Today, 9 April, the Philippines commemorates Bataan Day and the heroic stand of Filipino and American soldiers during World War II. On this day in 1942, thousands were forced into the infamous Bataan Death March, dubbed a march to hell, following the surrender of Bataan to Japanese forces.

Bataan Day has become a crucial element of our national identity. It showed what Filipino soldiers were truly capable of. They marched to their final destination, endured harsh conditions, faced starvation, and were subjected to untold cruelty.

We read about their horrific ordeal in school literature and hear tales of heroism through word of mouth and the media. My grandfather recounted how they returned from the mountains to their home because my two-year-old mother had been accidentally left behind amid the ensuing chaos. This occurred as their entire community in Sorsogon had retreated to escape the advancing Japanese forces.

My late mother described how furious her father was at his eldest son, a soldier, for forgetting his youngest sister. Although my mother did not fall from the bed, she was crying profusely, probably sensing that she was alone when her father and brother rescued her. This story never failed to touch me whenever my mother recalled it, especially on Bataan Day.

“War is ugly and evil,” she used to tell me. She recounted that while she was still young and unaware of the broader context, the stories from her family and neighbors who survived the Japanese occupation strengthened her faith in God.

As she grew up, she experienced another war and saw how it impacted her family once more.

She recalled that during harvest time, communist rebels would descend from the mountains and sneak onto their farm at night to gather the crops. Of course, everyone was afraid to report it to the police, she said.

We do not want our children to experience war and suffer its consequences as we grapple with the nature of war in our current era.

Warfare has undergone dramatic changes. From conventional battles to today’s complex conflicts, the battlefield is now a contested space where traditional understandings of heroism and sacrifice are continually redefined.

Today’s conflicts go beyond frontline combat. The rise of hybrid warfare tactics, cyber espionage and attacks, drone technologies and asymmetrical threats is a new challenge that requires different types of courage and resilience.

Modern conflicts often manifest in less visible ways — through economic sanctions and humanitarian crises that affect civilians. The fight against terrorism, for instance, has led to complex engagements that blur the lines between combatants and civilians.

Bataan stood for the bravery and endurance of Filipino souls. We honor and acknowledge not just a past marked by valor but a legacy that informs our collective national consciousness.

The sacrifices made during the Death March are a valuable source of historical pride and an important lesson about the human cost of war. Let that sink in to those who have betrayed them and what they stood for.

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