Ruperto Kangleon
Ruperto Cadava Kangleón (March 27, 1890 – February 27, 1958) was a Filipino military officer and politician. He was a native of the municipality of Macrohon in the province now named Southern Leyte. Kangleón was the acknowledged leader of the Resistance Movement in Leyte during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II. As such, his guerrilla forces helped pave the way for the American Leyte Landings on their return to the Philippines in 1944. Before the war, Colonel Kangleon was replaced and re-joining the group of soldiers under the pre-war 92nd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army in the General Headquarters in Leyte during the Liberation. And after the war, Ruperto Kangleon served as the Philippine Secretary of National Defense under Presidents Manuel Roxas and Elpidio Quirino. World War II Military service Kangleon was a former Lieutenant Colonel and was the commanding officer of the 81st Infantry Regiment of the 81st Division, USAFFE on 1942 with its headquarters in Cebu. The order came to proceed to Davao where he and his men valiantly fought the troops of the Japanese Imperial army during the Japanese Invasion and Occupation. He relinquished his command of 81st Infantry Regiment to LCol. W. Van Nostrand as he was appointed to be the executive officer of Agusan sector under Col. Benhur Chastaine. He was captured by the Japanese Imperial Army forces and was put to prison in the Japanese Internment Camps in Agusan. He managed to escape from prison in December 1942, and returned to Leyte, where he formed as a guerrilla movement. With the help of Iliff David Richardson, Kangleon was able to establish contact with Col. Wendell Fertig on Mindanao. Soon after the Battle of Baybay, against Miranda's guerrillas on 15 Aug. 1943, Kangleon was able to consolidate and unite all forces on Leyte. Kangleon then moved his headquarters from Maasin to Don Lorenzo's Casa in Malitbog. In Nov. 1943, under orders from Col. Fertig, Kangleon, Richardson, and other guerrilla leaders were in Mindanao to coordinate activities, and meet the submarine USS Narwhal delivering American aid. However, by then the Japanese had made the Casa, in Malitbog, their headquarters for southern Leyte. On 1 Feb. 1944, Kangleon's forces went on the offensive, which included attacks on Japanese garrisons at Anahawan and Linoan, forcing the Japanese to not venture away from the coastal towns of southern Leyte. Kangleon's Guerrillas Kangleon's contribution to the war was the reason for his appointment to the defense portfolio. He led a number of guerrilla organizations, among the fiercest, with the greatest reach and had undertaken numerous operations against the Japanese Imperial Army in Visayas and sometimes in other islands was the dreaded Black Army. The Black Army was the main force of Kangleon that led in the liberation of Leyte Island during the last phase of the war. The island served as the United States Army entry point into the Philippine Archipelago when the U.S. invaded and defeated the Japanese. One of the highlights of the