INTRODUCTION
Sa araw na ito, muli nating buhayin sa ating isipan ang kagitingan at kabayanihan ng ating mga sundalong lumaban para sa ating kalayaan. Ating ipagbunyi ang kanilang magiting na pag-aalay ng buhay para sa ating inang bayan.

Today we gather on this high ground — consecrated with the blood of patriots — to honor the memory of the noblest and bravest Filipinos of our time.

More than half a century has passed since the last great war — and we pray fervently that it, indeed, will be the last such catastrophic conflict that humankind will know. The land — as we can see from this vantage point — has long been restored to health; the murderous exchange of artillery fire has long given way to the noises and bustle of people at work.

Bataan has been raised from its fall and now we see the growth areas of Limay, Mariveles, Morong, Subic and the new APEC Highway through Dinalupihan, among others.

Where devastation and death once reigned over the land, we now find peace, opportunity and hope for an even brighter future for the Filipino of the incoming century.

And even in our hearts, where the wounds of war and the pain of loss run deep, we have found it in ourselves to reconcile with our former foes — and to make peace with and among ourselves, enabling us to move on to new and more gainful endeavors.
AN EVERLASTING DEBT
But all the same — and precisely because of the better conditions we now enjoy — we must look back, and acknowledge once again our everlasting debt to those who gifted us with our freedom, and our opportunities.

Those men and women include the many thousands who undertook and endured that fateful and often fatal trek we now know as the Death March, from the many corners of the Bataan Peninsula through Pampanga and then to the concentration camp at Capas.

That march took five days — but in the scorching sun, and without life’s barest necessities, it may as well have been eternity.

Many fell on the road, from sheer exhaustion, from wounds, from disease, from hunger, from the hardships imposed on them by the conquering army. Others died in the concentration camp itself, under the most horrible conditions. History tells us that in one day alone — on June 1, 1942 — a total of 383 prisoners died in camp. By July 25 that same year, more than 15,000 Filipino and 2,500 American POWs had died in captivity.

These are staggering figures that boggle the minds of those of us who have never had to suffer the privations of war and the horrors of imprisonment. We cannot imagine a natural disaster or calamity in our recent history that has resulted in so great a loss in so short a time.

Perhaps ironically, even the eruption a few years ago of the volcano that towers over this vast plain was more merciful in terms of taking human life.

But war, of course, has always been the most unnatural and the cruelest of disasters. It is entirely man-made, and it has often made a mockery of man’s finest talents and moral achievements. Many centuries ago, a sage observed that “in peace, the sons bury their fathers but in war, the fathers bury their sons.”
FATHERS TO OUR FREEDOM
Those sons were fathers to our freedom. Their courage and steadfastness extended what the invaders had thought would be a one-month job to four long months of bitter struggle — proving to the enemy that the people they had come to conquer deserved a nobler destiny than abject enslavement.

Those men and women fought not for their own glory — as rousing and as moving as the stories of their exploits are to us today — but for something many of them would never see with their own eyes: the peace and the growing prosperity that their descendants now live under. Perhaps they understood what Aristotle meant when he said, more than two thousand years ago, that “the goal of war is peace.”

We cannot lose sight of our goal as a people and as the nation we have been for a hundred years: that whatever challenges and sacrifices we take on, they are for the ultimate and the common good.
NEW BATTLES TO BE FOUGHT
Today we are fighting new wars and different battles: against poverty, against disease, against ignorance and injustice, against environmental abuse. We have made significant advances against these modern-day enemies, and our economic recovery has been a victory we can all be proud of.

But the war is far from finished, and many of the battles lie within ourselves — against the disunity, the selfishness, the vanity, the prejudice and the pessimism that have often put to waste our heroes’ noble examples and sacrifices.

Let us, then, take this opportunity — this day we devote to the memory of our heroes — to rededicate ourselves to their cause with the same fervor, the same courage, and the same willingness to struggle and endure together.

A person becomes a hero by becoming larger than he thinks he is in the pursuit of a noble cause; and we, too, can become heroes by enlarging ourselves — not just as individuals but as a community of citizens with shared purposes and efforts. Today as we approach the centennial of our nationhood, this kind of synergy is even more vital. It is the least and yet perhaps also the best we can do to honor the past: by working together for an even more vibrant and bountiful future.

Together with us today is Representative Bob Filner, a consistent and stouthearted advocate and champion of justice for Filipino veterans, has spoken recently for them before the US Congress: “it is truly hard to believe that Filipino World War II veterans have been kept waiting for over 50 years for the recognition they deserve. Many have already died, and in 16 years, there will no longer be any of these veterans alive.

“The bullets in World War II did not ask if their target was an American or Filipino soldier. Both Filipino soldiers and soldiers from the United States mainland fought side by side against a common enemy. We must act now to redress the wrongs these Filipino veterans have suffered.”
BETTER BENEFITS FOR VETERANS
Let us devote our special attention to the men and women who have served in our armed forces, and who continue to work with us in building a more just and provident society.

In this regard, I approved a few days ago the release of p595 million for the full payment of the mandated increases for old age/surviving spouse pensions and other veterans’ benefits effective as of January 1, 1997 to cover the first semester requirements of 1997. There will be more releases for this purpose after July 1, 1997.

This means that the veterans who are 65 years or older, and their widows regardless of age, will now be given p2,500 and not just p2,250 as monthly pension. This means also that because they actually received p2,250 starting January, they will receive the differential of p250 each month from January to April 1997, or a total of p1,000 for those four months.
CLOSING
These amounts are but a token of our appreciation for the labors of our veterans, and as your president, i will continue to endeavor to do even more to improve their lot, so that they might live with the dignity appropriate to their heroism — even as we realize that heroism is ultimately priceless.

This new nation we have built is our heroes’ own legacy to us. Let us all pray that we can prove ourselves worthy of and adequate to their sacrifice and their expectations.

Mabuhay ang mga beteranong Pilipino!

Mabuhay ang ating mga bayani!

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!