 During the Second World War, the combined U.S. and Philippine Commonwealth military ground forces including the local Panay guerrilla resistance fighters was fought against the Japanese Imperial forces led by General Sosaku Suzuki during the Battle for the Liberation of Panay in Western Visayas included the three provinces of Antique (now, Aklan and Antique), Capiz and Iloilo in 1945.It became an overnight sensation and later, its weekly circulation skyrocketed, reaching 60,000 in the early '60s.The first editor in the early 1930s was Abe Gonzales, who was followed by Ulisis Vadlit in the early 1940s.