‘Barely touched’ guerilla files to be made public

GUERILLA files pertaining to the Philippine World War II history which were found inside the U.S. National Archives and are “barely touched and opened” are going to be shared to Dabawenyos this Tuesday, March 21, at the Palma Gil Gym through a free demonstration.

The Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB) has partnered with the Department of Education (DepEd) for the conduct of the free demonstration of the guerilla files dubbed as “Finding our Heroes.”

Marie Vallejo, head researcher and key speaker during the demonstration, said in an e-mail to SunStar Davao that the guerilla files, which came from the US National Archives in Maryland, USA, are known in the Philippines as the Brigadier General Francisco Licuanan Jr. Collection.

The collection of files is so-named to give honor to Francisco Licuanan III's father, who was a United States Army Forces in the Far East officer. Licuanan III sponsored the digitalization project of the PVB and Filipino War Veterans Foundation Inc.

The discovered guerilla files contained memoirs of freedom fighters, officers, soldiers, and civilians during the World War II.

“My aim is to spread the word of the records to as many institutions and people. It will instill nationalist pride. The guerrillas were instrumental in the successful return of the Americans and prevented more bloodshed,” Vallejo said.

Vallejo added that the one-day event is open to those who are interested to know about the data are welcome to join.

Aside from Davao City, the Philippine Veterans Bank is sponsoring talks outside Manila.

PVB-sponsored talks on the discovered guerilla files were already done in Baguio and Cagayan de Oro. Vallejo said that she had already given talks to over a dozen of schools and libraries in Manila.