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WANT to thank Solita Monsod for her enlightening essay "A parody of friendship" (Inquirer, 6/28/08), which highlighted the "execrable American behavior toward the Filipino people." In the same essay, she cited some findings culled by the National Federation of Filipino Associations, and the American Coalition of Filipino Veterans.

One such finding was quite jolting: in early 1946, the United States singled out Filipino veterans (alone among the veterans of 66 countries!), officially stripping them of their status as US veterans.

However, allow me to point out a little error in Monsod's statement that guerrilla groups in the Philippines were organized after the surrender of the USAFFE. This may have been true for most of the guerrilla groups, but the Vinzons Guerrillas (organized by the young journalist and visionary politician Wenceslao "Bintao" Vinzons before the Japanese invasion) ambushed a convoy of the Japanese Imperial forces at Lanitan Bridge, outside Basud, Camarines Norte on Dec. 18, 1941, almost four months before the USAFFE surrendered in Bataan, and later, Corregidor.

The Vinzons guerrillas continued fighting even after the surrender of the USAFFE, capturing Daet and several other towns from the enemy, and holding the same for weeks, before massive enemy reinforcements forced them to retreat.

Even after Bintao was captured, and he and several members of his family were massacred by the Japanese, the guerrilla group kept on fighting. The Vinzons Traveling Guerrillas, into which the original group had metamorphosed after Vinzons' death, became famous for its exploits in the Bicol region. Among these was a daring attack on the Japanese garrison in Daet, in which the guerrillas freed 30 Americans and Filipinos who were scheduled for execution.

They were also among the tens of thousands of Filipino guerrillas who, together with American soldiers, liberated the Philippines from Japanese occupation.--EFREN YAMBOT, via e-mail

• A Superlative Rescue
• A Superlative Rescue
• Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
• A parody of friendship
• Historic China flight lands in Taiwan
• Inside view of the struggle for independence
• Design your outdoor living
• Old WWII jeeps become nostalgic collectors' items
• US should return Angeles’ church bell

• Real numbers in Con-ass
• Charter amendment leads to ‘conquest by money’