PROGRAM PASYAL BATA

23 July 2008 BHS Museum of History

This project being undertaken by JCI Bamban Kayabe/BHS is intended for elementary students from Grade 3 to Grade 6 to foster their understanding of local history and culture by bringing them out-of-school tours to local museum and other historical and cultural sites of the town. The Junior Chamber International - Philippines, the national organization of young leaders and entrepreneurs, as part of its scope of national programs, has in its manual for local chapters, the awards for Youth Education Program which requires a program for young students for out-of-classroom tours that will improve their study.

Under this scheme, the JCI Bamban Kayabe/BHS initated the program "Pasyal Bata". The first beneficiary of this program were Grade 3 to Grade 6 students from Sto. Nino Academy. Aside from the usual museum tour, documentary film was shown to the young students covering the actual combat film of the Liberation of Bamban by the 40th Division (US Army) taken on January 23, 1945. The students were briefed by the president of the organization and assisted by Eugene Pineda. Local heroes consisting of the veterans of WWII from Bamban which are in the exhibit hall were presented to the visitors. Most of them however, are related to the veteran-heroes. In addition, they were educated about the Aetas, their culture and history and how these aborigines played in the history of our town.

It took more than two hours of "Pasyal Bata" touring for the students. At the end of the tour, a more and vivid understanding of local history and culture, plus the story of WWII in Bamban has been achieved by these young students who will be the future leaders of our town.

Rhonie Dela Cruz
With Eugene Pineda

OPLAN SAGIP KALIKASAN

23 December 2007 to 20 July 2008

Sitio Sta. Rosa, Bamban

Pan Paruman (Roman Sanches) is already 91 years old. An old guerrilla warrior belonging to Squadron 30, Bruce Guerilla (South Tarlac Military District), he cherish the ancestral land that
occupies most of the Aeta domain in Sitio Sta. Rosa. This upland areas of Bamban covering more than 10,000 hectares has been granted by the Government as ancestral domain with the issuance of CADC 107 sometime in 1997. What makes this particular land of Pan Paruman different from other Aeta domain in Bamban? It is here where you can still find local aquatic turtles, snakes, and other wildlife specie like monitor lizards. And there is a reason for other Aetas and "unats" to fear should they threaten to hunt and get "barag", turtles, even wild chickens.

The area is the site of Tiayag, a protruding cliff-like hill which dominates the lower, north-west portion of Sta. Rosa where the Marimla River traverse. The sound of the gushing waters of Marimla with hundreds of rocks on the riverbanks is there to appreciate what a beautiful landscape is Tiayag. Pan Paruman has its shed built on the dominating riverbank where you can see the Marimla snaking on circuitous routes on the enchanted Tiayag. Historically, the site was an escape route of the Aeta Squadron 30 along with other Bruce Guerrilla units such as the Bamban Battalion.

Pan Paruman has been a long friend of the Bamban Jaycees/BHS members. Having known the old warrior for sometime, he gave his vision of a wildlife sanctuary where young generation of Bamban can see the wildlife of Tiayag, like the aquatic turtles gently display themselves on the banks of Marimla and Tiayag Creek. The idea is worth an endeavor for the Bamban Kayabe. On December 23, 2007, a Committee for the particular project was created and tasked to do the job of creating a sanctuary for the wildlife of Tiayag, Sitio Sta. Rosa. Jose Marie Sibal, or Joy as we call him, was chosen as the Committee Chairman. Joy has the blood of the Aeta running in his veins. His mother, Carmelita Gutierrez, is the daughter of Marcelo (Apung Selu) Guiterrez originally from Sta. Juliana, Capas, Tarlac. Her father who worked before as the Municipal Planning and Development officer in Bamban, belonged to the Aberling Tribe; a mix Aeta and Zambal. Pan Paruman conducted a ritual to appeas the Deity living in the area. The cliff-like hill of Tiayag, according to him, is where the spirit of "Tiayag" lives, looking after any human who hunt or get turtles, "barag", or any wildlife animals living in the area. For such violation, sickness, or even death, can come to the person.

Survey of the land as designated by Pan Paruman has been conducted for several occassions. It is situated on a small plateau near the riverbanks of the Marimla, about 200 meters away his shed. However, turtles hibernate on hot climate days of March through May. His sons helped the team to evaluate and made assesment as to the population density of the turtles. This is very important since non-Aetas, particularly the Kapampangans living in the vicinity of the Aeta domain considered turtles as delicacies. Streamers were put on the village of Sta. Rosa for the preservation of such wildlife in the area.

Rainy season came in full bloom in the month of June. Waters from the numerous small creeks came cascading down from the Tiayag Hill and nearby ridges of Mabilog. By July, turtles can already bee seen "sun-bathing" on the edges of the riverbanks. Plans were made to set-up a screen premises where you can put several turtles which is near the small creeks. Several visits were made by the Team. On July 20, four such premises were established on the designated sites as given by Pan Paruman. About 13 members of the Bamban Kayabe/BHS with five of Pan Paruman's grandsons participated in collecting turtles and putting them in the premises. It is a small work for the preservation of wildlife, but a giant achievement for the ecology and distinct environment of the Aetas, for the generation of Bambanense and Aetas to see the spectacular wildlife at Taiyag.


Rhonie Dela Cruz
With Pan Paruman and his Aeta Tribe

US MEMORIAL DAY 2008

American Cemetery
Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, Manila
29-May-2008

Americans celebrate their annual Memorial Day on May 30 in commemoration for its citizens who served in the military particularly WWII, Korean, Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Hope - Afghanistan. The mother organization, the Bamban Historical Society, has been a constant participant to this solemn event. BHS represent those Filipinos and American soldiers who fought in the liberation of Bamban and the Battle of Bamban Hills whose units composed the 40th, 38th, 43rd, and 6th Divisions covering the period of 1945 until the end of the war in August.

In 2004, Bamban Historical Society erected the 40th Division (US Army) Liberation Memorial on the foot on Hill 500 (Grotto, Bantiti, Hoshinoyama) in commemoration of the liberation and subsequent of Battle of Bamban Hills by said unit. In July 2007, JCI Bamban Kayabe was established from the core component members of BHS. From 2005 till the last annual Memorial Day, JCI Bamban Kayabe/BHS members participated in the US Memorial celebration at the sacred grounds of the American Cemetery. Flower wreaths are being offered in remembrance of those who served by Bamban Kayabe/BHS especially for those American divisions who participated and gave their lives for liberty of the Bambanense.

Another project being undertaken by Bamban Kayabe/BHS is the TARLAC POW MEMORIAL MARKER, the site of the American prisoners of war (POW) enclosure at Tarlac where the general and other high-ranking officers from colonel to generals were separated and imprisoned covering the period May to mid-August 1942. A tarpaulin photo exhibit of the American POWs' at Tarlac taken in 1942 was presented during the memorial day. BHS will cooperate with other concerned organizations like the Filipino-American Memorial Endownment (FAME), PNP Camp Macabulos Administration, the Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, and the National Historical Institute.

Among the American delegates participating in the annual Memorial Day are Ambassador Kristie Kenney, Leslie Murray (FAME/AMCHAM), Robert Sears (AAP), and Jon Skelly (USDVA), to cite a few. In the light of the Jaycee Creed upholding development for international relations like the US, we will continue to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice and to those who participated in the liberation of Bamban.


Rhonie Dela Cruz

WWII Korean Peace Memorial

BHS Museum of History
Lourdes, Bamban
July 29, 2008

Bamban Historical Society/JCI Bamban Kayabe unveiled the first ever WWII Korean Peace Memorial dedicated to the Korean labor personnel who were drafted into construction and engineering units of the Imperial Japanese Forces and assigned to the Kembu Group in WWII along the ridges and hills of the Bamban.

This part of history has been neglected by writers and historians. In fact, these Korean laborers were civilians and brought from Korea to Philippines to work primarily in construction of airfields, fortifications, and lately, curving out tunnels in the hard rock of the Bamban Hills. They were called Pioneers (in Japanese military terms, they belong to Setsueitai) and were joined by Taiwanese, Chinese laborers. To some extent, there were also Filipinos who were forced to work as laborers and joined these Pioneers.

They were manned by Japanese officers. Unlike Korean guards who were drafted to work as soldiers in the Japanese Army, the labor personnel were attached to support units and Imperial Japanese Navy's Setsueitai (308, 322, 318 Pioneers) and were assigned in the Kembu Group's Naval Combat Sectors under Rear Admiral Ushie Sugimoto. Their number may reach thousands, as the data on actual figures is still incomplete. Certain records from diaries of officers who were assigned at Bamban during WWII indicates that Taiwanese and Chinese reached to close to 2,000 labor personnel. A similar or more numbers of Koreans may be possible, since most of them were indeed assigned specifically in the Pioneer units.

Instead of rifles and grenades, these labor personnel instead carried shovels or perhaps working in the deep holes of the mountains with their bare hands. With the coming of the American liberating forces, they were defenseless and with the tremendous firepower of the artillery and air bombardment in Bamban Hills starting January 1945, thew were trapped in the numerous combat encounters between American 40th, 43rd, and 38th Divisions and the combined Japanese army and navy force of the Kembu Group during the battle of Bamban Hills. According to available data primarily from Japanese sources, most of them died as a consequence.

Hon. Mayor Leonardo Annunciacion and Hon. Vice-Mayor Fred Lumboy for the past several months, had been working with their Korean counterparts for a sisterhood pact. On July 29, various officials and delegates from Gangjin City headed by Lee Kwang-Hyeong and Lee Sam-Hyun made their historic visit to Bamban to solidify and ink the tie-up between the two local government entities. At 11:30 a.m., the Korean delegation along with various visitors including the complete line-up of local officers of Bamban came to officially dedicate the Korean WWII Peace Memorial in remembrance of the labor personnel who died in Bamban during WWII. A simple tombstone made from a sandstone washed by Mt. Pinatubo in 1992 was chosen and erected as the memorial marker.

A journal is now currently being undertaken for research by the Bamban Historical Society in order to dig deeper into the stories of the labor personnel who were actually civilians taken from their countries in WWII and forced to work in foreign lands, until they die due to the raging battles. This is a part of the history of the Battle of Bamban Hills; a story that should not be forgotten.

In a sign of deep mourning, as the Korean delegation knows nothing about this particular history of their people, a solemn prayer was conducted for the eternal repose of souls of all the labor personnel.


Rhonie Dela Cruz