Diorama of WWII events unfold at Bataan capitol

 Many residents escaped by bancas to Hagonoy, Bulacan as Japanese airplanes dropped bombs in the peaceful province, leaving thousands of civilians dead and wounded.

Filipinos as freedom loving people made heroic defense of Bataan together with American soldiers.

Mess Sgt. Jose Calugas was shown in the next episode where using an artillery gun, he repelled the advancing enemy forces after the American gunner was killed at the Layac junction in Dinalupihan. This was the First Line of Defense marker where the first bloody  encounter on the soil of Bataan took place.

Nurses and doctors answered to their call of duty and even used a bus of then Pambusco to attend to wounded American and Filipino soldiers.

After heavy fighting when Bataan was like an inferno, American and Filipino soldiers were forced to surrender. In a big way, they accomplished their task – that of delaying the timetable of the attacking Japanese.

The ordeal of more than 70,000 Filipino and American soldiers under the United States Armed Forces in Far East (USAFFE) started on April 10 – 11, 1942, a day or two after Bataan fell on April 9.

From two points in Bataan – Mariveles and Bagac towns, the sick and starving soldiers under the bayonets of Japanese invaders and cold and hot weather hiked more than 100 kilometers to San Fernando, Pampanga.

Reaching the Pampanga train station, the defenders were loaded to box cars of the train like pigs to their final destination, Camp O’Donnell in Capas, Tarlac.

At the capitol ground where the diorama is, the Fall of Bataan marker is located. “Sealed in blood is the permanent ties of friendship and cooperation between the Philippines and the United States,” reads the marker in part.

The diorama and other Bataan Day activities are projects of the Provincial Tourism Council Foundation chaired by Vicky Garcia in coordination with the provincial government under her son Gov. Albert Garcia.