The local government of Palo in Leyte is preparing for the 72nd commemoration of the Leyte Gulf Landing at the MacArthur Landing Memorial National Park on October 20, Palo Mayor Remedios Petilla said.
Petilla said the four-day event will start with an agr-aqua fair at the Leyte Academic Center on October 17, which will sell the produce of different farmer organizations.
Local and national peformers will hold a nightly concert at the park, the last of which will be at the MacArthur park on October 20, she said.
The sunrise activity will be at the park and the sunset ceremony led by the veterans’ organizations and their sons and daughters groups.
The Office of the President will send a representative since President Rodrigo Duterte will be out of the country by then.
Only the Embassy of Japan has confirmed that their ambassador will attend the event.
On Oct. 20, 1944, American forces landed on Red Beach led by US Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who two years before vowed, “I shall return,” former Philippine President Sergio Osmeña and Brig. Gen. Carlos P. Romulo.
The landing at Candhug Village, 11 kilometers from Tacloban City, marked the return of the Commonwealth government to the country after years of exile in the US.
The Allied Forces won the two-month Battle of Leyte that ended on December 31, 1944. A battle was also fought on Ormoc Bay and Camotes sea in November of that year.
