Walking on the Promise
by Oliver Carlos
Very few young people today know that May 6 used to be a holiday. When I was in elementary school, my parents didn’t have work on that day. On our large calendars at home, May 6 was printed in red. It’s called Corregidor Day, it’s a holiday to commemorate the 1942 fall of Corregidor Island to the hands of the Japanese imperial army during World War 2. It had a twin holiday — April 9, the day Bataan fell to the same invaders. So there were actually 2 holidays to remember our gallant stand during the last world war.
It was in 1987 when President Cory Aquino put together the celebration of Bataan Day (April 9) and Corregidor Day (May 6) into just one holiday. Thus, in our contemporary times, the young generation only know about April 9 as Araw ng Kagitingan. Corregidor Day is now a forgotten holiday, and May 6 is just an ordinary day.
Corregidor is a little rocky island fortress off the southern coast of Bataan. It had a tunnel, Malinta Tunnel, that served as the headquarters of the joint Filipino and American forces. That’s where Gen. Douglas MacArthur commandeered the USAFFE until mid-March of 1942, after which he was ordered by the US President to evacuate to Australia. Once in Australia, he made a radio broadcast addressed to the defenders of the Philippines. It was in that radio speech when he said his most famous quote, “I shall return.”
That promise became the mantra of every freedom-loving Filipino for the next 2 ½ years. Though Bataan and Corregidor had fallen, those words gave hope to the subdued people and the resistance movement. They held on to that promise, believing it with all their hearts that one day their liberator would come.
MacArthur made good of his promise in October 1944 when he landed in Leyte. Weeks later, in January 1945, he landed on Lingayen Beach in Pangasinan. From that beach, the American forces pushed towards Manila. World War 2 in the Philippines ended when the Japanese surrendered by midyear of 1945.
Incidentally, I found a very old faded photograph of my maternal grandmother, Ceriaca Castillo walking along Lingayen Beach. The picture was taken in 1947, that’s just 2 years after MacArthur landed and walked on the same spot. Nobody could tell me though why grandmother was there. Probably she was enjoying and celebrating the freshly acquired peace and freedom our country got. If I were there, that’s what I would do too. As a history buff, I’d walk on the soldiers’ footprints and imagine the glory of the moment. Today, the place is a tourist attraction. War memorabilia which include vintage airplanes, tanks, and anti-aircraft cannons are displayed on the beach to help visitors remember what took place there decades ago.
In life, we all need some promises to hold on. When we enter stormy chapters in our life, we need hope to keep us afloat. It is like an anchor that keeps a ship from drifting out of control into the turbulent sea. This is explained in Hebrews 6:18–19 (ICB):
“God cannot lie when he makes a promise, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath. These things encourage us who came to God for safety. They give us strength to hold on to the hope we have been given. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and strong.”
Do you feel that your world right now is getting crazier and crazier? Are you getting impatient for help to come? Hold on to God’s promises. He said that he will give you peace, power, and prosperity. He promised you safety and salvation. Remember that God never tell lies. What he said, he will surely fulfill.
