World War Two veteran Pascual F. Coloma, 87 years old, tries out a 50 caliber machine gun relic at Mount Samat Shrine in Pilar Bataan during the commemoration of the Araw ng Kagitingan. (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE)
The Philippine National Police (PNP) has expressed solidarity with the nation, which commemorates Filipino veterans for their valor, service, and sacrifice during World War II.
In a statement on Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor), PNP Spokesperson Chief Supt. John Bulalacao said its men and women “join our nation in giving honors to the Filipino soldiers who gave their lives and treasure so that we may all live in peace and freedom.”
“We pay respect to the heroes whose lives were sacrificed and whose blood was poured during the war in an unbroken tradition of a true Filipino valor thirsting for freedom,” he also said.
Araw ng Kagitingan, also known as Bataan Day, is observed on April 9 every year to remember the fall of Bataan during World War II.
On April 9, 1942, more than 78,000 starving and disease-ridden Filipino and American soldiers surrendered to the invading Japanese troops. They were forced to walk from Bataan to Tarlac in the infamous “Bataan Death March” where more than 10,000 Filipino soldiers died. /kga