Tag Archives: Philippine Army

CAPAS – FILIPINO SACRIFICE IN THE SHADOWS OF NEW CLARK CITY

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Inside the three towers of the Capas National Shrine. Three columns representing Japan, the Philippines and the United States. A desire for peace.
Inside the three towers of the Capas National Shrine. Three columns representing Japan, the Philippines and the United States. A desire for peace.

The spire of the Capas National Shrine rises 240 feet into the air above the hot, humid plains of central Luzon.  There is lots of symbolism included in the site.  Three parts of the towering spire represent the peoples of the Philippines, the United States and … Japan.  Covering 54 hectares – 130 acres – over half of the grounds have been planted with 31,000 trees representing the 25,000 Filipinos and 6,000 Americans who perished here at Camp O’Donnell following the end of the Bataan Death March in 1942.  The park was named a national shrine by President Cory Aquino in 1991 with the tower was added in 2003 with a memorial wall behind with the names of those known to have perished here at the camp.

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THE COMMONWEALTH ARMY – VALOR IN DEATH HONORED ON MOUNT SAMAT

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The Philippine flag whips in the wind atop Mount Samat with an urn representing eternal light at the entrance to the Colonnade at the Shrine of Valor.

The last post described the Dambana ng Kagitingan – Shrine of Valor – standing atop Mount Samat on the eastern side of the Bataan Peninsula. While most monuments tend to reward victory, sometimes more can be learned in defeat. Most of the defenders here on Bataan were Filipino. Most of those who died here, on the Death March and in the initial stages of the Japanese prison camps were Filipinos. With the surrender on 9 April 1942, the Army of the Philippine Commonwealth ended. It would not be resurrected again until the nation gained independence in 1946. At that time, it transformed into the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Many of the leaders of the new Forces saw prior service in the army of the Commonwealth.

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