Behold Bataan

English:

INVOLVEMENT OF BATAAN IN WORLD WAR II

Dawn of December 8, 1941 – the feast day of the Immaculate Conception. The Japanese bombed the Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The 10-year military build-up for the defense of the Philippines – as planned by the Philippine Commonwealth under Pres. Manuel L. Quezon (with Gen. Douglas MacArthur as military adviser) was only half – completed, Bataan’s fortifications were not ready for the long defensive campaign as mapped out in the secret War Plan Orange 3 (WPO-3) in the eventuality of a foreign invasion. Hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese bombed the Baguio airfield. At noon, they struck the US air forces in Iba, Zambales and Clark, Pampanga – thus, reducing the American air force in the Philippines to almost half. At about noon of the same day, a Japanese naval task force landed in the undefended Batan Island of Batanes in Northern Philippines. On December 10, the Cavite Naval Station’s yard was destroyed; the docks and naval installations were seriously damaged. Only submarines were left.

The Japanese forces under Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma, commander of the Japanese 14th Army, then made successful beach landings and occupied Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Albay, Quezon, la Union and Pangasinan. The pincer movement of the onrushing Japanese forces from Northern and Southern Luzon prompted Gen. Douglas MacArthur – commander of the newly formed United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) in the Philippines to implement WPO – 3 to prevent the early destruction of the Philippine troops.

Tagalog:

PAGKAKASANGKOT NG BATAAN SA IKALAWANG DIGMAANG PANDAIGDIG

asalukuyang inihahanda ang depensa ng Pilipinas sakaling madamay ito sa digmaan nang biglang bombahin ng Hapon ang Base-Amerikano sa Pearl Harbor, ika-8 ng Disyembre, 1941. Makalipas lamang ang ilang oras, ay nilusob ang Batan Island sa Batanes at sinalakay ang mga base ng mga Amerikano sa Davao, Clark, at iba pa. Isinunod nila ang baseng pandagat sa Cavite.

Lumunsad sila sa mga dalampasigan ng Ilocos, La Union, Pangasinan, Cagayan Valley, at Quezon at mabilis na nasakop ang mga ito. Kung kaya’t kinailangang ipatupad ni Douglas MacArthur ang War Plan Orange 3 kung saan ang lahat ng pwersa ng USAFFE sa Luzon ay titipunin sa Bataan. Kaya simula ika-24 ng Disyembre 1941, nagdatingan ang iba’t-ibang dibisyon upang gumawa ng Last Ditch Stand at antalahin ang tuluyang pagsakop ng mga Hapones sa Pilipinas.