I have Returned (Bumalik si Harvey sa Pilipinas.)

On 20 October 1944, US General Douglas MacArthur kept his promise, which he had made in 1941 to the people of the Philippines. He returned to the islands with an enormous invasion force and the largest assemblage of naval vessels in the history of mankind. For MacArthur, the liberation of the Philippines from the Japanese was the culmination of the war.When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, MacArthur was in charge of US and Filipino forces in the Philippines. On December 8th of that year, the Japanese invaded the islands. MacArthur’s allied army found itself on the defensive almost immediately and began a hasty retreat that ended on the Bataan Peninsula and the rocky fortress called Corregidor. The General was prepared to fight to the last man and when the order came from President Roosevelt for MacArthur and his family to make their escape to Australia, he almost demoted himself in order to stay. But MacArthur understood that his worth as a frontline commander would be greater than his worth as a prisoner of the Japanese. In March, 1942, the General and his family escaped the islands by making a harrowing journey aboard a PT boat to the southern islands of the Philippines, where they met a B-17 that flew them to Australia. Once there, MacArthur released a statement to the press in which he made his famous promise, “I shall return.”

Earlier, on 29 August 2008, I also did the same promise that I shall return to The Philippines. Eventually, I did, only 5 months instead of 2.5 years. However, unlike the Great General, I am not coming to fight a battle, not landing on Leyte nor I came to liberate the people of The Philippines.

I came all the way for the sandy beaches, deep blue sea, sun shine, mango, ice-cream and Lapu Lapu and I landed on Cebu. I have a wonderful break after the last few harsh months I have and enjoy my life in Plantation Bay and Cebu City. Merci my Lord!