By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

A museum dedicated to World War II is being considered for construction in Silay City. According to Negros Historical Foundation Inc. President Modesto Sa-onoy, the facility will serve as a “repository of artifacts and remembrances of World War II.”

He said the project has been submitted to the Negros Occidental provincial government and the Negros Occidental Provincial Board has already gone through the proposal.

If approved, the approximately 3,000 square meter-museum will be built near Mt. Patag on property owned by the Jison family at a cost of P35 million, which will be funded by the Veterans Bank of the Philippines.

Sa-onoy said he hopes for a groundbreaking by next week, March 29. He noted the significance of the date as being the day the Americans first landed in Pulupandan.

“The most ferocious battles between Japanese forces and American soldiers in Negros were fought in Patag and Lantawan, in the Mt. Marapara mountain range,” he explained. “More than 8,000 Japanese, more than 300 Americans, and 10,000 Negrense guerilla fighters died during the war.”

The historian believes the current generation has “forgotten this historical event” and that the museum will serve as a reminder./DGB, WDJ