Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann pays tribute to the defenders of Bataan and Corregidor at Kagitingan Rites

9 April 2010.  Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann offered a wreath to the defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, Philippines  at the “68^th Araw ng Kagitingan” (Day of Valor) held on 9 April 2010, at the National Memorial Cemetery of  Pacific (NMCP). 

He joined Governor Linda Lingle, Major General Peter Pawling, Chief of Staff, US PACOM, Vice Admiral Ferdinand Golez, Flag Officer-in-Command, Philippine Navy, Major General Juancho Sabaan, Commandant, Philippine Marines, Major General Diosdado Tabamo, the Consular Corps, officers of the US PACOM and Filipino Community leaders at the Wreath Laying Ceremony made poignant by the ageing and frail Filipino-American veterans standing in unyielding attention amidst heavy rains.    

In his message, Mayor Hannemann  paid tribute to the courage and loyalty of World War II veterans and those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our democratic way of life.  

“Araw ng Kagitingan” is a memorial ceremony honoring Filipino-American veterans of World War II and held on the anniversary of the fall of Bataan, which culminated in the surrender of more than 75,000 Filipino and American troops, and the Bataan Death March, which claimed nearly 10,000 Filipino and American lives in April 1942. 

Mayor Hannemann added that the fall of Bataan and the historic Death March strengthened the bond between Filipino and American brothers.   The Philippine Memorial marker, carved from a rock at the Malinta Tunnel in Bataan, was installed in 2006 at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific on the occasion of the celebration of the 60^th Anniversary of Philippine-American Friendship. 

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