[embed]https://youtu.be/OAMW7wmpk6g[/embed] (Above: February 27, 1945: Douglas MacArhur and Sergio Osmeña at the ceremony in Malacañan Palace in which the civilian authority of Commonwealth was restored in the capital) This year marks the 75th anniversary of the surrender of Japan and the end of World War II in the Pacific. The Philippine Diary Project contains three..
Read moreRailways in Mindanao: Then and Now
News is that the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) has approved a Feasibility Study to proceed for the proposed Mindanao Railway Project. The map above gives an indication of the scope of the proposed railway system.It's been a long time coming. An overview of railways in the past can be found in The Colonial Iron..
Read morePhilippine wartime views on the future of Indonesia, China and Japan
This 1942 New World Order map attributed to Maurice Gomberg is interesting in that it gives a snapshot of emerging thought about the United States and its sphere of influence after World War II. The map above also seems to include an expansion of the Philippines. See this detail: Which may have had..
Read moreThe sinking of the S.S. Corregidor, December 16-17, 1941
[caption id="attachment_5656" align="alignnone" width="471"] The S.S. Corregidor of the Compañia Maritima, which sank on December 16, 1941. Photo from Chad Hill.[/caption] On December 16-17, 1941 (around midnight, hence the event straddling two dates), the S.S. Corregidor, an inter-island steamship of the Compañia Maritima, hit a mine off Corregidor Island and sank, resulting in a tremendous..
Read moreDiary entries on the Leyte Landing: October, 1944
[caption id="attachment_5176" align="alignleft" width="300"] Philippine President Sergio Osmeña (center) and General Douglas MacArthur (right) on board a landing craft en route to the Leyte landing beaches, October 20, 1944.At left are Lieutenant General George C. Kenney and Lieutenant General Richard K. Sutherland. At the extreme right, with his head turned toward MacArthur, is Brigadier General..
Read moreBataan, 1942: views of a father and his son
[caption id="attachment_3318" align="aligncenter" width="188"] Victor Buencamino (second from left, second row), with his family in the Pines Hotel, Baguio, 1932. Rightmost on second row is his eldest son, Felipe Buencamino III.[/caption] (Revised, April 8, 2017) The Philippine Diary Project includes the diaries of a father and his son: Victor Buencamino, and Felipe Buencamino III...
Read moreThe debate on taking the Philippines out of the war: January 28 to February 12, 1942
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="369"] Mrs. Aurora A. Quezon, Mrs. Jean Faircloth MacArthur, President Manuel L. Quezon, Arthur MacArthur, Maria Aurora Quezon, Corregidor, 1942.[/caption] (entry updated January 25, 2016) The beginning of World War 2, despite the immediate setback represented by Pearl Harbor, was greeted with optimism and a sense of common cause between Americans and..
Read moreThe Great Escape of the S.S. Mactan: December 31, 1941
Photo above: recently offered for sale on eBay, a Baltimore Sun wirephoto of wounded soldiers aboard the S.S. Mactan. Late at night, on December 31, 1941, an old ship prepared to weigh anchor to escape Manila. Its destination was Sydney, Australia. On board, were 224 wounded USAFFE soldiers (134 of them Americans and 90 of whom..
Read moreThursday, November 30, 1972
On the day of the signing of the Constitution, the headline of the Daily Express was "FM tells the Military: I want Free, Open Discussions on Charter Provision." What lie! What double-talk! Hitler seems to be alive again! But many people were somewhat comforted by these pronouncements of President Marcos. Being allowed to open the..
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