Tomas wants comics version of book on Cebu guerrillas

CEBU, Philippines — The new edition of “Tabunan” had its soft launching yesterday at the Plaza Independencia in Cebu City as part of the 76th commemoration of the Araw ng Kagitingan.

The book is a new version of Manuel F. Segura’s “Tabunan: The Untold Story of the Famed Cebu Guerrillas of World War II.”

Cebuano guerrillas are the members of the small independent group that fought the Japanese troops during the World War II.

Dr. Erlinda Alburo, a Cebuano author, said Tabunan is a mountain barangay located in central Cebu where the Cebuano guerrillas used as their main headquarters.

Alburo introduced the book to the public at the Plaza Independencia as a part of the commemoration program and discussed that the new edition contains experiences of the Cebu fighters, the lady spies, and some mysterious encounters during the war.

Yesterday, she handed three books to the city government as part of the soft launching.

In his speech, Mayor Tomas Osmeña extended his support to the books’ launching and said that there has to be a way to transfer the beautiful and proud heritage of Cebu to the children.

He said that he plans to commission the authors of the book to convert it into comics which will be distributed among all school children in the city of Cebu.

“When you read our history books, it’s all about Manila. As if Manila is the only place in the Philippines. Let us realize that Cebu has made its sacrifices,” he said.

Alburo, for her part, said she will support the conversion of the book into comics to entice the children to read the city’s contribution to Philippine history.

She said she is willing to approach some illustrators in Cebu for the books’ conversion into comics.

Alburo said there will be an official launching of the book on April 20 at the Casa Gorordo Museum, where books are being sold.

She said the book, published by Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Incorporated, will be sold at P400 to P500 each. (FREEMAN)