FORMER President Fidel V. Ramos and Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. will lead national and local officials during the launching of a roving World War II exhibit in time for the 61st Lingayen Gulf Landing commemoration in Dagupan City on January 14 this year.

Dubbed as “The War of Our Fathers…A Tribute to the Filipino Freedom Fighters,” the exhibit under the auspices of the Philippine Veterans Bank will be shown in 10 major cities of the country to coincide with the anniversaries of significant events of World War II.

The week-long exhibit will be formally opened on January 13 this year at 4 p.m. at the Edades Hall (City Museum) to be capped by a cocktail reception hosted by the PVB in partnership with the city government of Dagupan under Mayor Benjamin S. Lim and the Veterans Federation of the Philippines (VFP).

Also expected to grace the event are Pangasinan municipal and city mayors led by Gov. Victor E. Agbayani and Vice Gov. Oscar B. Lambino.

Envisioned to tell the compelling and dramatic story of the country’s WW II heroes to the public, especially the youth that they may have a better grasp of the nation’s history, the exhibit will have 34 panels, artifacts, documents, and videos and will also feature local heroes and WW II events.

PVB Chairman Emmanuel V. de Ocampo, himself a decorated WW II veteran, said the exhibit is the bank’s way of honoring WW II veterans and helping educate the Filipino people on their struggles, sacrifices and victories in one of the darkest chapters of the nation’s history.

Also lending major support to the project are the National Historical Institute and the Department of Education and Culture which will hold a poster-making contest for high school students in Dagupan.

The PVB and the city government have also invited UP History Professor Ricardo T. Jose, a known WW II authority, to lead a seminar for Dagupan history teachers and students at the University of Luzon.

Apart from the project, each year the PVB provides 20 percent of its profits for programs that benefit the WW II veterans, their widows and families.

Through the Board of Trustees for the Veterans of WW II (BTVWWII), the bank supports the VFP Out-Patient Center in Taguig, a modern medical facility that provides free medicine, medical services such as X-rays, laboratory services, physical therapy, eyeglasses and dental care to veterans.

The other is the VFP Museum, Library and Archives, a repository of war memorabilia, books and documents that houses a state-of-the-art showcase of the veterans’ heroism.
PVB is a commercial bank owned by some 300,000 Filipino World War II veterans, their widows and heirs.