Philippine World War II Memorial Foundation

Panel 2: "If Rizal Were Alive": Rizal as Japanese Wartime Propaganda

JOHN LEE CANDELARIA is an assistant professor of History at the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hiroshima University, Japan. His research explores war history, heritage, and memory in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. He also hosts PODKAS, a podcast featuring conversations on Philippine history, politics, and society.

Panel 2: WARIME ATROCITIES OF THE OIE BUTAI IN NEGROS ORIENTAL

JUSTIN JOSE BULADO is an Associate Professor and currently the Department Chairperson of the Social Science Department of Negros Oriental State University, Main Campus 1 and Program Coordinator of the MA in History program of NORSU Graduate School. He finished his MA in History and PhD in Social Science at Silliman University. A member of the Philippine National Historical Society (PNHS), Philippine Historical Association (PHA), and Ugnayang Pang-Aghamtao (UGAT). His research interests include World War II studies (i.e. resistance and collaboration), local biographical studies, and historiography. He Presented papers nationally and internationally, with his most recent one as a part of the Emerging Scholars Workshop sponsored by the Jenny Craig Institute of War and Democracy of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, February 2023. The following year, June 2024, he took part in the weeklong WW2 Faculty Seminar of the National World War II Museum.

Panel 1: Horyo: The Account of WW2 American P.O.W.s in Tarlac

RHONIE DELA CRUZ is the founder and president of the Bamban Historical Society; an active organization duly accredited with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) since 1999. He is also the director and owner the Bamban WWII Museum, an institution recognized as an important WWII educational site of learning. He is a recognized Historian by the NHCP, being a lecturer and guest speaker on national and international conferences on WWII History and Philippine­American War. His advocacy, passion and interest in WWII is based on his family lineage, being a descendant of WWII veterans. Further, he had also wri ten on the history of the Aetas on the Mag-Antsi and Aberling Tribes of Bamban and Capas, Tarlac. He is actively engaged in the study and documenting the former battlefields of the Bamban-Clark area, especially the Japanese war tunnels, established the Bamban WWII Memorial and preserved WWII sites in the area.

Panel 1: EARLY PHILIPPINE CAMPAIGN

BATAAN PROPAGANDA ON THE US HOMEFRONT

JEROME "JERRY" KLEIMAN is an Insurance Professional who also "moonlights" as an Independent Historian, Writer, and Photographer. He resides in New City, NY, USA. His articles relating to World War II in the Philippines have appeared in the Washington T imes, the Army Engineer Magazine and the West Point Magazine, among others. He has given presentations at a number of symposiums and historical conferences. His photos have been exhibited in museums and galleries internationally. He was also the American correspondent for the Israeli photography magazine Tzeeloom. In 2017 and 2022 Jerome organized and produced the highly successful Bataan Commemoration and Symposium in Orangeburg, NY. He also maintains the award-winning website http://www.rememberbataan.org.

PANEL 1: Early Philippines Campaign

QUININE FROM BUKIDNON HELP ALLIES IN WW2

RENE MICHAEL BANOS is a provincial writer and community journalist based in Cagayan de Oro City. He studied at the Western Mindanao State University and Ateneo de Zamboanga University in Zamboanga City (AB Economics) and got his MBA from Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan. He is a former commissioner of the Cagayan de Oro Historical and Cultural Commission (HisCom) and executive director of the Cagayan de Oro World War II and Veterans Studies Committee.

Mr. James Zobel df MacArthur Memorial delivering his Keynote Address during The International Conference on the 80th Annversary of World War II: WAR AND MEMORY 80 YEARS AFTER at the Lyceum Philippines niversity.

Mr. Zobel finished his Bachelor's Degree in History in 1987 and his Masters' Degree in 1991 at Old Dominion University in Virginia. He has been the chief archivist of the MacArthur Memorial Foundation and Museum since 1993. He wrote the book "MacArthur: The Supreme Commander at War in the Pacific," and published by Stackpole Books in 2015. He also wrote "Crossing the Line: General MacArthur and Korea," which appeared in the Spring 2015 edition of Wartime Magazine; and was a contributor to the book KOKODA with his chapter "Victory at All Cost: MacArthur's Papua Campaign in WW2," published in 2017.

Conference Overview by Dr. Ricardo Jose, Convenor.

Lycem of the Phlippines Univesity President Atty Roberto Laurel delivers his Welcome Address during the start of the THE INTERNATONAL CONFERENCE
ON THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF WORLD WAR II: WAR & MEMORY: 80 YEARS AFTER at the LPU Auditorium on Feb 18, 2025