I always try to be present during the city’s commemoration of the “Araw ng Kagitingan” or Day of Valor every April 9th. Not only as part of the Davao Historical Society (DHS), but because I genuinely want to understand what it means to be “magiting” (valorous).
It is kind of difficult to relate to official commemorations as a civilian and ordinary citizen. The guests of honor and speakers are always high-ranking military officials or uniformed personnel. The ceremony also follows military protocol. The reserved seats are all for the different uniformed service — those who are tasked with law enforcement, public safety, and national security.
This is because the history of “Araw ng Kagitingan” is tied to a specific event in military history — the fall of Bataan on April 9, 1942. It marks the day when approximately 76,000 (66,000 Filipinos and 10,000 Americans) soldiers, exhausted and starving after months of fighting, surrendered to Japanese forces. This was considered “the largest surrender of an American-led force in US history.” This event led directly to the infamous Bataan Death March, where an estimated 10,000 Filipino and 650 American soldiers died from brutality, illness, exhaustion, and starvation.
The day was established to pay a specific tribute to the extraordinary courage of these soldiers who fought against overwhelming odds. As such, it has always been, at its core, a military commemoration for those in uniform.
Despite its military roots, the meaning of the “Araw ng Kagitingan” has been expanded to include all forms of heroism. The focus on veterans is now meant to be symbolic, representing the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. The intention is for their courage to inspire the entire Filipino nation.
As I reflect on the fall of Bataan, I cannot help but think of the unequal relationship between the US and the Philippines. This unequal relationship is not just a matter of perception; it is a pattern of historical and ongoing treaties, agreements, and policies that have consistently placed Filipino sovereignty and economic interests below American strategic goals.
We need not go too far for examples of this unequal relationship and how this erodes the meaning of valor in modern times.
Filipino soldiers fought and died under the American flag (Bataan and World War II) with a promise of equal treatment. The US later broke that promise through the Rescission Act of 1946. This Act stripped Filipino veterans of promised benefits, treating them as lesser despite identical sacrifice. This betrayal directly undermines the very principle that valor should be rewarded with dignity and justice. Ongoing delays in full equity (Filipino Veterans Fairness Act still pending in the US Congress) reinforce the message that the US values Filipino lives and labor only when convenient.
What message does this send to the new generation of Filipinos? Heroic sacrifice may be futile or exploited. This will lead to their unwillingness to act courageously for the collective good.
The betrayal did not stop with the unequal benefits for Filipino veterans; it continued with our economic dependency on the US through unequal economic arrangements. This also erodes the essence of valor. It rewards passive acceptance of unfair terms rather than courageous negotiation or resistance.
Our leaders who accept those unfair terms are seen as “pragmatic,” while those who demand equity are labeled as radical or anti-American. As a result, the Filipino people internalize the message that standing up for fair treatment is futile or dangerous, weakening civic courage.
In this context, valor becomes redefined as endurance of exploitation rather than resistance to it. The complete opposite of the Bataan spirit.
Even our military alliance is one-sided. On paper, the US-Philippine military alliance is a partnership. In practice, it is an arrangement where the Philippines provides strategic positioning and assumes significant risks for the US.
Politically, the US has also consistently used its leverage to shape Philippine politics and foreign policy to suit its own strategic interests, often undermining local priorities.
It is happening again with the US-Israel “Operation Epic Fury” that was launched on February 28, 2026. Within weeks, the world’s first formal national emergency declaration in response to this war did not come from a country in the Middle East; it came from the Philippines, located more than 7,000 kilometers away, which imports 98 percent of its oil from the Gulf.
Gas prices doubled. More than two million overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East face threats to their employment and safety. The Philippine peso weakened, and our local economy further plunged into a deeper crisis.
This is not an isolated crisis. This is a recurring pattern. The Philippines has repeatedly been forced to bear the economic, human, and strategic costs of wars it did not choose, waged by an ally that treats its sovereignty as a convenience and its sacrifices as expendable.
Understanding this connection is essential to grasping the full scope of the Philippine struggle for genuine independence and to reclaiming a vision of valor that refuses to be weaponized in the service of empire.
This Philippine vulnerability is not accidental. It is the predictable consequence of decades of economic policies that have prioritized integration with US-dominated global markets over building genuine national resilience.
We have to accept the truth. The Philippines is not an equal partner of the US. It is a subordinate state that bears the cost of American strategic choices while having no meaningful voice in the decisions that cause them.
The soldiers of Bataan believed they were fighting for Philippine freedom and for a just postwar order. To truly honor their valor is to refuse to accept this unequal relationship as natural or inevitable. Dependence on the US is not security but vulnerability. True security comes from building national resilience, developing local industries, strengthening regional cooperation, and pursuing an independent foreign policy that serves Filipino interests first.
We owe our Filipino veterans more than speeches and wreaths. We owe them an honest reckoning and a demand for justice. The heroes of Bataan did not fight to make the Philippines a subordinate state of any foreign power.
Reclaiming valor today means honoring that fight not with words, but with action. It means breaking the chain of unequal alliance that has bound the Philippines for nearly a century. It means ensuring that no future generation of Filipinos will ever again be asked to sacrifice for a war they did not choose, for a power that will not treat them as equals.
