“The Battle of Bessang Pass is not too widely known nowadays, but it to the final surrender of the Japanese forces in the Philippines”
EVERY April 9, the nation commemorates and celebrates the day of heroes, fittingly called “Araw ng Kagitingan.”
It is to commemorate the surrender of Bataan and the Fall of Corregidor. There is a memorial built on the hills of Bataan where the President of the Philippines is always a guest of honor, together with a few living World War II veterans present.
Often, a representative of the Japanese government is present to commemorate the surrender of Bataan and the fall of Corregidor, two defeats of the country which was then under the Commonwealth of the United States.
In Bataan, it was the surrender of combined American and Filipino forces. There was also the tragedy of the Death March of the surrenderers.
And yet in the annals of the Armed Force of the Philippines, there is the record of the Battle of Bessang Pass, a signal victory of the Philippines where the Filipino guerrilla forces. in a 6-month battle, made the remaining forces of General Yamashita surrender to the Philippines.
Yamashita himself continued to hide in the fastnesses of Apayao and Kiangan provinces until he was found by the guerrilla forces and surrendered.
The Battle of Bessang Pass is not too widely known nowadays, but it was a crucial engagement that led to the final surrender of the Japanese forces in the Philippines.
By that time following the resurgence of resistance, and inspired by the return of our American allies and the victorious landing at Lingayen Gulf, the Japanese were at last in retreat toward their final remaining stronghold, which they had established in the Ifugao-Benguet-Vizcaya region.
This was a triangle of defense outlined by the Villaverde Trail, Balete Pass and Bessang Pass.
The stakes were simple, yet very high. If our forces failed to wrest the Pass from Japanese control, then their forces could regroup, hunker down in their stronghold, and potentially reemerge more dangerous than ever.
If we took the Pass, then no less than General Tomoyuki Yamashita himself — the infamous overall commander of the Japanese military in the Philippines, conqueror of Malaysia, and the “Tiger of Malaya” — would be trapped in the Cordillera region with all his troops.
It is called a battle, and sometimes referred to, rather poetically, as “the Battle Among the Clouds,” which might lead you to think it was a single confrontation.
But in reality it was many months of conflict, from January to June of 1945.
Led by then-Colonel Russell Volckman, the USAFIP-NL (which was composed almost entirely of Filipinos, with the exception of five American officers) gradually, but determinedly gained ground from the Japanese, hill by hill, ridge by ridge,
No less than 1,405 Ilocano and Igorot guerillas died, to liberate our country from foreign domination.
It gives me great pride to report that it was my eldest brother Desi -then second lieutenant and company commander of the 3rd battalion, under Major Conrado Rigor — who led the assault at Bessang Pass and finally made it to the top, against heavy odds. and firepower.
The Battle of Bessang Pass was officially won on June 14, 1945, and Yamashita surrendered only three months later, on Sept. 2, 1945, the day of the formal surrender of Japan to General Douglas MacArthur.
My brother Desi was awarded the Silver Star for bravery and courage above and beyond the call of duty.
An American military tribunal in Manila tried General Yamashita for war crimes relating to the Manila massacre and many atrocities in the Philippines against civilians and prisoners of war upon the landing of the United States forces in Lingayen Gulf.
He tried to recover Manila, specifically the south of Pasig.
That was also called the “Rape of Manila” when the Japanese forces committed all kinds of atrocities including rape, the killing of everybody they found, even in churches and hospitals.
Yamashita was sentenced to death and hanged in Los Banos, Laguna.
To me, the victory of the Battle of Bessang Pass against the Japanese imperial forces is a day of commemoration, but sadly enough, unfortunately it has not been so, Santa Banana!
It has been hoped that the President being an Ilocano and Gibo Teodoro, Defense Secretary also an Ilocano, would correct history by commemorating the signal victory in the Battle of Bessang Pass.
Unfortunately and sadly that doesn’t seem to be coming, reflecting the damaged culture of the Filipinos where we celebrate defeats instead of victories.