Ruperto Kangleon

Ruperto Cadava Kangleon was a Filipino military figure and politician. He was a native of Macrohon in what is now the province of Southern Leyte.

Kangleon was the acknowledged leader of the Resistance Movement in Leyte during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II. As such, his guerrilla forces helped pave the way for the American Leyte Landings on their return to the Philippines in 1944.

After the war, Ruperto Kangleon served as the Philippine Secretary of National Defense.

Kangleon's Guerillas

Kangleon's contribution to the war was the reason for his appointment to the defense portfolio. He led a number of guerilla organizations, among the fiercest, with the greatest reach and had undertaken numerous operations against the Japanese Imperial Army in Visayas and sometimes in other islands was the dreaded Black Army.

The Black Army was the main force of Kangleon that led in the liberation of Leyte Island during the last phase of the war. The island served as the United States Army, the Philippine Scout & the Philippine Army entry point into the Philippine Archipelago when the expedition of Gen. Douglas McArthur led the final invasion force that defeated the Japanese. One of the highlights of the ferocious battle against the Japanese Army was the raid on Camp Buga-Buga that was an extremely difficult objective to take. It was a huge network of camps entrenched in large caves that opened into the face of insurmountable cliffs in Southern Leyte.

One of McArthur's trusted men who led the assault on Buga-Buga alongside Kangleon was Major Clark.

The Black Army under Kangleon was founded by his recruit, Exequiel Algas Botictic and his brothers Simeon and Gavino. Exequiel Botictic was appointed as the Presidential Pacification Officer for Visayas by President Roxas. Due to jealousy and turf dispute, Pres. Pac. Ofcr. Exequiel Botictic was treacherously killed at the young age of 27 by a constabulary officer Napoleon Valeriano. Botictic reportedly wrote the name of Valeriano with his own blood on stones upon the river where he was shot from the back. The murder was made to appear as a counterinsurgency operation. To this day, Valeriano and his men were never prosecuted for the ghastly crime committed in Leyte, among the many other atrocities that his norotious "Nenita Unit" perpetrated. Surviving elements of Botictic's guerilla unit vow that some day justice will ultimately be served in their leader's death.