MANILA – Of the estimated 80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war who took part in the Bataan Death March 76 years ago, only three were still alive, their ages past the century mark.
They were Private First Class Juliano De La Peña, 107, Colonel Catalino del Rosario Ibañez, and Colonel Vicente F. Alhambra Sr., 102.
Alhambra held the distinction as a veteran of three wars – World War II, Korean War and the Hukbalahap anti-insurgency campaign in Luzon.
The Philippine News Agency interviewed Alahambra in his house in Cavite. He said he survived all those wars and the Death March because “God was on his side” all throughout the ordeal where many died of exhaustion or execution.
“Remain active but most of all be prayerful,” Alhambra said when asked about his survival secret. He said he prayed to God for protection.
It was in Bataan and Corregidor where Filipino and American soldiers made their last stand against the Japanese during the war, which lasted more than three months before they surrendered on April 9 and May 6, 1942, respectively.
Alhambra kept his photo albums of World War II, the Korean War in 1950-53, and the anti-insurgency drive against the Huks.
Alhambra and all his classmates in the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1942 were automatically drafted into military service three months before graduation when World War II broke out after the bombing of the Philippines by Japanese planes on Dec. 8, 1941.
He said all of them – including Jose Crisol, who became Defense undersecretary in postwar years – reported to then Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Mariano Castañeda for immediate deployment.
“We were the first PMA class called to active duty,” Alhambra recalled.
He said Japanese warplanes bombed Baguio and Cavite where United States naval forces were stationed at Sangley Point.
Alhambra said he was enlisted into the 2nd Regular Division of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) assigned in Mariveles, Bataan.
It was in Bataan that the bulk of Filipino and American forces stood their ground to defend the Philippines until they were forced to surrender on April 9, 1942 due to shortage of ammunition, food and medicines.
Alhambra vividly described the fall of Bataan as a “sad day” as he and his comrades-in-arms became prisoners of war of the Japanese.
He said he was lucky that he did not get sick during the Death March from Mariveles, Bataan to San Fernando, Pampanga, and during his incarceration in Capas, Tarlac, which lasted several months before he and other war prisoners were freed.
“As many as 500 [war prisoners] died every day due to malaria in the concentration camp,” he said. “It was horrible!”
“While I was held a prisoner of war, a woman friend of mine gave me a mosquito net. The mosquito net was handed to a friend who, in turn, gave it to me inside my cell,” Alhambra said.
They lacked food at the concentration camp. “We survived eating tinapa if at all it was available,” Alhambra said. “We were lucky to eat once a day. That would suffice for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
When liberation came, Alhambra found himself locked in battle, this time against the Huk insurgents in Central Luzon.
He survived anew but at the height of the fighting, Alhambra volunteered as a member of the 10th Battalion Combat Team of the Philippine Expedition Force to Korea together with then 2nd Lieutenant Fidel V. Ramos, who later became the 12th president of the republic, and 1st Sergeant Maximo P. Young, a bemedaled Filipino soldier during the Korean War.
“The Korean War was brutal,” Alhambra said. “But that proved the bravery of Filipino soldiers, who refused to back down against the wave-by-wave attacks of the enemy.”
The PEFTOK forces were highly trained in combat. Of the 7,425 Filipino soldiers who fought in the Korean War, PEFTOK lost only 1,170.
Alhambra retired in 1967 as a colonel in the Philippine Constabulary.
Born on July 19, 1916, Alhambra will be 103 years old this July.
Colonel Catalino del Rosario Ibañez, on the other hand, was a licensed civil engineer and lawyer. He was known as the only PMA cadet who signed his own diploma and all the diplomas of his classmates because the PMA Class of 1942 went straight to war and had no graduation ceremonies.
It was only in 1948 that the Class of 1942 was ordered back to the PMA to attend their formal graduation exercises and received the long overdue diplomas. (PNA)
