Commemoration of Fall of Bataan

The commemoration of the heroes of Fall of Bataan popularly known as the “Araw ng Kagitingan" is celebrated yearly on April 9.

By this event, the Filipino people commemorates the historic bravery of thousands of soldiers and civilians who risked their lives to resist against the onslaught of the Japanese Imperial Forces into the Bataan Peninsula that was the stronghold of the American and Filipino soldiers in the Pacific during that time.

According to a living veteran soldier, the attack had its lull between February 12 and April 2, 1942, because both parties were badly hurt and the Japanese could never have the capability to penetrate the peninsula.  Weeks later, the Japanese made a retribution starting with its fresh aerial attacks that trembled both Filipino and American soldiers every after bombardment.  By that time, American and Filipinos had a hard time to reinforce because they knew that they could be easily cornered if they would have gone into lowlands because the premises were already occupied by the imperial forces.So they kept the forces at bay at all cost.

The inability of forces to defend the fortress in Bataan considering the urgency to bring military contingents to the West—specifically in Germany—disabled the entire Filipino-American Forces thereat.

So, on April 9, 1942, after weeks of resistance and struggle, Bataan fell under the hands of the Japanese Imperial Forces headed by Masaharu Homma. Right away, General Jonathan Wainwright—who was left in charge of the whole American Forces after Douglas McArthur left for Australia—was forced to surrender together with thousands of Filipinos and American soldiers in the field. Other reluctant Filipinos had found their shelter in an undisclosed and remote locations to prevent from being caught and imprisoned. Later, by means of an ultimatum, filipino soldiers were forced to surrender by the Japanese Imperial Army.

And the key moment started, they were forced to walk for 90 kilometers from Mariveles, Bataan to Pampanga. Therefrom, they were dragged into a train carriage like sardines. By this time, some soldiers died immediately due to suffocation inside the cart-carriage train which ferried them going to Capas, Tarlac.

Upon reaching Capas, Tarlac, they were once again forced to walk atrociously for another 13 kilometers going to concentration camp. At this point, they were deprived to eat and drink.  Some soldiers died forthwith during the laborious death march.  Others were brutally hurt and bayoneted right away if they would unable to walk straightforwardly or were lagging out due to starvation.

This is the lesson from the past and should not be forgotten by this generation. The heroes of Bataan should always remain in our hearts and mind. The liberty and freedom we have right now are the products of their blood, sweat and tears.

Feasibility Of Autonomous Region In Cordillera

When I was in elementary, this was during the tenure of former President Corazon Aquino, my father used to read facts and details about the proposed organic act for the so called Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Cordillera Autonomous Region. At that time,  I did not have any idea of what these were all about, until such time when I had a time to browse these files and concurrently heard about the proposed regionalization once again of the selected provinces in the region to be headed by a governor.

This topic has caught my attention nowadays after I read about the column of Representative Teodoro Baguilat Jr. in the Philippine Daily Inquirer dated July 16, 2013 seeking for a third attempt to refile and pass an organic act for a real Cordillera Autonomous Region in the 16th Congress.

This topic has really struck my attention because I have a deep sympathy with the people of Cordillera because I was once a former student of the said region.  
During my stint in Baguio City, year 1996-1997, I had a lot of local friends, classmates and contemporaries who were living in the provinces under Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR), but not all of them came from highlands or were 'igorot,' or ‘nefut’- a euphemism for the term 'igorot.' According to my ifugao classmate, youths in Ifugao—a landlocked province in Benguet—were no longer aspiring for a greener pasture in their province instead they were much attached on the modern technology such as computers and information technology on hand. After the integration of modern technology in the academe and the extreme interest of common folks therein, the famous 2,000-year-old rice terraces—comprise of 5 inscribed clusters and made with bare hands—were disregarded and left out in infestation and state of disintegration. Even, students there did not even desire to neither maintain and cultivate the land nor be the heir of the rice land. So to save the decaying rice plantations, the UNESCO World Heritage decided to declare the whole place as the World Heritage Site in 1995 to preserve the millenium-old wonder of the world.

Way back, cordillerans resisted the invasion of the Spanish—not including all the invasions happened since time immemorial—without nationalism in their minds and pure instinctive. Because during that time, they did not recognize any form of government other than their tribes. But the Americans, instead of colonizing the region and upon learning of the Igorots century of resistance against colonizers, had made themselves adopted sons of the cordillerans. Still, cordillerans maintained their fortress in their land.

 The proposal to revive the autonomy of the region has put to the test anew. It started all when the Cory Aquino Administration and Commander Balweg—a revolutionist priest—signed a peace treaty with a condition to build an autonomous region in the Cordillera. By this proposition, the regional autonomous government concept was originated. The drafters of the 1987 Philippine Constitution formalized this concept in one of its provisions creating Autonomous Region in Mindanao and Cordillera.

When a plebiscite was called forth in 1990 and 1998, the Catholic Church vehemently opposed the said proposal and lobbied to dismiss the autonomy of the region owing to imminent exploitation, illegal activity and graft and corruption in the allocation of funds for the said autonomy and would cause its natural resources to be put under the authority of the State.

But for me, it is now high time to move on. The initiative of Rep. Teddy Baguilat to revive the autonomy of Cordillera for the 3^rd time is just a start towards regional progress. We all know that cordillerans are very honest  and industrious. I hope they can make it to become autonomous. By means of this proposition, Cordillerans can now hope for lasting progress; economic growth in the region; creation of livelihood and educational institution . Most importantly, Cordillerans can now become independent economically from its neighboring provinces and regions. But before doing such, a plebiscite would be called first prior to its approval. The majority of the electorates will prevail on a proposal for reintegration of the provinces into one entity for economic freedom. The success of their outlands is in their hands.