This paper was presented at the Leyte Normal University Regional Workshop-Conference on Social Research last October 17, 2007 by the author, Emil B. Justimbaste. This is just a prelude to a book he is presently writing on the same subject.

Introduction
The Tragedy of Dulag
Northern Leyte Guerillas
Southern Leyte Guerillas
Miranda
Enter Kandleon
MacArthur Connection
Miranda vs. Kangleon
References
HOME

"The opportunity to become a hero is an accident, but the choice to become one, that is not an accident. To make that choice, well, that is the summation of what you are. It takes a lifetime to produce that instant when, from instinct or from a conscious or conscientious sense that 'there is really no choice', or when, from a lifetime of doing the right thing or from a certainty born of repeated action that the rocky path brings you to where you are going and the one lined with fronds and palm trees leads only to perdition, you choose the path to Valhalla." (Conrado de Quiros, Philippine Daily Inquirer column, Sept. 27, 2007)

    Introduction

People usually perceive heroes as persons who have exhibited great courage in the face of danger or imminent death, persons who have overcome their own fears to save others from danger. Integrity of character and selflessness, besides gallantry and valor, are often seen as the sterling qualities that make for a complete hero.

In the post-war years, a traumatized people, like many of our parents and elders, have tended to regard all those who took up arms against their torturers and oppressors as heroes, especially since the reportage of the war and the resistance movement was sketchy and often inaccurate or prone to exaggeration. In a situation like this, it was easy to regard all those involved in the guerilla movement as heroes even if their participation and roles in such a movement were dubious and questionable. Unlike the saints of the Catholic Church who are subjected to a rigorous process of investigation prior to their canonization, many of our heroes have been declared as such only on the basis of sketchy and incomplete information

It is only when we learn of their failings and shortcomings from tedious but exciting research that the truth unravels itself and our so-called heroes are exposed for what they were. Only then do we realize that the acclaimed heroic deeds were nothing but empty tales invented by over-zealous story tellers or chroniclers who had unscrupulously recycled war propaganda. Worse, these had been passed on and written in official history books that became the basis of official pronouncements.

But there is no doubt that there were men and women in Leyte who had sacrificed their lives and given up what could have been an easy way out in order to defend our land from the invaders. Somehow we owe our present liberties and way of life to these men and women of courage. Still we have to peel off the layers of untruth that have beclouded more than 60 years of official history so that we can at least identify those whom we should emulate and build monuments of.

We are starting our essay with the tragic story of Dulag because the events that transpired there and the ensuing tragedy can be attributed to the failure of these co-called heroes.