Although,
it’s very seldom I hear of tourists coming to this city looking for a museum as
most people come to Palawan for island hopping, beach fun, the Underground
River and exploring nature. However, for
those who have enough time to spend and are interested in checking out some museums,
particularly history and relics belonging to WWII, this might be a good
option.
When
people talk of WWII history in the Philippines, it’s always Cavite, Bataan,
Manila and those death march places. Little has been cited about this province’s
involvement during that time but Palawan has not been spared of the atrocities
of that war.
The Palawan
Special Battalion WW2 Memorial Museum houses the private collection of Higinio
C. Mendoza Jr. or Buddy Mendoza.
And who
is Buddy, you may ask?
He
is from a long line of prominent Palawenoes bearing the same last name. If you’re wandering around the city centre,
you might pass or may have passed along the H.Mendoza Street and the Mendoza
Park.
Buddy
Mendoza is a businessman and an active officer in the Philippine Coast Guard
Auxiliary (PCGA). The memorial museum
was constructed in honor of his father, the late Dr. Higinio C. Mendoza Sr. – along
with the 190 war guerilla fighters - who resisted the invading Japanese army
during WWII. His father is a local hero
who was arrested by the Japanese soldiers and was beheaded in 1944.
The
museum artifacts are mostly owned by Buddy, although there are few pieces that
were donated by people who got interested in the project.
While
at the museum, you can take some good pictures on board the replica of the MacArthur
jeep mounted with a three-caliber Browning machine gun and the 1957 black vintage
Super Buick car parked just at the entrance.
The Palawan
Special Battalion WW2 Memorial Museum was opened to the public on Dec. 7, 2011
at Buddy’s home along Jose Rizal Ave. in Barangay Bancao-Bancao, couple of
kilometers away after the city’s airport.
Entry was free then until a need to cover its maintenance and personnel
expenses have arised. The staff are very
friendly and enthusiastic in providing information and touring guests around
the museum.
There is a
small library with collections of books and a souvenir shop.
Don’t forget
to check the names of the guerilla fighters on one of the walls, you never know
who you might happen to spot on the list. My cousin’s visiting husband found his
grandfather on the list, isn’t that a remarkable coincidence?
How to
get there:
Take a
tricycle for P8 – 10 per passenger and tell the driver to drop you off at the WW2
Memorial Museum, it’s way past the airport.
Leaving the museum, there are tricycles also passing by just in front of
the museum.
Entry
Fee: P30. Discount applies to students, children and senior citizens.
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