ARAW NG KAGITINGAN: THE GALLANT STAND OF AMERICAN AND FILIPINO SOLDIERS

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What does "ARAW NG KAGITINGAN" really mean today for the current generation? Unfortunately very few will give the correct answer. While the rest will probably say "I don't know" or makeup an answer. To us who have studied it in both PHILIPPINE HISTORY and WORLD HISTORY, it is the day when AMERICAN and FILIPINO soldiers made one gallant last stand before surrendering to a superior JAPANESE IMPERIAL ARMY.

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Mc Arthur : I Shall Return

This is also the day when infamous DEATH MARCH started. The long walk from BATAAN all the way to CABANATUAN, NUEVA ECIJA.

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Bataan Dealth March

This where a lot of the UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES in the FAR EAST or U.S.A.F.F.E. died during long grueling march. Some were reported killed by JAPANESE soldiers themselves when they tried to escape. Others died due to dehydration, fatigue, and hunger.

These haunting memories still remain in the minds of those WORLD WAR II veterans who survived and tell their story. Others died for various reasons and their story is buried along with them. Sad to say that their efforts to defend and protect our country are now slowly being forgotten.

And this day has become nothing more but a mere holiday. But all is not lost. Our ARMED FORCES of the PHILIPPINES or A.F.P. and the PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE or P.N.P. are carrying on the fight. Yes some members of the police and soldiers maybe in hot water now because of issues on human rights. But a majority of them still uphold the law. They are the ones who are doing their very best to defend and protect us from criminals, rebels, and terrorists. Who can ever forget the gallant stand of the 44 PNP SPECIAL ACTION FORCE or PNP-SAF in MAMASAPANO? Outnumbered and outgunned, they chose to fight the enemy than surrender even if the mission was doomed from the very start.

Then there's the ZAMBOANGA and MARAWI sieges that hit the headlines. But we don't need to be police officers and soldiers just to be branded as MAGITING. We can be like them in our own little way. Like caring for the environment and helping the law enforcers fight crime by reporting criminal activities

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Image Source

So let us make those who died for us be proud of what we can do for our country. Let us put into our hearts and minds that they did their best to fight a superior enemy.

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