On April 9, 1942, a grim chapter in Philippine history began.

In Mariveles, Bataan, tens of thousands of American and Filipino prisoners of war (mostly Filipinos) were forced by the Japanese to march 88 km to San Fernando, Pampanga.

They were starved and brutalized, and those who fell were bayoneted. Many died along the way, while a few managed to escape to the jungle.

In San Fernando, prisoners were packed like sardines into freight trains, forced to march again, and eventually brought to Camp O’Donell in Capas, Tarlac, which became an infamous concentration camp. Only 54,000 of the estimated 90,000-100,000 POWs survived.

The event, now known as Bataan Death March, has been commemorated annually in the Philippines and in the US with a memorial march that attracts participants, spectators and volunteers, veterans and their relatives. The intent is to honor the Bataan heroes and to keep alive the memory of their hardships and sacrifices.

To complement these memorial marches, the 1st Capas Freedom March will be held April 11 in that town. It will start at the People’s Park and end at the Capas National Shrine, bringing together an expected 5,000-6,000 participants, veterans and their relatives, and marchers from different government agencies, local government units, the private sector, civic groups and families.

The event is sponsored by the Department of National Defense, Department of Tourism, Automotive Association of the Philippines (AAP), and the local government of Capas.

This was announced at a recent press conference at Bay Leaf Hotel, Intramuros, Manila.

Community involvement

Marchers will assemble at 3:30 a.m., with an opening ceremony at 4:30 a.m. A gunshot will signal the start of the march at 8 a.m., which will last for three hours.

Activities from 9 a.m. include film showing, historical seminar, jungle-survival course, an obstacle course and shooting games.

The program ends at 12 noon.

Part of the proceeds will go to Capas National Shrine; the construction of a replica of the Capas Concentration Camp; and scholarships for selected children of soldiers slain in action.

At the press launch, Capas tourism officer Marissa Vidal said, “We want to inculcate in the minds of the young generation the sacrifices of the veterans.”

Eva Carmona, assistant vice president of AAP Travel said, “We want to promote community involvement and have asked the different barangays to join the local games, the local presentations. There will be activities for the families. We are encouraging everyone to join [the march]. There will be a military ambulance, food and water stations, and barangay tanod (local security).”

Veterans

Mina Gabor, former tourism secretary and president of AAP Travel, said participants expected to join the walk were Filipino veterans of foreign wars, like the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

She added: “We want this to be an annual event. April 11 falls during Veterans Week.”

Gen. Restituto Aguilar of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office revealed that at the end of World War II, there were almost half a million surviving veterans, “Usaffe (US Armed Forces in the Far East) and guerillas.” But by last year, he said, “there were only 13,000 survivors and less than 5,000 now. In three or four years’ time, because of stress, around 300 (survivors) na lang.”

In answer to a question, Aguilar said part of the pensions were for the Hukbalahap, the leftist guerillas who fought both the Japanese and the Usaffe during World War II “but there are no exact figures on survivors.”