
boat and reached Mindanao after two days, evading Japanese warships and traveling in stormy seas.
From Mindanao, MacArthur’s party flew to Australia, arriving in Melbourne on March 21, 1942, where he made his famous speech, in which he declared, “I came through and I shall return.”
Cuisia said American commitment to the Philippines was concretely manifested during the return of US forces to Leyte in November last year, 69 years after the return of MacArthur. “This time, however, they came to help liberate the people of Leyte from an emerging humanitarian crisis caused by one of the most devastating storms in human history—Typhoon Haiyan [local code name Yolanda].”
Cuisia said US troops were among the first on the ground, helped clear the way for the massive US-led international relief effort that preempted what could have been a major humanitarian disaster. At the height of the international response, the US committed, more than a thousand troops and 50 aircraft and ships, including the USS George Washington, as part of Operation Damayan. US forces assisted in search and rescue operations and provided close to 2,500 tons of relief supplies to affected communities and evacuated over 21,000 people.
Cuisia said the Philippine-US alliance was further strengthened in April with the signing of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca).
“The Edca is intended to support the development of a minimum credible defense posture for the Philippines through capability building and combined activities and high- impact, high-value joint exercises focusing on maritime domain awareness, maritime security, humanitarian assistance and disaster response,” he said. “Today, we pay tribute to the great American patriot General Douglas MacArthur, who is still remembered by many not just as the liberator of the Philippines but also as a true friend of the Filipino people,” Cuisia said.
The envoy also paid tribute to Filipino veterans who served under MacArthur, including Maj. Jess Baltazar, 94, and Ray Cabacar, 87, who attended the commemoration. He also expressed his appreciation to the US-Philippines Society, the MacArthur Memorial and the General Douglas MacArthur Foundation.
Christopher Kolakowski, director of the MacArthur Memorial, said the liberation of the Philippines actually commenced on October 17, 1944, when elements of the 6th Ranger Battalion landed in Suluan, Dinagat and Homonhon islands. He said the three-day operation that resulted in the capture of the three islands paved the way for the safe passage to the Leyte Gulf of the largest invasion armada ever assembled in the Pacific—a force made up of 574 ships and 174,000 men.
Image credits: Malacañang Photo