| MacArthur Landing Memorial National Park | |
|---|---|
 MacArthur's Landing, byAnastacio Caedo | |
.svg)  | |
| Location | Palo,Philippines |
| Nearest city | Tacloban,Leyte |
| Coordinates | 11°10′20″N125°00′44″E / 11.1722°N 125.0122°E /11.1722; 125.0122 |
| Area | 6.78 hectares (16.8 acres) |
| Established | July 12, 1977 |
| Governing body | Department of Environment and Natural Resources |
TheMacArthur Leyte Landing Memorial National Park (also known as theLeyte Landing Memorial Park andMacArthur Park) is aprotected area of thePhilippines that commemorates the historic landing of GeneralDouglas MacArthur inLeyte Gulf at the start of thecampaign to recapture and liberate the Philippines fromJapanese occupation on 20 October 1944. This event led to thelargest naval battle of World War II (Also the world's largest naval battle in terms of gross tonnage sunk) and Japan's eventual defeat and surrender after almost three years. The war memorial is located in the municipality ofPalo onLeyte island inEastern Visayas and is one of the region's major tourist attractions. It was declared a national park on 12 July 1977 through Letter of Instructions No. 572 signed by PresidentFerdinand Marcos.[1]
The MacArthur Landing site sits on a 6.78-hectare (16.8-acre) coastal plain in the barangay of Candahug, some 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Leyte's provincial capitalTacloban.[2] It was formerly named Imelda Park after former First LadyImelda Marcos who hails fromLeyte Province.[2] The park's focal point are the seven double-life-sized bronze statues on a shallow manmade pool depicting MacArthur and his entourage during the historicA-Day Landing as captured in the iconic photo byGaetano Faillace. They were President-in-exileSergio Osmeña, Lieutenant GeneralRichard Sutherland, Brigadier GeneralCarlos P. Romulo, Major GeneralCourtney Whitney, Sergeant Francisco Salveron, aide and orderly to Gen. MacArthur, andCBS Radio correspondent William J. Dunn.[3][4][a] Designed by sculptorAnastacio Caedo and inaugurated during the 37th anniversary ofA-Day in 1981, the statues mark the spot where MacArthur fulfilled his promise of "I shall return" at Red Beach, so-called for the codename assigned by the US Sixth Army to the stretch of beach from Marasbaras to Palo that was designated as one of the landing areas.[10][11] In front of the statues, two historical markers inEnglish andFilipino can be found explaining the significance of the scene being depicted. A museum stands adjacent to the site which contains historic photographs and other memorabilia of General MacArthur including a copy of his speech upon landing and a bronze cast of his footprints.[12]
Palo's regional government center is located right across from the memorial. Other notable structures nearby include the Rock Garden of Peace inaugurated during its 50th anniversary in 1994 when the memorial was also declared a national historic landmark by theNational Historical Commission;[13] andThe Oriental Leyte. Another hotel, theMacArthur Park Beach Resort built by Imelda Marcos in 1983 used to be on the site of The Oriental Leyte hotel.[14][15] The park is accessible via thePan-Philippine Highway (AH26) from Tacloban and theDaniel Z. Romualdez Airport.
The official story of October 20, 1944 was of MacArthur waiting and watching aboard theUSSNashville. The general was said to have waded in knee-deep waters as his craft grounded to a halt due to the shallow sea, sporadic fire from the enemy notwithstanding.[8] There had been rumors that the landing photo had been staged as it was reported by theNew York Times that Osmeña had landed on Leyte on October 21, one day after the reported MacArthur landing date. There were also the three photographs taken at varying angles of their landing, furthering the impression that everything had been rehearsed.[16] In fact, there was no "staged photo op" at Leyte in October 1944 that resulted in the most famous photograph. The confusion was the result of MacArthur landing on three completely different beaches for four days in a row, where he talked to all the different frontline commanders at each beach, until he re-installed the Filipino government and firmly established headquarters on Filipino territory on October 23. Due to Japanese mortars and machine guns, the Leyte beach landing area was too risky for MacArthur to stay permanently until the fourth day. There were so many photos taken on those four days that confusion persists to the present day.[17][18]
The park is the site of the annual memorial rites and reenactment of the historic Leyte landing attended by local and foreign dignitaries together with war veterans and their families. On November 8, 2013, the memorial was damaged byTyphoon Haiyan (Yolanda) (The world's strongest recorded Supertyphoon) with one of its seven statues, the Carlos Romulo statue, knocked from its base.[12] It was immediately repaired by the government and the statue of Carlos P. Romulo was restored within twenty days with assistance from theMetropolitan Manila Development Authority.[19]
Media related toMacArthur Landing Memorial Park at Wikimedia Commons