WHEREAS , Monday, 2 September 2013, marks the 68th anniversary of the surrender of General Tomoyuki Yamashita of the Japanese Imperial Army to combined Filipino and American troops in Kiangan, Ifugao Province on 2 September 1945 which led to the end of the Second World War in the Pacific;

WHEREAS , the Province of Ifugao has been commemorating said event as Victory Day since 2 September 1991, to honor the courage and sacrifices of Filipino and American World War II soldiers and veterans, including Ifugao ™s own guerrillas and women who served in the Women ™s Auxiliary Service; and

WHEREAS , the celebration of Victory Day in the Province of Ifugao also promotes interest and pride in our history as a people, forges closer bonds of unity and renews our resolve to secure true and lasting peace;

WHEREAS , in order to give the people of the Province of Ifugao the opportunity to celebrate and participate in the occasion, it is but fitting and proper to declare 2 September 2013, as a special non-working day.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, PAQUITO N. OCHOA JR. , Executive Secretary, by authority of His Excellency, BENIGNO S. AQUINO III, do hereby declare Monday, 2 September 2013, as a special (non-working) day in the Province of Ifugao.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF , I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

Done in the City of Manila, this 22nd day of August, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Thirteen.

By the authority of the President:

(Sgd.) PAQUITO N. OCHOA JR.
Executive Secretary