Notes on Baguio war history

BENCHWARMER

Ramon Dacawi

(Third part of a series)

World War 2 Liberation Day celebrations in the towns of Benguet

a.     Kapangan…………………… March 7,  1945, moved to March 18

b.     Sablan……………………….. April 10, 1945

c.     Tuba…………………………. April 26, 1945

d.     Baguio City …………………. April 27, 2045

e.     Itogon………………………… April 30,1945

f.       La Trinidad………………….. May 3, 1945

g.     Tublay………………………… May 12, 1945

h.     Bokod…………………………. July 14, 1945

i.       Kabayan ……………………….July 19, 1945

j.       Atok……………………………. July 25, 1945

k.    Mankayan……………………… July 20, 1945

l.       Buguias………………………… July 27, 1945

m.  Kibungan……………………… no date

n.     Bakun…………………………. no date

5.The gallantry of Igorot defenders in Bataan, particularly in clearing the jungle to allow tanks sent by Gen. Fidel Segundo to penetrate and wipe out Japanese positions was described in an article in the Feb. 23, 1942 issue of the New York Times;

“Hampered by the dense undergrowth and lost in the confusing maze of bamboo thickets, vines and creepers, the tankers would have been impotent had it not been for the aid of the Igorot troops of Maj. Duisterhof’s 2nd Battalion, 11th Infantry. Hoisted to the top of the tanks where they were exposed to the fire of the enemy, these courageous tribesmen from north Luzon chopped away the entangling foliage with their bolos and served as eyes for the American tankers. From their position atop the tanks they fired at the enemy, with pistols while guiding the drivers with sticks.”

6.Among the Igorot heroes who figured in Bataan and at the Death March was Sergeant Florencio Esteban. He was with the11th Division of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East and the famous 66th Infantry, composed mostly of guerrillas within the Baguio-Cordillera area who, together with the American forces, liberated Baguio on April 27, 1945.

Sgt. Esteban recalled how, during the campaign in the jungls of Bataan before the surrender, he and fellow Igorot fighter Daniel Akia survived by fishing:

“In my case with Comrade (Daniel) Akia, we started to fish at night. Our catch was good for a week. At one point, some monkeys came to play on the trees covering our headquarters. Comrade Akia said: ‘Let us wait until those monkeys are a little far from our headquarters and then…shoot some of them for food.”

The two Igorot soldiers later shot one each. “We roasted them and they lasted for at least one week.”

7. A BAGUIO BOY’S RECOLLECTION – In one of the programs marking the Liberation of Baguio,  war hero Francisco Paraan recalled  how he and fellow lieutenant Tomas Smith saw Baguio in ruins during their ascent to Baguio via the Naguilian Rd. with the 66th Infantry and the 37th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army in April, 1945.

The two officers were standing where the Naguilian Road police checkpoint now stands. He went down on his knees and kissed the ground.

“We were home,” he said in his  Liberation Day speech.

Paraan went on to become chief of Baguio’s Finest, as the blue-uniformed members of the Baguio police force were then called, as the residents’  tribute to the quality of its peace-keeping service. Subsequently, he served as head of security of Benguet Corp. where he retired as vice-president.

In 1986, he was appointed by then President Coraon Aquino as OIC-mayor of Baguio.

8.A WALK WITH A HERO – Eugene Pucay, one of the most illustrious Ibaloy sons of Baguio, fought with the 66th Infantry as a lieutenant. In one of his travels to do community work years after the war, he found himself on a promontory over-looking Loo Valley in Buguias, Benguet.

“We lost many men here (in the Battle of Loo),” he recalled.

The late Baguio journalist Wilfredo Cacdac, who accompanied the war hero in his return visit, looked at Lt. Pucay and saw tears streaming down his cheeks.

Despite his diminutive size, Pucay was one of the city’s best baseball players during the pre-war days. He also served as city councilor and was a builder and pillar of the Baguio YMCA, the Masons, the Anglican Church and the local Boy Scouting Council.