Leytenyo you should know: Colonel Ruperto Kangleon

Very few people outside of Leyte may have heard the name of Colonel Ruperto Kangleon. He was the famous guerilla leader during the Japanese occupation of the country during World War II. Although he had done a lot to help the American forces by organizing underground resistance and also providing valuable intelligence information, his career was not without the usual detractors who questioned his motives.

He was once captured by the Japanese forces and imprisoned. However, many believed he was freed by his captors to become a double agent who also provided intelligence to the Japanese forces. In short, his military career is shrouded in controversy even to this day as historians have a hard time placing his whereabouts on certain important days and events during the war. Col. Kangleon is Leyte’s most famous son and he was posthumously given the rank of brigadier general 36 years after he died.

He had previously served as the Secretary of National Defense and also ran and won as a senator of the republic.

Headquarters, U.S. Forces-Pacific, General Orders No. 258 (1946)
Born: March 27, 1890 at Macrohon, Leyte, Philippine Islands
Home Town: Leyte, Philippine Islands.