After 70 years, Filipino Australians continue to remember and pay respect to the Allied Forces including Australian soldiers who liberated the Philippines from occupation by Japanese Imperial Forces during the so-called memorable Leyte Landing at Palo Alto, Leyte in the Philippines.
Community leaders in Western Sydney belonging to the Visayan Association of Australia (VAA) hosted a memorable celebration at the auditorium of All Saints Catholic parish in Liverpool City , NSW last October 19, complete with stage program and vignette re-enactment of the Leyte Landing. VAA is headed by community leader Mr Jhun Salazar. Among the guests were Alliance of Philippine Community Organisation (APCO) president Mr Ruben Amores and Global Filipinos Australia chair Mrs Lolita Farmer OAM.
The landing by the American Allied Forces on 19 October 1944 in Palo Alto signalled the beginning of the return of Americans and subsequently Philippine sovereignty to Filipinos whose government at that time was a Commonwealth transition to Philippine Independence, cut short by the brief Japanese Occupation.
Some 70 Australian soldiers died in the course of WWII in the Philippines including Australians who joined the guerrilla movement in the Philippines during WWII.
In the Philippines, the Australian Embassy joined in the memorial to the Australian soldiers during a celebration at the actual site of Leyte Landing.
VAA community organisation also used the occasion as victory ball for its beauty candidate Ms Glyssa Perez winning the Miss Philippines Australia title during the beauty pageant of the same title held during the recent Philippine Fiesta Kultura in Sydney last October 6th.