Bukod sa mga madalas nating nababasa o napapanood tungkol sa Bataan Death March, ano pa nga ba ang mga hindi natin alam na kuwento tungkol sa makasaysayang death march?
Panoorin ang ‘Sumuko na ang Bataan,’ dokumentaryo ni Mav Gonzales sa #IWitness.
Panoorin ang ‘Sumuko na ang Bataan,’ dokumentaryo ni Mav Gonzales sa #IWitness.
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00:00There are also civilians who help the soldiers even if their lives are in danger.
00:07The civilians hide you there.
00:09There are cases, let's say, that the grandmothers have long skirts.
00:15They tell you to go under their skirts.
00:18Then the soldiers will hide there.
00:21Then the grandmothers will leave with the soldiers.
00:25There are cases like that where they really help.
00:30We passed these statues at Layak Junction in Danialupihan.
00:55This is where the first line of defense of the Filipinos and Americans took place during the Battle of Bataan.
01:02This is the Philippine flag. The red one is up because it symbolizes that we are in a state of war.
01:08Now, the blue one is up because it's a state of peace.
01:11I hope that in our lifetime, we won't see the Philippine flag like this again.
01:16The heroism that took place is just carved on the stones.
01:21It has been more than 80 years.
01:31One of the well-known Filipinos who was part of the Death March is Brigadier General Vicente Lim.
01:37One of the three personalities who is in the 1,000-peso paper.
01:41Lim was the first Filipino to complete the U.S. Military Academy in West Point.
01:47At least for the Americans, there was already talk very early on,
01:51that we should let the Filipinos go at some point.
01:54And that meant that if you were to be a sovereign nation,
01:57then you would have to be able to protect yourself, you know, have your own method of self-defense.
02:04That meant putting up a military.
02:06Now, a lot of those in the Philippine Army were very grim.
02:10It means that they were not experienced.
02:11They were not professional soldiers.
02:13They were called up as reservists.
02:15They were given maybe a maximum of six months of training.
02:18But a lot of people signed up for that.
02:20They were very willing to do their duty if war ever came.
02:24When the war started, were they ready?
02:27Hardly.
02:28So, again, a lot of them had probably a max of six months of training.
02:32There are a lot of survivors that would eventually say,
02:36You know, we were sent to the front line.
02:38I never had a chance to try a replica of it.
02:44During World War II, General Lim left his family in America and led the 41st Division.
02:52Lim's group was with the surrendered youths.
02:56The Japanese were no exception.
02:58Low-ranking soldiers or generals like Lim,
03:02were all sent to the Death March.
03:07With General Lim's division,
03:10was the father of Major General Ramon Zagala of the Philippine Army.
03:1622 years ago, his father was Major General Rafael Zagala.
03:21He also fought in the youths.
03:23His grandfather, Colonel Ramon Zagala, was sent to the Death March.
03:28They surrendered.
03:29They were in formation.
03:30They surrendered.
03:31They were in formation.
03:34They saw each other in Pilar.
03:38In Pilar, Bataan.
03:42They held each other.
03:47He missed them a few nights, since then.
03:50My grandfather, I think, got stricken with influenza.
03:56My grandfather could not walk anymore, and my father was also weak.
04:00Then, his friends, I think they were the ones who replaced him.
04:06More than 70 kilometers from where we were born in Mariveles,
04:12the Death March passed through Pampanga.
04:19Where the Bilangos were taken by train to Capas, Tarlac.
04:24According to my father, they were there for almost one day.
04:27One day?
04:28One day.
04:29And that train was not a real train.
04:31Actually, it was a train that was used for transport.
04:35Oh, so it was not really for passengers.
04:37Exactly.
04:38So, they were transported by train.
04:43In Capas National Shrine in Tarlac,
04:49an original boxcar was displayed.
04:53Sixty to one hundred prisoners of war were placed here.
04:58They were stacked.
05:00Even if they were standing, they could not fit 100 people here.
05:03Here?
05:04Even if they were standing.
05:05Wow, a lot of people died.
05:13Can you imagine if they could fit here?
05:15Yes.
05:16Sixty to one hundred.
05:17And, Sir, it was like this.
05:18It was as if there was no air coming in.
05:20None.
05:23So, from San Fernando to Capas.
05:27Yes.
05:28And then from Capas, they will march.
05:31The last, I think, from the Capas Station is about 10 kilometers.
05:41From the 70,000 soldiers who marched, only 55,000 reached Camp O'Donnell.
05:50The road they passed through was a long grave.
05:55How were the bodies?
05:56Were they scattered on the road?
05:58Yes, they were scattered.
05:59As they say, even the dogs were eaten.
06:03So, the local people built temporary graves.
06:07Because it was temporary.
06:08They dug them on the side of the road.
06:11And so, after the war, that was the problem.
06:13How would you recover those bones?
06:19But hell is still not over for the survivors of the Death March.
06:26Because now, they are inside one of the most horrific concentration camps during World War II.
06:34They suffered the most.
06:36Really?
06:37This is the Prisoner of War Camp.
06:39You can see there are a lot of trees.
06:42A lot of trees.
06:43The veterans, they planted close to the number of deaths.
06:49Almost 30,000 trees.
06:52Do you know why?
06:53Because there was no food, no water, no sleep, or because of maltreatment?
06:59It was all mixed up.
07:02Based on stories, they were not fed well.
07:06There were many diseases.
07:08Dysentery, malaria.
07:11Not one by one.
07:12Because a lot of people died.
07:14A very tall monument was built here
07:19for those who fought and died during World War II.
07:24The explanation for me is,
07:28it's their way to help.
07:32The shape.
07:37For them, those souls are still here.
07:41Those souls are still here.
07:44Go up to heaven.
07:47It's heavy to know that many of those who sacrificed for our freedom
07:54did not list their names so that we can be thankful.
07:59We tried to walk from Mariveles.
08:04It's only March, right?
08:06Yes.
08:07We thought the boxcar was the worst of the worst.
08:13And now, you're saying that your father said no.
08:17It's worse here.
08:19It's worse there.
08:26And I think that's why,
08:28that's when I found out that I probably gave birth to a child.
08:32That's what I did.
08:37But this is not the end of the story of Filipino and American soldiers.