In the Philippines, December 8 is the Feast of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception where festival honoring the Virgin Mary are taking place in several towns. This is celebrated with evening processions, supplemented by cultural presentations, beauty pageants, and fireworks. December 8 is also marked as the Second Pearl Harbor. Due to International Date … More Dec. 8 – A significant date for Filipinos
Kurita emerged unopposed from San Bernardino Strait and was racing southward heading for Leyte Gulf. At daybreak on Oct. 25, American carriers were sighted on the horizon. Kurita thought he had caught Halsey’s fast carriers with most of their planes down. In fact, Halsey was 300 miles to the north and his planes were taking … More The Battle of Leyte Gulf – Part 5
At the same time that Halsey was chasing Ozawa’s decoy carriers, the second arm of the Japanese pincers, Vice Admiral Nishimura’s Southern Force, was approaching Surigao Strait, the southern entrance to Leyte Gulf. Although he knew that Kurita had been delayed and would not be able to keep the dawn rendezvous in Leyte Gulf, Nishimura … More The Battle of Leyte Gulf – Part 4
The messages from the Dace and the Darter, warning of the advance of Kurita’s fleet, began arriving in Flag Plot aboard USS New Jersey at 6:20 am on Oct. 23. Halsey and his staff pondered the significance of the sightings by the two submarines. Halsey was not the only fleet commander tracking the Japanese movements. … More The Battle of Leyte Gulf – Part 2
The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the last great naval confrontation in history and the largest naval battle of World War II in term of ships and men. It was fought from Oct. 23 to 26, 1944, between combined American and Australian forces and Imperial Japanese Navy in the waters off the Philippines. The battle … More Battle of Leyte Gulf – Part 1
Filipinos love to party. They will find any excuse to have a party. They celebrate births, marriages, saints’ days and everything else. The Spanish adapted traditional rituals by celebrating a saint’s birthday on dates formerly associated with animistic rituals. You will see festivals in every ethnic group, as people get together for essentially spiritual events. … More October Festivals in the Philippines
Bohol Island has much to offer in terms of history. Bohol’s contact with other civilizations antedates the Spanish “discovery” of the Philippines. Among the early settlers were people who used gold jewelry, death masks and who “beautified” their women by flattening and shaping their skulls. The Chinese traders frequented Bohol before the 5th … More Bohol and its History
