Launch of My Co-Authored Book on Freedom Fighters

April 6, 2010, AFP Theater, Camp Aguinaldo: launching of "The Freedom Fighters of Northern Luzon: An Untold Story," the product of my first 9 months as part-time historical writer-researcher for the PVAO.

The Freedom Fighters of Northern Luzon: An Untold Story
By Cesar P. Pobre with Phillip Kimpo Jr.
Published by the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, Department of National Defense
Copyright 2010, 171 pages, hardbound (glossy cover)

Tungkol sa mga Filipinong gerilya noong WWII ang libro. Historical nonfiction bale. Mula sa Facebook page nito:

"We shall liberate ourselves."

Left alone by their American overlords to fend for themselves in the wake of the imperial Japanese army of invasion, this was the rebounding reaction of Filipino soldiers and civilians. They stood to be counted, choosing to perish fighting for their country than lay down their arms.

For them, there was no retreat and no return—only redoubts behind the enemy lines, redoubts high in the mountains, redoubts deep in the jungles, and redoubts within men’s hearts.

Here is a literary and factual account of how the Filipino warriors of the Ilocos, the Cordilleras, and the Cagayan valley—outnumbered, outgunned, and cut off from the rest of the world—liberated themselves from the clutches of the Japanese in the Second World War, challenging the present misconception that the Americans freed our lands. In their final victory there was likewise the triumph of humility, as shown in the orderly train of the defeated Japanese soldiers so unlike the scenes of the pitiless Death March.

Hitherto untold, this is the rousing and epic story of the Freedom Fighters of Northern Luzon.

Di pa ipinagbibili ang unang run ng aklat (1,000 copies) dahil ipapamigay muna sa mga educational institution, library, DND personnel, historian, at iba pang personalidad. Pero may sanlibo ulit na isasalang sa imprenta na siya namang magiging commercially available.

Kami ng boss ko, ang tinitingalang historyador na si Dr. Cesar Pobre (ret. colonel) ang sumulat ng aklat, samantalang ang kapwa ko makata ng LIRA at ka-Dapitdilim na si Jeremiah Faustino ang artist. For more info and the authors & artist profiles, sign naman kayo sa fan page ng libro sa Facebook. Hehe. Salamat.

Anyway, kasama ko si Ynna sa araw ng book launch. Pumunta muna kami sa AFP Library sa OJ5 (sa PVAO ako naka-detail pero sa opisina ni sir Cesar sa Office of Strategic and Special Studies pumapasok) bago dumeretso sa AFP Theater.

Kasabay ng book launch ang ribbon-cutting ceremony ng Bessang Pass diorama sa AFP Museum. The Battle of Bessang Pass is, simply put, the greatest battle fought in the history of Northern Luzon. At sa labanang ito, panalo ang mga Pinoy. That this glory is unknown to most Filipinos is a shame, and that's why our book dedicates one whole chapter to it.

It was quite fulfilling to meet in person the very veterans whose heroism we wrote about in the book. Nakabibilib. Pagkatapos ng launching ay nagkaroon din ng unexpected book signing. Unexpected dahil di ko naman inasahang may magpapapirma sa akin. Siyempre dapat sa *the* Dr. Cesar Pobre, ang bossing ko.

Halos gabi na nang nakaalis kami sa Camp Aguinaldo. Next stop: Mother Ignacia Place near ABS-CBN, kung saan naganap ang painom namin ni Jere sa mga ka-LIRA. Isa lang ang masasabi ko: paksyet ang sarap ng crepe.

P.S. For the record, di ko tinitingnan bilang unang aklat ko ang "Freedom Fighters." Co-author lang ako dito e. Ang magiging unang aklat ko pa rin ay ang "Corsair of Cor-Street"...which is, sadly, still coming soon. (Work and LIRA org stuff give me no breaks!)