13. BORN BECAUSE OF THE JAPS

BORN BECAUSE OF THE JAPS

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

02 January 2017

I sought the assistance of my dad on my Araling Panlipunan homework in Ateneo Grade School and asked him about the Dambana ng Kagitingan in Bataan. He narrated events during World War II and how gruesome and horrifying the Japanese Imperial Army (JIA) was especially after the Fall of Bataan in 1942 and Liberation in 1945. He also revealed that if not for the Japanese Occupation, he would not be born and I would not be around. Curious as a bee, I asked him to expound on the story. I learned that my paternal grandfather, former Calbayog, Samar Councilor (1916-1919) Felimon Capeding Miano was residing in Sampaloc, Manila before the Second World War erupted in 1941.  A jeweller and a bachelor at the age of 48, Felimon went home to Calbayog before Manila was declared an Open City to evade arrest and resist convincing to join the Japanese puppet government since he and his cousin Jose D. Avelino were active in national politics. Avelino served as Senator and Secretary of Labor in the Quezon cabinet and would later become Senate President, one of the founding fathers of the Liberal Party and presidentiable losing to Quirino. My grand dad met a Waray maiden by the name of Consorcia Tarrayo Ybañez, a granddaughter of Teniente Mayor (1895-1896) Benedicto Ybañez and Capitan Mayor (1894-1895) Antonio Tarrayo. After a whirlwind courtship, they got married and my father, Narciso who would be mayor of Calbayog City after 44 years, was born on this day, January 2, 74 years ago and I came to earth on April 19, 1974.

In 1990, I explored my family tree both paternal and maternal. I researched my direct and collateral line of consanguinity including affinity and traced the place of origin of my roots. I learned that the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines played an important role in the lineage of my mother. My maternal grandfather, Rafael Maniego Gozum (who would later become the first elected mayor of Cabatuan, Isabela) was already married before the War to a public school teacher by the name of Concepcion Aquino Lorenzo and was residing in the gateway town of Cordon, Isabela. During the Occupation, the family retreated to the mountainous municipality of Jones which was the temporary capital of Isabela province and it was here where Concepcion died of malaria. After the War, widower Rafael who was an employee of the municipal government of Cordon, remarried a maiden named Marciana Borromeo Ramos from Barrio Cabatuan (part of Cauayan town) and out of their union my mother Liliosa was born in 1948.

Yesterday, New Year’s Day, my family together with my wife’s immediate family chose to visit my bilas’ relatives in Bataan. We decided that aside from the reunion, we would be visiting historical sites in the province especially World War II monuments. We reached the Dambana ng Kagitingan, also known as Mount Samat National Shrine, in Barangay Diwa in Pilar town before lunch. The memorial shrine complex was built to honor and remember the gallantry of Filipino and American soldiers who fought during the Second World War. Consisting of a colonnade and the large memorial cross, the park was commissioned in 1966 by President Ferdinand E. Marcos, for the 25th Anniversary of the War. The white Cross stands as a remembrance to the soldiers who fought and lost their lives in the Battle of Bataan (January 7 - April 9, 1942). The shrine complex also includes a war museum with a wide array of collections from paintings of the Philippine heroes, to armaments used by the Filipino, American, and Japanese forces during the battle. From the colonnade and the cross, there is a panoramic view of Bataan, Corregidor Island and on a clear day, the city of Manila situated about 50 kilometers across Manila Bay.

Along with the fortified island of Corregidor, Mount Samat was the site of the most vicious battle against the JIA in 1942 during the Battle of Bataan. Suffering heavy losses against the Japanese all over Luzon, Filipino, and American soldiers retreated to Bataan Peninsula to regroup for a last valiant but futile stand. This retreat to Bataan is part of a United States strategy known as War Plan Orange. Bataan fell after three months of fighting when 78,000 exhausted, sick and starving men under Major General Edward P. King surrendered to the Japanese on April 9, 1942. It is the single largest surrender of U.S. soldiers in history. Together with the Philippine soldiers, they were then led on the Bataan Death March. The scene of their last stronghold is Mount Samat, the site of Dambana ng Kagitingan. The shrine was conceived as a fitting memorial to the heroic struggle and sacrifices of the soldiers who fought and died in that historic bastion of freedom. The memorial shrine complex was started with the laying of the cornerstone by President Marcos on April 14, 1966. Due to lack of funds, construction was unfinished for the 25^th anniversary of the Fall of Bataan in 1967. The shrine was completed and inaugurated in 1970, in time for the 25^th Anniversary of the end of World War II. Located in an area approximately 73,665 hectares, the park consists of the Colonnade and at the mountain's peak, the Memorial Cross. The shrine was designed by Lorenzo del Castillo and landscaped by Dolly Quimbo-Perez.

After descending from the Cross, we travelled 51 kilometers south via the Roman Highway and reached the southernmost town of Bataan peninsula where the Kilometer Zero (KM 00) Marker of the Death March was erected near the municipal hall of Mariveles. The marker is one of the two starting points of the infamous walk, the other one being in Bagac town. The march of the Filipino-American prisoners-of-war started here on April 10, 1942. The historical plaque installed in the landmark was donated by the Filipino-American Memorial Endowment, Inc. (FAME) and the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines summarized in two languages the horrific ordeal of our heroes.

After having late lunch at Jollibee, situated right beside the war memorial, we headed back towards SCTEx and reached Dinalupihan town where the memorial of the Battle of Layac Junction proudly stands. Harrybalais.com narrates that on January 6, 1942, the first major USAFFE battle in defense of Bataan took place in Layac Junction. The 71^st Division of the Philippine Commonwealth Army under the command of Brigadier General Clyde A. Selleck supported by the US 31^st Infantry Regiment under Colonel Charles A. Steel, the 26^th Cavalry of the Philippine Scouts, and a heavy concentration of artillery, light tanks and self-propelled gun units bravely fought the Imai Detachment of the JIA. The junction was the key position designated by War Plan Orange 3 (the Defense of Bataan) as the first line of resistance (MLR) of the Filipino-American forces.

In one of the most memorable scenes in the Battle of Layac Junction, Sergeant Jose C. Calugas (1907-1998) eluded the bullets trained on him to take over a fallen comrade’s machine gun, led a group of volunteers, and engaged the Japanese in a shootout thus enabling other soldiers to take advantageous positions to defend the line. For his extraordinary bravery, he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Third Lieutenants Julian Q. Chua and Cecilio A. Garcia were the two other Filipinos who have exhibited exceptional courage and were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

We had early dinner at my bilas’ reunion in Hermosa town overlooking the Subic-Tipo Expressway (or NLEx Segment 7). As I was refreshing myself with the tasty buko salad, a picture slide of all the historic sites we visited in Bataan hovered around my pate. I remembered the atrocities done by the JIA but I also remembered what my dad divulged and what I learned from my mother’s genealogy. For me, there was no good side in Japan’s occupation of the Philippines except for the fact that because of the Japs my dad and mom were born.