Thursday, December 15, 2011

Photo Mural of WWII events unveiled at Philippine Veterans Bank

A photo mural will be unveiled here on Friday detailing the historical events of the city during World War II.

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City officials, led by Mayor Mauricio Domogan and Congressman Bernardo Vergara and Benguet Governor Nestor Fongwan, are set to unveil the historical mural at the Philippine Veterans Bank – Baguio branch, in time for the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Japanese forces invasion of the Philippines on December 8, 1941, which saw the bombing of several key locations around the archipelago including Baguio City.

Veterans Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Ricardo Balbido, Jr. said that this is the first of several WWII photo-murals the bank plans to set-up in other branches nationwide.

“Our objective is to provide an educational medium where if one wants to know what happened during World War II in a particular place, you can visit the Veterans Bank branch,” said Balbido.

He said they are targeting the students first but everyone who wishes to appreciate the local WWII history of that place is welcome.

Baldbido explained, “Our intention is to bring these historical events to life, to share to the residents and visitors of Baguio City what our forefathers, our World War II veterans, went through. Many of us can relate to these vintage images as these are very familiar attractions in Baguio, and we can see through this mural that these sites are steeped in history. We also wish to honor our Filipino WWII heroes and portray their heroism to the public especially our youth.”

Baguio City and Benguet Province are sites of significant WWII events such as the formal surrender of Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita after his capture in Kiangan, Ifugao on September 2, 1945, marking the close of World War II in the Philippines.

Baguio City was also heavily bombed both at the onset of the war in December 1941 by invading Japanese forces and by the US forces during the Liberation campaign in 1945.

The photo-mural captures these key events and never before seen wartime images of familiar sites such as Camp John Hay, Session Road and the Baguio Cathedral. - (PIA / by Redjie Cawis)




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