HONOLULU, Hawaii, 18 September 2006 — Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo dedicated a plaque in memory of Filipino and American soldiers who died fighting side-by-side in wars of the Pacific.
Arroyo on Saturday placed a wreath adorned with red, white and blue ribbons in front of the plaque, which is set on a piece of rock taken from the island of Corregidor, a key World War II battleground.
Arroyo said the rock and plaque will remain at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific as a symbol of the strong military ties between the Philippines and the United States.
“We honor today our two peoples who fought together through the harrowing years of World War II,” Arroyo said at the ceremony, attended by dignitaries of both countries and many Filipino-American and Filipino veterans.
Corregidor is the largest of four islands guarding the mouth of Manila Bay. The others are Caballo, El Fraile and Carabao. To be able to use Manila Bay, the Japanese have to first capture heavily fortified Corregidor.
Several attempted landings were repulsed but in the end, the Filipino-American troops, deprived of food, ammunition and medicine, have to accept reality. The defenders suffered 800 dead and 1,000 wounded, while more than 11,000 were taken as prisoners, according to US military records.
But the Japanese also paid a heavy price in capturing the island. From the start of their attacks in January of 1942 to May 6 of that same year when the defenders surrendered, the Japanese accumulated losses of about 5,000 dead and 3,000 wounded.
War historians say the capture of Corregidor marked the fall of the Philippines and Asia, but it derailed Japan’s timetable for the conquest of Australia and the rest of the Pacific.
The retaking of Corregidor in 1945 was even bloodier for the Japanese. US war records claim that of 6,650 Japanese defenders on the island, only 50 survived the combined air, land and sea assault by American forces. On the other hand, the liberators suffered 169 killed and 531 wounded.
In commemorating the sacrifices of Filipino and American forces who fought against the Japanese during World War II, Arroyo on Saturday noted that the Philippines and United States continue to be strong allies in the war on terrorism after fighting together in WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
“We stand should-to-shoulder with the United States in the global war on terrorism,” she said.
“Our countries agree on common goals. ...shared democratic values form the foundation of our relationship.”
Protest Rally
Arroyo stopped in Hawaii on Saturday for a one-day visit — the final leg of her five-nation, nine-day trip around the world.
In Honolulu, she also attended the unveiling ceremony of a sakada statue commemorating the centennial anniversary of the first Filipino migrants to Hawaii.
Outside of the celebration side, members of the Filipino youth group, Anakbayan, and others held a picket and denounced Arroyo for the escalation of political killings, forced disappearances, and other human rights violations in the Philippines.
“(Arroyo) comes to Hawaii in a superficial gesture to honor migrant workers, but today’s unveiling of the statue is being conducted by hands stained with the blood of our countrymen,” said Anakbayan member Daya Mortel, a student at the University of Hawaii, in a press statement.
“The Arroyo administration’s inability to address and stop the killings is rooted in its role as the ultimate perpetrators of the killings,” Mortel added.
Arroyo had also been hounded in Europe by human rights advocates, who expressed concern over the continued political killings in the Philippines.
Hawaii has one of the largest concentrations of Filipino immigrants in North America, and over 5,000 enter the state every year.
Anakbayan also said the Arroyo admi-nistration’s failure to address the “dire economic and political repression” in the Philippines has been driving so many Filipinos to leave.
Anakbayan is a member of Bayan, an alliance of Filipino organizations from which the greatest number of political killings are from.
