09/04/2026
๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐ง๐ข ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ก๐๐ ๐ข๐ก ๐ด๐ฐ๐ง๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ช ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ก๐๐๐ก
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. will lead the Filipino people in remembering and honoring veterans during the commemorative rites for the 84th Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) on 9 April 2026. He will be joined by Japanese Ambassador Endo Kazuya and Mr. Robert Ewing, Charge dโAffaires of the Embassy of the United States of America in offering flowers at the Dambana ng Kagitingan, Mt. Samat National Shrine in Pilar, Bataan. Following the flower offering, the gathered veterans will undertake the traditional โTolling of the Bellsโ in the memory of those who died in battle and those who had already passed on.
This will be conducted by Mr. Miguel Angelo C. Villa-Real, National Executive Vice President of the VFP Sons and Daughters Association and Ms. Prisca Angela Maureen L. Andales of the Cupang Integrated School. Balanga Bishop Rufino C. Sescon, Jr., Bataan Governor Jose Enrique S. Garcia III, NHCP Chair Regalado Trota Jose, Jr., and National Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. will join the president during the program.
Araw ng Kagitingan commemorates the fall of Bataan during the Philippine Campaign 1941-1942 of the Second World War. Following more than three months of valiant combat against better equipped and supplied Imperial Japanese forces, Filipino and American forces surrendered organized resistance to preclude heavier losses. Following their surrender, the prisoners-of-war endured the brutal Bataan Death March, a forced march of more than 100 kilometers in the summer heat without food or water from Bataan to San Fernando, Pampanga where they were transported by train to Camp OโDonnell in Tarlac.
Thousands of Filpino and American soldiers were killed by injuries, starvation, dehydration, and violence from their captors. However, the surrender also inspired thousands of Filipinos to rise up and join guerrilla units that continued to fight against the Imperial Japanese forces that occupied the archipelago. Keeping the faith, their efforts in harassing enemy forces, supporting communities, and gathering key intelligence would greatly help in the eventual campaign to liberate the country in 1944-1945.
The NHCP is the national government agency mandated to promote Philippine history through its museums, research, and publications, and to preserve historical heritage through conservation and the marking of historic sites and structures.
