---

MALACAÑANG
Manila

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES

Proclamation No. 371

DECLARING FEBRUARY TWENTY-SEVENTH OF EACH YEAR AS USAFFE DAY

WHEREAS, on the twenty-seventh clay of February, nineteen hundred and forty-five, following the triumphal entry of the USAFFE forces in the City of Manila, General Douglas MacArthur turned over the Commonwealth Government to former President Sergio Osmeña;

WHEREAS, the date has come to symbolize the liberation of the Philippines from the clutches of a ruthless enemy who had enslaved the Filipino people and laid waste the country after an occupation of more than three years;

WHEREAS, the Filipino people and the entire free world owe the deceased and living members of the USAFFE an everlasting debt of gratitude for their sacrifices and deeds of heroism in their epic struggle against the forces of aggression and totalitarianism to preserve our democratic institutions, which today are again under attack at home and abroad; and

WHEREAS, it is fitting and proper that the Filipino people pause to contemplate their priceless heritage of liberty, peace and democracy;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Elpidio Quirino, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby proclaim the twenty-seventh day of February of each year as USAFFE DAY, for the due and fitting observance throughout the country, particularly in all military installations, government offices and public schools and institutions of learning.

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 17th day of February, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and fifty-three, and of the Independence of the Philippines, the seventh.

ELPIDIO QUIRINO
President of the Philippines

By the President:

MARCIANO ROQUE
Acting Executive Secretary

The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation

---