LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – They often tell of their trials and triumphs during World War II over cups of native coffee or tapuy (rice wine) at social gatherings. But old Igorot soldiers of World War II are not just fading away; they are also dying and their heirs worry that nobody is left to tell their stories.
Fortunately for the veterans, some of their grandchildren, anxious that such part of Benguet’s historic gem will be forgotten altogether, have thought of documenting in film their grandfathers’ stories of valor, courage and sacrifice.
The premier showing of the first documentary about Igorot war veterans was the highlight of a series of activities honoring Benguet’s World War II heroes on Aug. 15, the day the province was liberated from the Japanese Imperial Army 62 years ago.
Thanks to the initiatives of ResearchMate, a local research group, and the Outstanding Students of the Cordillera Administrative Region (Oscar) Alumni Community Inc., which produced the documentary, Aug. 15 from now on may yet be institutionalized as an important Benguet historic holiday.
Many members and associates of ResearchMate and Oscar are either children or grandchildren of World War II veterans. Their common interest in local history finally led them to embark on a film project about their forebears’ heroism even with a shoestring budget.
The 45-minute “Our Igorot Fathers, the Heroes: The Untold Story of the 66th Infantry Regiment, USAFIP-NL” chronicles how, six months after the fall of Bataan in April 1942, Igorot soldiers returned to Benguet to help build the resistance movement until the Japanese finally surrendered in 1945.
The film seeks to tell more comprehensively what used to be vignettes of the whole story of the Igorot resistance against the Japanese Imperial Army in the last war.
Turning north towards Benguet and other parts of the Cordillera was the wisest decision for the resistance movement after the fall of Bataan on April 9, 1942. For one, the rugged and forested terrain of the mountain region was ideal for guerrilla warfare.
The other reason, which the film also noted, is that Benguet and the other mountain provinces had self-sufficient sweet potato and upland rice-producing communities to support the guerrillas in hiding.
Battle trails
In making the documentary “we had to follow and visit the trails of actual battles, which still have traces of foxholes, as we interviewed surviving veterans and reenacted encounters (between the Japanese and Igorot guerrillas),” says Betty Lestino of ResearchMate.
The filmmakers visited actual battle sites in the towns of Sablan, Tuba, La Trinidad, Bokod, Kabayan, Buguias, Mankayan and Kapangan.
“In the process, we were able to collect bomb and ammunition shells and other war gear, which we plan to put in a museum,” says Lestino.
To reenact the battles, the filmmakers had to employ 35 volunteer talents from Benguet and Mt. Province, who underwent a weeklong military training under the La Trinidad police and a consultant from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The 66th Infantry
Given the filmmakers’ meager budget, which they solicited from the Benguet provincial government and other donors, the documentary may not have the perfect simulation of war battles shown in well-funded movies.
But the documentary sufficiently shows how the 66th Infantry Regiment of the USAFIP-NL (United States Armed Forces in the Philippines-Northern Luzon) liberated Baguio City and Benguet.
Composed mostly of soldiers from Benguet and Mt. Province, the 66th Infantry had to face a well-entrenched and battle-tested enemy.
When the USAFIP-NL set its D-Day on Jan. 4, 1945, the Japanese had already established strategic defense lines in Benguet, which they had practically controlled since after the war broke in 1941.
The Japanese had controlled Naguilian and Kennon roads, the Mountain Trail (now Halsema Highway), and the gold and copper-rich Lepanto area.
But there was no stopping the 66th Infantry, which was attached to the US Sixth Army Division. The Igorot soldiers launched their assault along the Japanese’s Rosario-Damortis line of defense so they could approach Baguio City through Naguilian and Kennon roads.
Simultaneous assaults
The infantry’s simultaneous assaults against the Japanese in these two main roads finally liberated Sablan on April 10 and Tuba on April 26. All these led to more assaults that finally liberated Baguio City on April 27 and La Trinidad on May 3.
In June 1945, the USAFIP-NL mother unit ushered in the 66th Infantry to reinforce the 121st and 15th Infantry in a battle with the Japanese at Bessang Pass, Ilocos Sur.
The 66th Infantry was again assigned for combat operations in the Tagudin to Cervantes Highway at the right flank of Bessang Pass.
On June 14, after more than five months of armed clashes at and around Bessang Pass, where almost all soldiers of the 121st Infantry were killed, this “bloody and decisive battle among the clouds” (as a war chronicle described it) was finally won, “swinging open Yamashita’s western door.”
After the battles at Bessang Pass, all units of the USAFIP-NL continued their assault into the Mt. Province (at that time Mt. Province comprised what is now the provinces of the Cordillera).
For its part, the 66th Infantry tested its mettle in the villages of Comillas and Lepanto in Mankayan up to Abatan and Loo Valley in Buguias town. Here the 66th Infantry, after launching its assault on June 17, 1945, faced the regular and battle-tested 19th Division, also called the Tora Division, of the Japanese army numbering about 2,000 troops.
After 27 days of fierce fighting, Lepanto in Mankayan was finally liberated on July 20, eliminating what the film noted was “one of the best fortified enemy positions in Northern Luzon, nay, the whole Southwest Pacific area.”
From Lepanto and Mankayan, the 66th Infantry pursued the enemy to Abatan in Buguias, securing the area on July 27.
While the 66th Infantry was pursuing the remaining Japanese at Loo Valley on Aug. 15, Emperor Hirohito of Japan went on radio for the first time to order all Japanese to lay down their arms.
With this, USAFIP-NL commanding officer, Col. Russell W. Volckmann, issued a ceasefire order. Japan surrendered, and after five years of conflict Benguet was finally liberated on Aug. 15, 1945.
The documentary has helped remind Benguet’s officials to celebrate for the first time the province’s liberation anniversary.
“Benguet’s celebration of its Liberation Day serves as a reminder of the gallantry and sacrifices of our own local heroes,” says a flyer of ResearchMate and Oscar. “The trails (the 66th Infantry) left reflect the Igorots’ inherent bravery, love for family, and love for freedom.”
5 comments:
My grandfather fought in Bessang Pass. I wrote my thesis about him and the Filipino Guerilla Movement. Can you help me get in touch with the ResearchMate? I would just like to know more about their initiatives. Thanks.
Hello Kayni,
You can get in touch with Betty Lestino. Her mobile phone number: 0906-3634067
Maurice
For those interested in the history of the USAFIP-NL and its five regiments (11th, 14th,15th, 66th, and 121st), you can download a 1954-published book by Colonel Russel W. Volkmann, We Remained Three Years Behind the Enemy Lines in the Philippines.
http://www.archive.org/details/weremainedthreey011059mbp
I am a natural born American citizen, but at age 11 and 12 from 1963 to 1964 my family lived in Luzon in the college town of Los Banos. My father was employed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), an agricultural project developing new strains of rice. During my two years stay, I became acutely aware of the wealth of World War II history around me. At the time of my residence, the memory of the Japanese occupation was still fresh in minds of Filipinos. My father’s work brought our family in contact with Filipinos, and I listened enthralled by their World War II stories of the Japanese occupation, resitance, and liberation. In recent years, I have been researching this period in order to put these stories into some historical context, which is how I came across Volckmann's book. I am always interested in learning new information, especially from unpublished sources.
Following up from my previous post, I am writing a movie script for a World War II historical fiction about the formation of the USAFIP-NL and the Battle for Bessang Pass called Battle Among the Clouds. However, a book might be more realistic, considering the movie industry's fanciful interpretations of World War II. I have placed samples of my script on my blog site. My blog address is
http://globalvoyageur.blogspot.com/
If you have comments, post them or email me at caninoridge@hughes.net
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