EDITORIAL - Araw ng Kagitingan

You know a nation has become so bereft of heroes when some quarters seriously propose sainthood for a 27-year-old actor who reportedly died in his sleep after partying into the wee hours of Good Friday. And you know a nation is losing its sense of history when the government moves the commemoration of an event, dedicated to the memory of genuine heroes, a day earlier so people can enjoy yet another long weekend and, it is hoped, stimulate domestic tourism.

Today the nation goes back to work, and few people will remember that this day marks the 60th year since thousands of Filipino and American troops were herded at gunpoint out of Balanga, Bataan and ordered by Japanese troops to march to San Fernando, Pampanga, then put on trains to internment camps in Capas, Tarlac. The march, without food or water, in the searing summer heat, killed so many of the prisoners of war that it came to be known as the Death March.

As in previous commemorations of this day, people are again wondering why the nation keeps celebrating a battle defeat. The Death March, after all, followed the fall of Bataan to the Japanese Imperial Army. Some of the survivors of the march died later in the internment camps; most of the rest were nearly dead from starvation three years later when the Japanese occupation forces were finally kicked out.

This, however, is Araw ng Kagitingan, a Day of Valor, when the nation celebrates the spirit that kept Filipinos from embracing Japan’s dreams of empire. That generation of Filipinos could have escaped death, torture and suffering by accepting Japan’s proposal to include the Philippines in a so-called Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Instead Filipinos, already in the thick of national efforts to end American colonial rule, chose to take up arms in an effort to drive away the Japanese invaders.

How many Filipinos these days are willing to risk so much for love of country? Even our leaders are often perceived to be working for self-aggrandizement instead of national interest. In this age where there is a dearth of individuals who can fire up nationalist fervor, reminders of Filipino valor will always have special resonance.