"We remember our defeats but not this victory. "
"We remember our defeats but not this victory. "
Yesterday, June 14, I remembered the Battle of Bessang Pass in the Cordilleras which the “guerrillas” of Northern Luzon won against the Japanese Imperial Forces that occupied the Philippines for almost four years. That battle led to the surrender of General Tomoyuki Yamashita, commander of the Japanese, on September 2, 1945 in Baguio.
After the “rape of Manila” by Yamashita’s forces upon the landing of the Americans in Lingayen Gulf, the Japanese Imperial Army had to retreat to the Cordilleras. The battle at the South of Pasig river portion of Manila which was fought between February and March 1945 was comparable to the “rape of Warsaw” in Poland.
The guerillas of Northern Luzon belonging to the United States Army in Northern Luzon had laid siege on Bessang Pass that opened access to where the Yamashita forces were gathered.
After almost three months of sporadic fighting in an uphill battle between the combined forces of the USAFIP-NL led by then 3rd Battalion of the USAFIP-NL under the late Major Conrado Rigor, in an assault of the E Company led by my later brother Desiderio P. Jurado, Bessang Pass fell.
On September 2, 1945 a combined force of the USAFIP-NL cornered the staff of Yamashita together with him in Apayao where he escaped after the fall of Bessang Pass. Yamashita was finally executed in Los Baños on February 23, 1946 for crimes against humanity.
I remember the Battle of Bessang Pass because both my two late elder brothers, Desi and Willie were there as lieutenants. It was the company of Desi that led the assault on June 14 leading to the capture of Yamashita. It was my late brother Desi who led that assault after which he was honored with a Silver Star for “courage and bravery above and beyond the call of duty.” That Silver Star is still displayed at the sala of his house where his widow now lives. Willie, however, got a Purple Heart because he was wounded in that battle.
All these years I have been writing about Bessang Pass. I believe it should be remembered for its significance. Unfortunately, the Armed Forces of the Philippines did not give the victory recognition it deserved for reasons unknown. I misunderstood a research on the annals of the AFP and it was romantically called the “Battle Among the Clouds” but, the AFP and the Department of National Defense did not give that signal victory the importance it deserved. It led to the surrender of Yamashita.
President Ferdinand E. Marcos took the occasion to inform the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the significance of the Battle of Bessang Pass since Marcos was then a major of the 14th Infantry that undertook a “flanking movement” at Nueva Vizcaya to ensure Yamashita’s forces would not escape.
When President Fidel V. Ramos became President, he built a shrine in the town of Cervantes, Ilocos Sur to commemorate the event of the fall. No other President did it.
It is really tragic that while we had a victory against the enemy in the Battle of Bessang Pass, located at the border of Benguet and Ifugao at the Cordilleras. We celebrate defeats, like the “Surrender of Bataan,” and the “Fall of Corregidor,” now euphemistically called “Days of Valor” or “Araw ng mga Kagitingan,” and Santa Banana, we built a big shrine at Bataan which we celebrate annually in April 9. There must be something very wrong in our sense of values.
I have been pleading with every President to realize the significance of having won the Battle of Bessang Pass not merely because of my brothers, but to pay tribute to some 1,200 Ilocanos and Igorots who sacrificed their lives in that battle. I urge Congress and the President now to realize the significance of victory in the Battle of Bessang Pass.
Yesterday passed, and I was told that a motley crowd of relatives and families of those who died at Bessang Pass gathered before that small shrine at Cervantes town to commemorate the event. Tragic, isn’t it?
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The ongoing war between President Duterte and Senator Manny Pacquiao on the West Philippine Sea is laughable. Obviously, the senator does not realize that as President, Duterte is the sole architect of foreign policy.
While any citizen can disagree with the stand of the President, nobody can question his right to speak on foreign policy.
People may disagree with Duterte on his stand on the West Philippine Sea, but Pacquiao is out of his mind criticizing the President on issues like this. The President has a wealth of information available while Pacquiao has none. While the senator is right in saying he is just reiterating what some people are saying, he should stop criticizing Duterte. Duterte is a lawyer and he will succeed in exposing Pacquiao’s ignorance on the WPS issue.
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The entry of Senator Ping Lacson and Senate President Tito Sotto as presidential and vice presidential candidates, respectively, for the 2022 polls will not make any difference if and when presidential daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio finally decides to run. Her announcement is a matter of time. Keeping people guessing is all part of her campaign strategy.
Recall that when the news broke out that then Davao City Mayor Digong Duterte was thinking of running for President, he kept on making people guess—until the calls for him to run became so great that he could no longer refuse the clamor of the people.
Sara is using the same strategy. And when the clamor becomes so great, Sara, like her father, will say she could not refuse the clamor of the people. Sara is a bright girl.
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My apologies to my readers for committing a big blunder on the issue of whether the President could run for vice president while being president.
Just like in the case of incumbent senators who aspire for a higher office like president or vice president, they don’t have to resign as senators.
My apologies also to Vice President Leni Robredo who I said would be taking over as President and have the “Yellows” control the 2022 polls once Duterte decides to run as Vice President.
I admit my mistake. Mea culpa.