Day of Valor honors war heroes

Today is the actual observance of Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor). As it falls on this Maundy Thursday. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo moved its traditional celebration to last Monday, April 6. Yesterday, a fitting celebration of the 67th Commemoration was led by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the Mount Samat Shrine in Bataan. The occasion was graced by US Ambassador Kristie Kenney who made this year’s tribute to the war heroes more meaningful with the awarding of the $9,000 each lump sum compensation to the first batch of Filipino World War II veterans who have qualified for these benefits under the $787-billion stimulus fund passed by the US Congress last February. At least 26,000 veterans have so far applied for the lump sum benefits as of last week.

Beyond the history books in elementary schools, few people care or remember that Araw ng Kagitingan commemorates the bravery and heroism of the Filipino soldiers who fought to their last breath in three places — Bataan, Corregidor and Bessang Pass.

Bataan and Corregidor were the last two strongholds of the US Armed Forces, Far East (USAFFE), and the Philippine Army. After massive damage inflicted by the Japanese on the US forces in Pearl Harbor, the Japanese proceeded with their crippling air attack on the US air force and navy stationed in the Philippines. Clearly, by then, the Japanese dominated the US forces in Manila, having stationed their troops there for more than one year. The remaining forces in Bataan could not sustain their ground due to lack of firearms and reinforcements and finally surrendered to the Japanese Imperial Forces on April 9, 1942.

We must not forget the 70,000 captured Filipino and American soldiers who died during the Death March starting on April 9 from Mariveles, Bataan to San Fernando, Pampanga. They were made to walk without food and water 90 kilometers from Bataan to San Fernando, after which they were made to ride a train until Capas, Tarlac. After this, the battered, sick, unfed and wounded soldiers were made to walk another 13 kilometers to Camp O’Donnell, where the 54,000 who survived, were finally jailed.

The soldiers in Corregidor continued fighting after Bataan fell. Being heavily armed and fortified, and due to its strategic position guarding the Manila Bay, the rock citadel of Corregidor was the last fort to fall before the surrender to the Japanese. The Fall of Corregidor finally came on May 6, 1946. It was one of the most heavily bombed islands on earth during the war.

Unlike our military’s defeat in Bataan and Corregidor, we remember their victory in The Battle of Bessang Pass. However, for a long time, it is rather referred to as a forgotten victory. Three years after the defeat in Bataan and Corregidor and the fall of the Philippines to the Japanese Imperial Forces in 1942, Filipino guerillas fought and won what is known in history as “The Battle of the Clouds”. It was in the Cordilleras, where they fought the troops of General Yamashita, “the Tiger of Malaya”, Supreme Commander of the Japanese Army in the Philippines, leading to his capture and surrender on June 14, 1945. The Battle of Bessang Pass is the first Filipino military victory; it redeemed our military’s defeat and somehow avenged the death of thousands of Filipino and American soldiers during the Bataan and Corregidor wars.

Putting all these historical events into one memorial celebration on April 9 of every year under Executive Order No. 203 dated June 30, 1987 should in no way make us forget or diminish the acts of bravery of our soldiers who fought to their last breath in each of the wars that were fought to defend our cause. We in this generation, must seek to perpetuate the gallantry, deeds and ideals that all our soldiers fought with, as recorded in the pages of our history, to win the wars for love of our country and its people. It is our duty to awaken the awareness of our kababayans, especially the youth, and steadfastly keep in their and their children’s memories, the deeds of our brave soldiers and veterans that won for us the freedom and independence we now enjoy. It is only from a memory of great people and a great past that our youth can inherit a great example.