Apparently appalled by
what she called misrepresentation of events in history books, Kwan
delivered emotionally her talk before an audience of veterans, their
sons and daughters. Guiuan, she said is never mentioned in any book
which accounts Leyte Landing nor the one which tells about Magellan’s
in 1521.
From her readings, she
further believes that Gen. Douglas McArthur could have not landed in
Leyte on July 20, 1946, were it not for the Suluan Island Raid in
Guiuan. Her analysis dictates that the guerillas who attacked the
Japanese who disguised themselves as fishermen in the Guiuan waters
contributed in the operation which cleared the path for McArthur’s
landing in Leyte, yet never is it mentioned partly or otherwise.
Also, she has kept on
searching for any paragraph in any Philippine History book which would
somehow mention of her town’s barangay Ngolos, being once the Supply
Depot of the American Naval Base which was then based in the Samar
island. She likewise laments that the Guiuan airport which was of
world standard then, is silent in the books.
“Why can’t they say
something about these significant places and events which transpired
in this part of the country?”, she asked.
She understands of
course the confidentiality of these facilities before as she referred
to military parlance which is perhaps the reason for all of these
silences. But that was more than 60 years ago, Kwan stressed, and
today it is best to place things and events in their proper
perspectives, she concluded. Thus, her appeal to the media and to the
local historians, to rewrite history.
The October 17
celebration, which is a few days before McArthur’s Leyte Landing
(October 20), is a brainchild of former governor, Gen. Ruperto Ambil,
Jr.
