Corregidor: We Shall Not Forget

Corregidor: We Shall Not Forget

Most of us first encounter of Corregidor were through the pages of our history books in school. Through these treasured pages, we have been brought back to the beautiful and tragic story of our past which most of us have forgotten as soon as we closed the book of the past.

But I hope to remember the story on those pages.

It was one Saturday in September when I together with 3 other friends came to visit the historical place that once been a dream destination of mine.

Booking a Corregidor overnight tour ahead, we gathered at Sun Cruise terminal at around 9:00am. We headed to their office, presented our booking vouchers which we got from a group buying website, registered and were given stickers for identification. These stickers show the passenger’s name, seat number in the ferry and your assigned bus number.

Around 11am, we all boarded the ferry and in less than an hour reached the island of Corregidor. Upon alighting from the ferry, we were guided to our bus number or Tran via.

The Tran via that takes the passengers within the island is modeled from the old trolley cars that were used during the American-Japanese Occupation.

We were brought first to the Corregidor Inn, the only hotel and restaurant in the whole island, for our inclusive tour package lunch buffet.

And now we’re on to reminisce the momentous past.

Corregidor comes from the word “corregir” which means to correct. It is believed that during the Spanish era, all ships entering Manila Bay were required to have their documents checked at the “Isla del Corregidor” or Island of the Corregidor, while some story would say that the island was named “El Corregidor” as it became a penitentiary or correctional institution during the Spanish era.

This tadpole-shape island is actually part of Cavite, contrary to what most of us know that it is part of Bataan. It’s divided to three parts; Topside, Middleside and Bottomside

Our first stop was at the Battery Way, this was where the ammunitions been stored.

Here are some of the big guns fired against the Japanese soldiers during the 1940s.

 

Located on the Topside part of the island is the Mile-Long Barracks, a three-storey hurricane-proof building. Measured about 1,520 feet long, Mile-Long Barracks was known to be the world’s longest military barracks.

Then we headed to the Pacific War Memorial, built in honor of the Filipino and American soldiers who fought in the Pacific War. Directly under the top opening of the dome is an altar on which these words are written;

             

“Sleep, my sons, your duty done, for Freedom’s light has come; sleep in the silent depths of the sea, or in your bed of hallowed sod, until you hear at dawn the low, clear reveille of God.”

At the back of the dome stands Eternal Flame of Freedom, a large red steel sculpture designed by Aristides Demetrios. The sculpture commemorates the heroic deed of American and Philippines soldiers who fought for freedom, and the fire to defend it will be burning eternally.

Pacific War Memorial Museum was built to display number of memorabilia, photos and news clips during the war.

Before the war, people in Corregidor were much fun of entertainment. They had a movie theater called Cine Corregidor. At the back of the theater was the place for their gala nights.

Our next stop was the Spanish lighthouse. The original lighthouse which was built by the Spaniards in 1836 was destroyed during the World War II.  The lighthouse being seen erected right now was constructed on the same site of the original lighthouse. This is considered as the highest point in the island, with an elevation of 629 feet above sea level. A view of Corregidor, Manila Bay, South China Sea and Bataan can be seen once on top of the lighthouse.

 

“I Shall Return”. This was the famous line by Gen. Douglas MacArthur. A military advisor to the Philippine Commonwealth, Gen. MacArthur’s task was to organize and train a Philippine army for the approaching war against the Japanese.  When it was seemingly to win the battle against the combined naval-air-ground assault by the Japanese, American President Roosevelt ordered the leave of Gen. MacArthur to head to Australia where he planned, trained and led armies.

And true enough to his words, he did return to the Philippines and led the defeat of the Japanese forces in 1945.

There are memorial gardens in honor of the Filipinos who died at the hands of Japanese soldiers, and on one of which, sculpted the major events in Philippine history.

This riffle and helmet standing on the center of a memorial reminds us of the Filipinos who risked their lives and the bloody battle that transpired.

And there is also a memorial for the Japanese who died in the battle. Many Japanese come to Corregidor to pay respect to their bereaved soldiers.

Late in the afternoon, we were brought to the Malinta Tunnel for the Light and Show.

Malinta Tunnel was originally built to house ammunitions, but during the war, it had served as medical unit and communication command center. The tunnel which took 10 years to be completed, from 1922 to 1932, also served as the headquarter of President Manuel L. Quezon.

Today, the Malinta Tunnel is the venue for the Lights and Sounds Show where the dramatic events that took in the World War II are re-enacted. The script for the show was written by Lamberto Avellana, a national artist and film director, sculptures were made by national artist Napoleon Abueva and was narrated by Franky Evangelista.

Knowing and experiencing the tragic past of our fellowmen through this show could be saddening to the point that I cried when at the end of the show, the Philippine flag was raised and the Philippine anthem was played.

After the heartbreaking show, we headed back to the hotel to rest for a while before going to the hospital.

Adding to the creepy ruins of the hospital was the story that was shared to us by our tour guide. According to him, aside from being where the wounded soldiers were brought during the World War II, this place was also where the Muslims from Mindanao were assassinated.

The tour guide said that the late President Marcos demanded for a number of Muslims in Mindanao who would be trained for a special mission. They were brought blindfolded to Corregidor for training. Upon learning that the special mission would be fighting with their Muslim brothers in Sabbah Indonesia to win the pinag-aagawang lupa they declined. Since this was a secret mission, all the Muslims who had been part of the mission were gunned down.

The names of the massacred Muslim soldiers were written on the walls of the ravaged hospital.

After exploring the desolated hospital, we went back to Manila Tunnel for the night tour. This time with our helmets and flashlights we walked inside the laterals. The tour guide discussed important events that took in place inside the tunnel and pointed out the different headquarters.

We were also brought to where the Japanese soldiers blew themselves up so not to be captured by the American forces. For the Japanese, it is more honorable to die than to surrender to their enemies.

And to let us actually feel what the Japanese soldiers experienced when trapped inside the tunnel, we were asked to switch off our flash flights while walking on the lateral. It was very creepy that you would be thinking that there were some others walking with the group.

The eerie experience we had at Malinta tunnel ended our tour for that day, and yes, now we were inside our rooms and would manage to sleep.

We woke up at around 4:30 am the following day, we plan of watching the sun rise, but unlucky because of the gloomy weather we weren’t able to.

After that unfortunate event, we climbed down the Japanese tunnel located in a masukal. This was where Japanese soldiers hid their ammunitions.

Aside from the historical tour offered by Corregidor, they are now other activities like ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) and zipline.

 

Good thing that the hotel has a swimming pool because I don’t think you can swim at the beach.

At around 1pm, after having our lunch, we prepared our things and readied for our ride back to Manila.

My two days in Corregidor has taught me many things. I may soon be forgetting some of the facts I’ve learned, but the sure thing I will not is that in this place, Filipino and Japanese soldiers alike sacrificed their lives for their mission and that it to protect their own people.