Ayon kay Jimmy Tejada, anak ng Bataan Death March survivor na si Private First Class Fernando Tejada, bagamat nakaligtas ang kanyang ama sa Death March noong 1942, madalas pa rin itong bangungutin dahil sa mga naranasan niya sa mahigit 100 kilometrong martsa.
Kaya si Jimmy, taon-taon na nakiki-isa sa mahabang paglalakad para gunitain ang Death March.
Binabaybay nila ang mahigit 100 kilometrong ruta na dinaanan din ng kanyang ama.
Panoorin ang ‘Sumuko na ang Bataan,’ dokumentaryo ni Mav Gonzales sa #IWitness.
Kaya si Jimmy, taon-taon na nakiki-isa sa mahabang paglalakad para gunitain ang Death March.
Binabaybay nila ang mahigit 100 kilometrong ruta na dinaanan din ng kanyang ama.
Panoorin ang ‘Sumuko na ang Bataan,’ dokumentaryo ni Mav Gonzales sa #IWitness.
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FunTranscript
00:00The Philippine Army returned to their east from the American camp with a flag.
00:10The Japanese said that they need to leave Bataan because the next phase of fighting is Corredor.
00:17They need to be removed from the battlefield.
00:20And the chosen place where the prisoners of war will be placed was in Tarlac, in Capas.
00:26They are short of trucks and gasoline.
00:29So they said that they will leave.
00:32If you are weak and sick, malnourished, you will fall there.
00:37But the Japanese don't want anyone to fall.
00:40So those who fall are killed.
00:44They are bayoneted or shot.
00:48Many died on the march.
00:51That's why this is called the Death March.
00:54Soldiers from Bataan Death March came from two places.
00:59From Mariveles and Bagac.
01:05Jimmy is the son of the Death March survivor, Private First Class Fernando Tejada.
01:12Although he was saved, not all of his father's wounds healed.
01:17He was always paralyzed.
01:20He didn't know what to think.
01:22He always wanted to hold his gun.
01:32That's when you feel that even though the war is over,
01:41they still feel what happened.
01:47Every year, Jimmy joins the long march to commemorate the Death March.
01:53They travel more than 100 kilometers on the route that his father also traveled.
02:01Jimmy's father's Death March started here in Mariveles, Bataan.
02:06So this is the place where it all started?
02:09Yes, this is where it all started.
02:13First of all, I would like to show my respect to them.
02:22It's past 1 a.m. right now.
02:24Let's see how long it will take for the sun to rise.
02:29It's better at night because it's not that hot.
02:33That's why the soldiers before didn't have a choice.
02:36Whether it's cold or hot, they kept going.
02:44The soldiers were divided into groups of 100.
02:48When they heard that the Death March was about to start,
02:51what were they thinking?
02:52Did they know that this was what would happen to them?
02:55That they would have to walk that far?
02:57Actually, they didn't have to walk that far.
03:01They just thought that they might be killed.
03:06They just thought that they might be killed.
03:15As the march began, they quickly climbed up the mountain.
03:22We are now at the top of the mountain.
03:23That's what we were looking down earlier.
03:25But Sir told us that it's still dark.
03:31So just imagine how it used to be without electricity.
03:35That's what they were walking and walking at night.
03:42For the soldiers to reach the camp immediately,
03:44the soldiers marched day and night.
03:58If they couldn't walk, the soldiers were killed by the Japanese.
04:03They were bayoneted so that they wouldn't be able to march slowly.
04:13That's why every kilometer, Jimmy stopped the marker
04:17to pay tribute to the hard work of his father and other soldiers.
04:23This is the first.
04:29Let's rest for a while.
04:31It's a good thing that they can rest.
04:33They couldn't rest before.
04:37But even the markers were exposed.
04:42Because of the original posts that were made of steel,
04:46they were stolen.
04:49In Kilometer 25 in Limay, Bataan,
04:52was the first person who paid tribute to the Death March Markers.
05:01Good day to you.
05:02Hi Sir, I'm Av.
05:04His father was also one of the marchers.
05:07Richard Hudson was the quartermaster.
05:10He didn't really care about the death march markers.
05:14Richard Hudson was the quartermaster.
05:17He didn't really fight much until the last two weeks
05:20when basically the food was gone,
05:22the ammunition was just about all gone,
05:25and they gave him a rifle.
05:27He sat in the foxholes with the army
05:30and fought against the Japanese.
05:33He witnessed, that's part of the reason he had so many bad dreams, nightmares.
05:42He witnessed so many cruelties, especially on the Filipinos.
05:47The Japanese hated the Filipinos because they were fighting with the Americans.
05:51They hated Americans.
05:56Bob was married to a Filipina.
05:59And when he visited the Death March route,
06:04he saw that the markers were ruined.
06:08That's why he wrote the organization that made it.
06:12And I said, why do they look so terrible?
06:15You know, we're talking about thousands of men died on this march.
06:19These Death March markers you put up, they were in such a sad condition.
06:23You know, we should have more respect for what these men went through,
06:28what they gave up, what they sacrificed.
06:33They were the ones who cleaned and painted all 137 markers.
06:40Now that Bob was old enough,
06:42the government gave him the responsibility of taking care of them.
06:52When we arrived in Balanga, we took a short detour.
06:58We visited an elementary school that used to be a Japanese garrison.
07:05In the middle of the schools,
07:08there was a small torture chamber used by the Japanese.
07:21In the World War II Museum here,
07:23they displayed the various tools of the occupiers.
07:27Here, they displayed the actual bayonet blades of the Japanese.
07:33And they said that in this area where the museum is located,
07:37there were a lot of Filipinos and even Americans who were tortured and killed.
07:44According to Dr. Ricardo Jose's history,
07:47not all of the Japanese were great.
07:50Some of them were lucky,
07:52they were allowed to ride trucks,
07:54that's why they didn't have to walk to the camp.
07:57Those who were left on the march,
07:59helped each other to survive.
08:02There was a civic sense that they would help each other.
08:06So let's say that the Japanese were killing the occupiers,
08:10the others were stronger,
08:12they would say,
08:13we will help you.
08:15So the others were almost carried.
08:17And the tragic thing about that is that
08:19sometimes the ones who were carried
08:21would reach Camp O'Donnell in Capas and survive.
08:24And the ones who were carried,
08:26they were the ones who survived.
08:28And the ones who were carried,
08:29they were the ones who died.
08:35We're on our way back.
08:44The sun is about to set by noon.
08:52But to be honest,
08:54it's still bright compared to the temperature
08:57that the soldiers were exposed to
08:59last April,
09:01when it was 40 degrees Celsius.
09:10The water in Palayan,
09:12during the death march,
09:15that was the reason for their survival.
09:18If the Japanese didn't care,
09:21they would grab it and drink it.
09:23That's what my father told me.
09:25Wasn't there a lot of water back then?
09:27Or was it clean back then?
09:29It was clean back then, of course.
09:32But no matter how dirty it was,
09:33as long as they saw it,
09:35they would have liquid in their bodies.
09:40Thank you so much for tuning in to Eyewitness, Kapuso.
09:43What can you say about this documentary?
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