Quirino to receive marker in Tokyo

Elpidio Quirino leaving the Tokyo Station, May 25, 1955 (Contributed photo) via RH New

The late former President Elpidio Quirino will receive a memorial marker at Tokyo’s Hibiya Park in honor of his contribution to bilateral ties. It will be unveiled on June 18, Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manuel Lopez said.

The Quirino Memorial Marker, the first of its kind in Japan for a Filipino leader, is a joint project of the Philippine Society of Japan, the Japan-Philippines Economic Cooperation Committee, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan, the Japan-Philippines Parliamentarians’ Friendship League, and the Embassy of the Philippines in Japan in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

The epitaph on the marker reads:

“His Excellency ELPIDIO R. QUIRINO (1890-1956), President of the Republic of the Philippines (1948-1953), granted pardon in June 1953 to all of the 105 Japanese War Criminals who were detained in Muntinlupa prison, despite the loss of his own wife and children during World War II. The National Appreciation Event was held at this site in gratitude for his decision, in July 1953.

“On the 60^th anniversary of the normalization of Japan-Philippines diplomatic relations, and in this same year of the State Visit of Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress to the Philippines, this monument is erected at this site as a testament to the Japanese people’s appreciation and respect for President Quirino, and as a renewal of their commitment to the friendship between Japan and the Philippines, and to World Peace.”

High government officials and top executives of Japanese corporations, members and friends of the Quirino family will attend the dedication ceremony, together with the Filipino community in Japan who will be in Tokyo for the annual celebration of the Philippine Festival.

A series of lectures covering various aspects of the Quirino presidency and Philippines-Japan relations will be held at the Sophia University in Tokyo on June 17.

Following in the wake of the commemoration of Quirino’s 125^th birth anniversary on November 16, 2015, and the re-interment of his remains at the Libingan ng mga Bayani last February 29, the memorial marker at Hibiya Park is an affirmation of the important role played by the former president in the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and the Philippines and the deep bonds of friendship that link the two nations.