Kilometer Zero

Drive by too fast and you might miss the marker of Kilometer Zero in Mariveles, Bataan. Situated in front of the sea, beside a fastfood chain, a bayonet stuck in the ground with a soldier's helmet on top of it symbolizes one of the two places where the Death March began (the other one is Bagac). Flags of the Philippines and the United States of America also flank a memorial marker.

April 9 is Bataan Day or Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) or Ang Pagsuko ng Bataan. It was on that date in 1942 that the Americans and Filipinos surrendered to the Japanese Army. One of my favorite stories growing up was the one my Lolo Inggo told me about the Death March. He and his companions were taken prisoner and forced to join the Death March. They were able to slip off at one point and took shelter in a ditch. My lolo lay on the ground, playing dead and waiting for a chance to escape to freedom.  After hours, he finally stirred and poked at the man beside him asking him to "Dusog, dusog!" (Kapampangan for move, move). There was no movement and my lolo found out that the man beside him as well as the others with him were all dead. 

My lolo is now gone and along with him a million or more stories about his life then and our history now. If you have  family members who lived during those times, listen to their stories and record them so that the memories remain alive.

fun facts you may not know about Bataan

singkamas

kasuy

walis

tinapa

mangga

gabi ice cream

On our way to a family reunion, we passed by Orani Market and found six things that you may not know about Bataan. 

1. They grow really big singkamas or turnips.

2. Bataan exports cashew or kasuy to Antipolo.

3. The walis (broom) that you buy from Baguio is most likely to be from Bataan.

4. The best tinapa -- fresh (if you can call tinapa that), plump, smoked just right and not too salty -- can be found in this peninsula. Not to forget that they have a whole selection of tinapa to choose from, I personally love the kapak, bangus and tilapia. My parents, swear by the cabasi though.

5. - the mangoes are just as sweet, if not sweeter than, as those from Zambales 

6. they have unusual ice cream flavors -- gabi, caimito, aratiles, chesa. different but so yummy.

Other things you may not know about Bataan but I didn't catch on film are

- the balut or itlog na pula that you may be eating may just be Bataan made.

- the alamang bagoong you bought further North of Luzon is most probably from Bataan.

- araro, not uraro, is the biscuit of choice in Bataan. It comes from the root crop, araro.

- seafood is abundant because of the proximity to the sea and alimango, sugpo and other mangrove products are nice, sweet and mataba. 

So the next time you head to Bataan for the beaches, the Dambana ng Kagitingan and other historical and cultural landmarks, take a trip to the market and find more treasures to take home. 

dambana ng kagitingan

In celebration of Araw ng Kagitingan and Bataan Day, I'm posting a few of the photos we took one nice September day of 2009.

The view from the top of  Mt. Samat shows the rich,  and vast lands of Bataan. From there, you can also see where people crowd together to form communities.

The cross that is the Dambana ng Kagitingan can be viewed from miles away and lures one to enter and climb it. We took the elevator up for a small fee and entered the small room with chairs for visitors to sit, ponder and celebrate verdant Bataan.  A wonderful way to start the day before heading to the beach.