CITY OF BALANGA –– Bataan Gov. Albert Garcia paid tribute to Filipino frontliners battling the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as the country commemorated “Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) on Thursday.
Garcia said doctors, nurses, and other medical workers are just like “our [World War 2] soldiers who put up a blocking force to delay the arrival of enemies.”
The commemoration rites for the 78th Araw ng Kagitingan at Mt. Samat National Shrine here had been canceled due to COVID-19 threats.
“The war is won not only by soldiers but the people themselves, which is happening now in our fight against the killer virus,” Garcia said in a statement.
He urged Filipinos to help the new heroes, the frontliners, in the fight against the COVID-19 contagion.
Garcia also reminded everyone that it was in Bataan where the last line of defense was put up with Filipino troops, and the guerrillas who acted as “frontliners.”
“Let us do away with fear. We can overcome this crisis,” Garcia said.