Last June 19, 2022, Mayor Suyo Municipality of Ilocos Sur, Hon. Mario Subagan turned over the coffee table book of Bessang Pass to Experience Travel and Living Team together with the Founding Board Member of the Asian Eco-Tourism Network, Global leader-member and Green Destinations partner and representative for the Philippines and Southeast Asia, Ms. Susan Cardenas.
(Bessang Pass Coffee Table book turnover granted by Hon. Mayor Mario Sugaban to Experience Travel and Living team and Ms. Susan Cardenas)
The Battle of Bessang Pass was a major battle during the Philippines Campaign of World War II. It was fought from January 9 through June 15, 1945, in Cervantes, a municipality in the province of Ilocos Sur, located 382 kilometers (237 mi) north of Manila.
The area serves as a gateway to the Cordillera mountains and the city of Baguio. Bessang Pass was a stronghold of the Japanese imperial forces under Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita, known as the “Tiger of Malaya” and conqueror of Singapore. It was part of the triangular defense of General Yamashita in the north, namely the Balete Pass, Villaverde Trail, and Bessang Pass, guarding the Ifugao-Benguet-Vizcaya borders. Its fall at the hands of the United States Army Forces in the Philippines - Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL) on June 14, 1945, paved the way for the entrapment of Yamashita’s forces in the Cordillera until the general’s surrender in September 1945.