Commemoration of the Day of Valor and My Family's Veteran During World War II

Yesterday was a national holiday in my Motherland (Philippines), it is a holiday dedicated to the Filipino people who fought in the defense of Bataan Island during the horrendous Pacific theatre of World War II. We are so blessed that we are not born on those years of atrocities and abuses. It is locally known to Filipinos as the “Araw ng Kagitingan” or “Day of Valor”.

Though we are from Cebu, our family especially from the maternal side had a history worth to remember since our great grandfather (Dionisio Carcueva) was a guerilla during World War II. During the onslaught of World War II in the Philippines my great grandmother (Herminia Carcueva) is pregnant. The one who is in her womb at that the time was my grandmother (Leah Tigas), it would be stressing and worrying for my great grandfather and great grandmother at that time because they had to run to the remote mountain areas of Barili, Cebu. Sad to say, our great grandmother (Herminia) passed away last year. Interestingly, my great grandfather is alive and kicking up to this day. He is physically fit and has never experienced and never been diagnosed of hypertension. That is a pretty amazing to hear at his of age of 95 still healthy. The only thing that hinders him to do things is because he had a problem with his eyes, which got worse when he undergo an eye operation. With that situation he had to use a staff for him to walk alone or sometimes being assisted by Tata's helper. We are thankful to the Lord for giving our great grandfather a good health even at his age right now. We are so thankful to the government also for keeping on their promise of supporting the Veterans of World War II. The subsidy that the government provides to our great grandfather is substantial and is of great help in the everyday living of my great grandfather. Right now he lives in our place in Barangay Boloc – Boloc, Barili, Cebu.

In the background is Tata. The photo was taken during the wake of our great grandmother, Herminia.

We call our great grandfather Dionisio, Tata since it was his nickname. Tata, is a bit strict, evident that he is so militaristic. When he stays at our place here in Mandaue City, he will always call my grandmother (Leah) since he wanted to talk with her lots of memories throughout his life. When I was in my elementary, time when I was so curious and very interested in reading history books like the ones we had in our Hekasi textbooks, I always asked Tata about his experience during World War II. Tata, would often say that it is very difficult and he always hear lots of gunshots, artillery fires and even air strikes. Most of his comrades resorted to hiding in the mountains and incorporate the art of guerilla warfare. They had to resort on those tactics in order for them to survive and it is very risky to get caught since it would lead to being executed automatically by the Japanese soldiers at that time. Indeed, it takes a great courage and gallantry to do that feat and I am very proud to have our Tata being one of our heroes during World War II.

Well that ends my blog post regarding the Day of Valor and my great grandfather Tata's role during World War II.

Thank you for spending your time reading this post.

Much love and respect.

Ace | @josephace135