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CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY: It envisions to be the world’s biggest cap in
existence and perhaps even landing in the Guinness Book of World
Records, reported the Philippine News Agency following the
ground-breaking ceremonies Friday led by Mayor Constantino G.
Jaraula, members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod and other department
heads of the city government.
The MacArthur
Marker Committee (MMC) expects the city marker at the old Macabalan
Wharf to make waves (pun intended) when it will finally be completed
in March this year.
Engr. Elpie Paras,
MMC chairman, disclosed during the capsule-laying of the MacArthur
Marker that its roofing, a replica of General MacArthur’s cap,
will span 8 meters in diameter, 5 meters in height, and is made of
fiberglass and steel.
The cap sits atop
five stars, which serve as the marker’s foundation to represent
General MacArthur’s rank as a five-star general.
Each of the five
stars will be imprinted with the history of what happened during
General MacArthur’s landing at the Macabalan Wharf on March 13,
1942 at 7 a.m. as well as the names of the benefactors who provided
funds for the construction of the marker.
According to
history, MacArthur landed at the Macabalan Wharf at dawn, March 13,
1942, aboard a PT boat with submarines and proceeded to Del Monte
Clubhouse before his departure to Australia where he said the famous
line, “I shall return.”
Engineer Paras
said the project contractor is doing its best to make the cap
replica as closely similar as possible to the original cap of
General MacArthur, bearing the emblem of the US Armed Forces and an
eagle, with laurels on its visor and the sides of the cap.
The MacArthur
Marker Committee is optimistic that once completed, the marker will
serve as a good selling point of the city to the rest of the world
that will strongly place Cagayan de Oro in the map of world history
besides earning the distinction of being the place of the biggest
cap in the world.
He added that the
site of the MacArthur Marker will also have such features as a
replica of a Patrol Torpedo (PT) Boat, a gift shop and a park.
Mayor Jaraula is looking forward to a grand
celebration of the MacArthur landing anniversary in an attempt to
relive history. Passionate about the project, the mayor even went to
Norfolk, Virginia in December and visited the MacArthur Museum and
Library where he met with city officials who expressed enthusiasm
about visiting Cagayan de Oro and forging a sister city partnership.
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