A close-up of various news clippings and other pertinent information on the Fall of Bataan and the Bataan Death March were featured at the photo exhibit. (Doha PE Photo)
DOHA 18 April 2024 – In commemoration of the 82nd Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor), the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines in the State of Qatar launched a photo exhibit entitled, “A Beacon to All the Liberty-loving Peoples of the World,” on 08 April 2024.
Mounted at the new chancery of the Embassy, the exhibit features select photographs showing key moments, artifacts, and personalities from the Fall of Bataan in 1942 and the infamous Bataan Death March.
The title of the exhibit is drawn from the Voice of Freedom radio broadcast announcing the Fall of Bataan, in which Third Lieutenant Normando Ildefonso Reyes, reading the elegant prose written by Captain Salvador P. Lopez, declared, “Bataan has fallen, but the spirit that made it stand – a beacon to all the liberty-loving peoples of the world – cannot fall!”
Ambassador Lillibeth V. Pono delivers her welcoming remarks. (Doha PE Photo)
In her welcome remarks, Her Excellency Ambassador Lillibeth V. Pono said that the exhibit “highlights the horrors of wars and the collective trauma of a subjugated nation.” “Having attained our freedom, we should be able to look back at the tragedies of the past, learn from them, and recall the courage of our forebears to whom we owe so much of the liberties we cherish today,” Amb. Pono further added.
Ambassador Lillibeth V. Pono (center) and the other attendees at the photo exhibit. (Doha PE Photo)
Held every 9th of April of each year, Araw ng Kagitingan commemorates the Fall of Bataan to Japanese troops on 09 April 1942. On that day, Major General Edward P. King, Jr., an American, defied orders and decided to surrender between 75,000 and 80,000 Filipino and American soldiers to the Japanese troops. This event served as a prelude to what is now known as the infamous Bataan Death March, during which over 10,000 soldiers perished, about 90 percent of whom were Filipinos.
The photo exhibit runs until 18 April 2024. END
For more information, visit dohape.dfa.gov.ph, facebook.com/PHinQatar, or instagram.com/phinqatar.