Araw ng Kagitingan
| Bataan Day | |
|---|---|
| Date | April 9 |
| Next time | April 9, 2018 |
| Frequency | annual |
Araw ng Kagitingan (Filipino for Day of Valor), also known as Bataan Day or Bataan and Corregidor Day, is a national observance in the Philippines which commemorates the fall of Bataan during World War II. It falls on April 9, although in 2009 it would have coincided with Maundy Thursday and its celebration for 2009 was moved to April 6.
Official instruments designating of this holiday have specified several different names.
In 1961, Congress passed Republic Act 3022 declaring April 9 of every year as Bataan Day.
In 1987, Executive Order 203 revised all national holidays in the Philippines, renaming the April 9 holiday as "Araw ng Kagitingan (Bataan and Corregidor Day)". Less than a month later, another executive order (No. 292) revised the holidays anew, but it did not affect the naming of the April 9 holiday.
In 2007, Congress passed Republic Act No. 9492 putting into law the "Holiday Economics" policy of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo; this put the observance of each holiday, with the exception of New Year's Day and Christmas, to the Monday nearest it. Starting with the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, all celebrations of the holiday have been observed on April 9, instead of being moved to the nearest Monday, and the holiday has been called simply "Araw ng Kagitingan".
At dawn on 9 April 1942, against the orders of Generals Douglas MacArthur and Jonathan Wainwright, the commander of the Luzon Force, Bataan, Major General Edward P. King, Jr., surrendered more than 76,000 starving and disease-ridden soldiers (67,000 Filipinos, 1,000 Chinese Filipinos, and 11,796 Americans) to Japanese troops.
The majority of these prisoners of war had their belongings confiscated before being forced to endure the infamous 140-kilometre (87 mi) Bataan Death March to Camp O'Donnell in Capas, Tarlac. En route, thousands died from dehydration, heat prostration, untreated wounds, and execution while walking in deep dust over vehicle-broken Macadam roads, and crammed into rail cars for transport to captivity.
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