The Philippine national government declared April 9 of every year as one of the Regular National Holiday across the country in commemoration of the gallant stand of the Filipino and American soldiers during the Battle of Bataan. The country will be observing the 73rd anniversary of the Fall of Bataan on Thursday, April 9, 2015.
The “Araw ng Kagitingan” (Day of Valor) is one of the legal national holiday in the Philippines as stipulated in Republic Act 3022 which was originally signed by Pres. Carlos P. Garcia in 1961. According to the law signed by the President, it urged all Filipinos particularly their public officials to observe one-minute silence at 4:30 PM of April 9 and to hold appropriate rites in honor of the veterans of the Fall of Bataan in particular and World War II in general.
Based upon various history books, the Fall of Bataan happened in April 9, 1942, when Filipino and American troops who were isolated for months in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese Imperial Army under General Masaharu Homma.
Right after the Fall of Bataan, most of the survivors of the Japanese offensives were forced to march from Mariveles, Bataan all the way to San Fernando, Pampanga before traveling via bpx train to Camp O’Donnell in Tarlac. The event was remembered in the history of world military as the infamous “Death March.”
The Filipino and American Forces who defended the Bataan grounds was under the command of Major General Edward P. King of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). During the deadly offensives by the Japanese he came to the conclusion that further attempts to stop the Japanese from advancing will be useless.
The April 9, national holidays was part of the official regular holidays signed by President Benigno Simeon Aquino III through Proclamation No. 831 series of 2014.