Philippines sets Sept. 2 as Ifugao holiday marking Japan's WWII surrender

MANILA, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines has set Sept. 2 of every year as a non-working holiday in Ifugao province to mark the surrender of the Japanese Imperial Army at the end of World War II.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed the bill into law on Oct. 30. The law will take effect 15 days after publication in the Official Gazette on Thursday.

On Sept. 2, 1945, Tomoyuki Yamashita, commander of Japanese Imperial Army forces that occupied the Philippines, surrendered in Kiangan town of Ifugao province.

Japan's invasion of the Philippines started from December 1941, and occupied the Philippines in 1942, until it surrendered in 1945.

After the war, Yamashita was found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to death in 1946.