A Drama by Fidel Sicam

CAST (in order of appearance)

CAPT. DANIEL RUSTIA, about 24 years old
SERGEANT BRUNO, about 50 years old

COL. ROMAN DEL PRADO, about 45 years old

LT. ROMAN DEL PRADO, JR., about 24 years old
TWO PRIVATES

SETTING:
Interior of a tent in the field or of any temporary headquarters of a small command
The props should be minimal, those usually used during war-time, 1941 vintage. A table is at right with portable Army
tumble-down chairs. There is disorder, as if camp had been hurriedly set up owing to the command to retreat to Bataan.
Lone entrance is at center.
At left, a radio receiver-transmitter (not really necessary in the play, but would add realism), canteens, helmets, rifles, and
other odds and ends hurriedly stacked. It is early dawn and the distant rumble of cannons can be heard once in a while. This
grows in intensity as the play progresses and ends.

The time of the play is February 1942, somewhere in Bataan, the last bastion of the USAFFE defense. When curtain opens,
CAPTAIN RUSTIA is seen seated on a chair. He is obviously worried. He reads and re-reads an order, muttering to himself.
After a slight pause SERGEANT BRUNG comes with a tin cup of coffee.)

(1) BRUNO: Sir… (No answer.) Captain Rustia, here’s your coffee.

(2) RUSTIA: Huh… oh, put it on the table. I have no stomach for it.
(3) BRUNO: I know, sir. Tastes like water. I have been reboiling the coffee since… oh, three days ago.
Economizing, sir.

(4) RUSTIA: Sergeant Bruno, you are Ilocano?

(5) BRUNO: Yes, sir. (Pause) Better drink the coffee, sir. Warm water is good for the stomach in the morning.
(6) RUSTIA: (Stands and explodes.) I have no stomach for food or anything…
(7) BRUNO: I know, sir. The Japs will attack again. And we’re going to retreat… and…

(8) RUSTIA: It’s not those Japs I’m thinking of, Bruno. It’s this sordid business. (Points to a piece of paper.)
(9) BRUNO: What, sir? This? May I read, sir? (Rustia nods) Thank you, sir. (Picks up paper and reads.) Oh…
Oh… (Ominously) It has come.
(10) RUSTIA: Yes. Came late yesterday afternoon. (Almost fiercely) I’ll be the executor of my own friend…the
murderer of a man, almost my brother.

(11) BRUNO: You’re doing your duty, Captain Rustia.

(12) RUSTIA: Duty to kill a friend.
(13) BRUNO: He was a deserter in the face of enemy fire, sir.
(14) RUSTIA: (Bitterly) Deserter.
(15) BRUNO: I’m old in this business, Captain. And all my scars are here, sir. (Shows arms and breast.)
There’s none on my back.
(16) RUSTIA: You fought Moros…bandits…
(17) BRUNO: But killers, too, as cunning as these Japs, and more inhuman.
(18) RUSTIA: I can’t believe it: Romy, the son of a distinguished colonel, branded as coward.
(19) BRUNO: That has been decided, sir, not by any single individual, but by a court martial duly convened.
(20) RUSTIA: Court martial in the field… of a retreating army?
(21) BRUNO: If I had my way, I would shoot any soldier who runs away in the face of the enemy, without
benefit of court martial.
(22) RUSTIA: You’re cruel.
(23) BRUNO: War is cruel, sir. We need discipline in this outfit.
(24) RUSTIA: You can’t tell me about discipline, Sergeant.

(25) BRUNO: I’m sorry, sir. (Pause). My hair didn’t turn white drilling men just to march smartly in a perfect
line.
(26) RUSTIA: You should have been a politician, Bruno. You’d have made a good orator.

(27) BRUNO: (Gruffly) I’d rather be a sergeant.

(28) RUSTIA: I don’t blame you. I don’t blame anyone for his unhappy affair.
(29) BRUNO: He brought it upon himself. Running away not once, but three times! He broke the mile-race
record at Legaspi. He should’ve been awarded as a lead medal…on his back!

(30) RUSTIA: They were surprised there, overwhelmed in fact.

(31) BRUNO: But he turned tail before the order to retreat was given. And at Infanta…
(32) RUSTIA: Infanta, yep. We gave those Japs a very hot reception they didn’t expect…
(33) BRUNO: You also didn’t expect Lt. Roman del Prado, Jr., to be in Manila. Abandoned his outfit in Infanta
for the soft caresses of a woman.
(34) RUSTIA: He wanted to meet his fiancee… Love sometimes dulls a man’s sense of duty.
(35) BRUNO: That’s why I never married. A woman’s embrace is a yoke on my neck.
(36) RUSTIA: To some, it is a drug. I can agree with you there. Otherwise, how could he have left his
post at a time when he was most needed in Infanta? I don't know what to believe.

(37) BRUNO: This is simple to believe, Captain Rustia. He was afraid. He turned yellow, yellower than a
Jap's skin.

(38) RUSTIA: I'm prone to believe you, sarge. (Thoughtfully) But of course, I really can't tell. He is a very
likeable fellow jolly always ready to offer one a cigarette…Come to think of it, I really haven't
seen him mad…real mad, I mean. He was so accommodating, so quick to forget and forgive…

(39) BRUNO: We can't forget and forgive what he did in Bagac a week ago. That was the end of him.
Running away like a dog with his tail between his legs. If you didn't close that gap, a whole
battalion would have been torn shreds. “Anneeheelayted”!

(40) RUSTIA: I don't know. I don't know.

(41) BRUNO: I know this, sir. That court martial was useless and wasteful. His men saw him run,
whimpering like a woman. They should have shot him on the spot.
(42) RUSTIA: And now, I'm to give the command to shoot him.

(43) BRUNO: That court martial. was just a waste of energy and saliva.

(44) RUSTIA: We're still governed by rules, Sergeant. We'll follow the rules in war or in peace.

(45) BRUNO: Yes, sir. (Pause) Your coffee is cold. You really don't want any? I can get you a hot one right away.

(46) RUSTIA: Give me whisky!

(47) BRUNO: That's against the rules, sir… besides, there's no whisky. Maybe when the 60-mile convoy arrives, we can
relax the rules.

(48) RUSTIA: (Banging his fist on the table) When that comes these Japs will pay dearly.

(49) BRUNO: Yes sir.

(50) PRADO: (From outside) Captain Rustia. Captain Rustia.

(51) RUSTIA: See who it is, Sarge.

(52) BRUNO: Right away, sir. (Exit. RUSTIA looks at cup of coffee, tries it and spits it out.)
(53) BRUNO: (Entering) Captain Rustia… (stage whispers) it’s Col. Del Prado, sir. He wants to see you.

(54) RUSTIA: To see me about what?

(55) BRUNO: Probably about his son.

(56) RUSTIA: Romy. Yes, Romy. He knows that I'm a close friend of his son. I wonder why he wants to see me… Let
him in.

(57) BRUNO: (As he exits) As you wish, sir…(RUSTIA is visibly agitated, realizing that the father of the doomed man
might influence his actions)

(58) PRADO: (Entering and saluting) Good morning, Captain Rustia.

(59) RUSTIA: (Saluting) Good morning, Colonel.

(60) BRUNO: (Entering) Would you want anything, Sir? Coffee?

(61) RUSTIA: Colonel?

(62) PRADO: No, thanks. (Pause)

(63) RUSTIA: Er…anything I can do for you, Colonel?

(64) PRADO: Yes. (Looks at BRUNO; then back to CAPTAIN RUSTIA) can I speak to you alone?

(65) RUSTIA: Yes. (Looks at BRUNO who exits).

After a pause.

(66) PRADO: It has come?

(67) RUSTIA: Yes, late yesterday afternoon

(68) PRADO: (Pause) Oh... Does he know?

(69) RUSTIA: Yes, Colonel I went to him early last night. I read to him the order of execution.

(70) PRADO: You read the order of execution. How did he take it?

(71) RUSTIA: He cried like a child.

(72) PRADO: Death sentence was affirmed?

(73) RUSTIA: Yes. Death by musketry.

(74) PRADO: When? (No answer.) Soon?

(75) RUSTIA: This morning, in…(looking at his watch) fifteen minutes?

(76) PRADO: Fifteen minutes?

(77) RUSTIA: Yes, Colonel. To be exact, at 6.00 a.m., it will be my unpleasant duty to give the command to "fire."

(78) PRADO: Let me see the order…please.

(79) RUSTIA: (Picking up the order) Sure, sir.

(80) PRADO: (Taking it) Thank you. (Reads paper silently. After a pause, he slumps on a chair, burying his head in
his hands…Almost inaudibly, he says) My son…my son. My only son!

(81) RUSTIA: I'm sorry, sir. Very sorry. Everything has been done in his case. His appeal has gone through the mill...
staff Judge Advocate review, Board of Review, Judge Advocate General's concurrence… and now
affirmed by the Commanding General in the field. The evidence is overwhelming. He's got to die.
Cowards have no place in this army…

(82) PRADO: Cowards? My son is a coward. My son. After all the things I've done for him…to make him a
soldier…a real soldier.

(83) RUSTIA: I guess soldiers are born, not made.

(84) PRADO: Soldiers can be made.

(85) RUSTIA: That’s an opinion, sir. I respect it, but I don't believe it.

(86) PRADO: Captain Rustia, there comes a time in a soldier's life, when he has to use either his head or his heart. This
is one of those times. If were to follow my heart, as a father, I'd probably plead for my son's life. That I
have done…overdone in fact. But if I had used my head, as a soldier, I would have shot him myself,
mercilessly, a long time ago.

(87) RUSTIA: I sympathize with you, Colonel del Prado. I understand. I do hope you understand my position, too. I was
his playmate, classmate, practically his bed-mate at PMA…and (hopelessly) my hands are tied. I'll order
his death.

(88) PRADO: To think that I trained him from the very start… even when he was still in the womb of his mother… God
rest her soul. I gave her all the most nutritious food so that he… I was sure he was going to be a boy… so
that he would be strong, healthy,…a real soldier…and now…(he gestures helplessly).

(89) RUSTIA: What can I do, Colonel?

(90) PRADO: What can we do Captain? If I were to ask you to put blank bullets in the firing squad's rifles and connive
with the medical officer to pronounce him dead, when he is not dead…that would probably save him. This
is war time. No one would ask any question.

(91) RUSTIA: (Seriously) You insult me sir. Are you insinuating, sir, that I do those things connive with the medical
officer? You know my answer. sir. It’s no… emphatically.
(92) PRADO: Captain, I would have had no respect for you, if you said "yes." But please, remember that I said IF. "IF I
were to ask you.." But I won't. You must forgive me for acting this way, Captain. I'm still his father. These
last few days, I have been fighting myself, fighting the father and mother in me. But I guess I know who
won.

(93) RUSTIA: You won. Colonel... the soldier won.

(94) PRADO: Thank you, Captain Rustia. I now realize that what I've tried to build during these long years, has crumbled
to dust . . . that the soldier I've wanted him to be, can never be. It stuns a person to see. what he thought was
his masterpiece, worthless, but I have resigned myself. Thank God, his mother did not 1ive to see this day.
It was a blessing that she died when he was a babe.

(95) RUSTIA: Being both father and mother, to Romy was a hard job, Colonel.

(96) PRADO: I had to do it. I wanted him to be like me (bitterly) the most decorated soldier in the outfit. I wanted him to
be like me so much that I even had him christened Roman del Prado, Jr.

(97) RUSTIA: He was. always Romy, to me . . . will always be.

(98) PRADO: Captain Rustia, would it be asking too much if I asked you to let me see him before he . . . before you. . .
You know what I mean.

(99) RUSTIA: Well, I don't see any valid objection under the circumstances ... yet …

(100) PRADO: I see you don't trust me, Captain. I don't blame you. Do your duty.I’m going. (Starts to go.)

(101) RUSTIA: Wait, sir. (The COLONEL stops.) I'll call Sergeant Bruno.(He goes up center and calls.) Sergeant. come
here a minute.

(102) BRUNO: (Entering) Yes, sir.

(103) RUSTIA: Bring the prisoner here, well-guarded!

(104) BRUNO: But... Yes. Yes, sir. (Doubtfully,.he exits.)

(105) PRADO: (Without looking at CAPTAIN RUSTIA) Thank you, Captain. I'm grateful.

(106) RUSTIA: If Romy asked to be drugged . . .

(107) PRADO: Don't drug him. You will just be wasting a valuable chemical. Let him die like a man... (on second thought)
or a coward. But, I pray, don't drug him. I still hope that at the point of death, he'll face it…

(108) RUSTIA: Valiantly?

(109) PRADO: If not valiantly, at least consciously.

(110) RUSTIA: But if he asks to be drugged, I can't refuse him.It's a doomed man's last wish.

(111) PRADO: Maybe you don't understand, Captain. Deep within me, I still hope that he can behave like a true soldier. If
he can face that firing squad like a man, I will be satisfied. For then I'll know that he had some guts in him, no matter how
little. It's a matter of pride to me, Captain, because I ... Col. Roman del Prado... sired him.

(112) RUSTIA: I know, sir. I do hope that he won’t ask it.

(113) PRADO: Pride tells me, he won't. (Fading in from outside can be heard the regular marching of a detail. )

(114) BRUNO: (Off-stage.) Squad, halt. (Marching sound stops. BRUNO enters followed by LT. ROMAN DEL PRADO, JR.,
his arms bound behind him, between two privates. ROMAN, very pale and nervous, can hardly walk and is half-supported
by the soldiers. He does not have any insignia) The prisoner, sir.

(l15) RUSTIA: You may go. Leave the prisoner, until I call you.

(116) BRUNO: Yes, sir. (BRUNO and the two privates exit.)

(117) (There is an impatient pause.) (Roman. avoids the eyes of his father and his friend. Finally, ROMAN can not stand it
anymore.)

(118) ROMAN: (Nervously) Dan, you can't do it.. You won't do it. Don't kill me, Father, don't let him kill me. Save me.
I'm your son. (Silence.) Can't you free my arms? They're hurting me…please. I won't escape. I give you my word, Dan.

(119) RUSTIA: Don't attempt anything, del Prado. This time you’ll be shot if you run.

(120) ROMAN: Thank you, Dan, thank you. (He flexes his arms )

(101) PRADO: Captain Rustia, may I speak to my son alone?

(122) RUSTIA: Would you advise it, Colonel?(No answer.)

(123) ROMAN: Can't I talk to my father alone?

(124) RUSTIA: All right; You have (Looks at his watch) exactly seven minutes.

(125) ROMAN: Seven minutes before you kill me. (Hysterically) Dan, don't do it. Let me go. (He holds on to CAPTAIN
RUSTIA almost on his knees. COLONEL DEL PRADO stops him.)

(126) PRADO: Take it easy, boy, take it easy.(He signals RUSTIA to leave.)

(127) RUSTIA: Mark this, prisoner, you'll be shot if you run. (To DEL PRADO) Colonel, I will do my duty.
(128) ROMAN: (Embracing the COLONEL Father and sobbing) Father, I don't want to die. I'm still young. (PRADO is
immobile. There is only a fleeting moment when he weakens but he quickly controls himself.) I didn't want to fight. I'm
afraid to die. Don't let them shoot me. Please, father, have pity on me. Do something to stop them.

(129) PRADO: (Roughly disengaging himself from the embrace of his son.). Shut up. Stop that babbling. You were never
like this before.

(130) ROMAN: I’ve never been condemned to death before. Father, let me ... help me escape... anywhere.

(131) PRADO: Shut up, fool. You don't know what you are saying. You want me to destroy all the reputation I have built
for years. . . this reputation which I could have left to you after I was gone? You were my only hope.

(132) ROMAN: I can still be your hope. Father, let's both escape, Let's go to Mindanao...

(133) PRADO: You're mad, Roman, tempting me like this. . .

(134) ROMAN: You mean you're going to abandon me? You're going to let me die a coward's death?

(135) PRADO: You deserve it.

(Pause.)

(136) ROMAN: (Unbelievingly) Father, you really mean that? You have given me up, your own flesh and blood?

(137) PRADO: Did you not abandon your comrades in Legaspi, when they needed you? There was no order to retreat.
(138) ROMAN: I got excited. . . I didn't know what I was doing.
(139) PRADO: And at Intanta. While your men were repelling the invaders tooth and nail, where were you? You don’t
have to answer that. You were bidding good-bye to a woman...

(140) ROMAN: I was going to marry Lourdes after the war. I've got to marry her.

(141) PRADO: You should have thought first of your duty as an officer. There are many women. You can marry one any
time.

(142) ROMAN: There's only one Lourdes for me. I’m afraid to leave her ...

(143) PRADO: And at Bagac . that was the most despicable thing that you could have done. Running away from the
thick of the fight. They should have shot you then.

(144) ROMAN: I know I failed you.

(145) PRADO: You've failed me miserably. I have done my best to bring you up as a soldier. Used my influence to
enroll you at the military academy.

(146) ROMAN: I passed my exams, I did not ask help from any one.

(147) PRADO: That's one thing in your favor. But they never made you a soldier.

(148) ROMAN: You trained me to be a soldier. I didn't want to be. You never gave me a chance.I had no choice at all.
You forced me to it. You forced me to it.
(Pause.)

(149) PRADO: (Weakly) Forced you?

(150) ROMAN: Yes, Father you forced me. You wanted me to be like you. But I am not you. I wanted to be an
engineer...to build things. not to destroy them. And now they're going to kill me for being a coward. I don’t deny it. I’m a
coward. . . a coward. (Sobs unashamedly and sits on a chair, his hands covering his face.)

(151) PRADO: (Coldly.) When your mother died, I promised her I would take care of you. She too wished you to be an
army man. I followed her wish. I decided that you should be better than I. Maybe, if she lived, she would have seen earlier
that you couldn't be like me.

(152) ROMAN: It’s too late for regrets now, father. You've got to save me. It is your fault that I am what I am.

(153) PRADO: My fault?

(154) ROMAN: You've got to save me. I can't stand being shot.

(155) PRADO: You want to destroy me, because I've destroyed you?

(156) ROMAN: No, I don't want to destroy you, father.

(157) PRADO: Then, why wish that I would save you?

(Pause)

(158) ROMAN: All right. I can't stand pain. If they kill me in a painless way. . .Yes, father, let them drug me first. That
would be merciful.

(159) PRADO: (Bursting out) No! You'll have to face that firing squad, even if I have to hold you up. You must face
penalty bravely. This is your only chance to vindicate yourself…
(160) ROMAN: And yourself, father. You don't want to be a father of a coward.

(161) PRADO: Shut up, fool. (Pause. PRADO's face light up with a sudden decision.)
(162) ROMAN: What are you thinking?

(163) PRADO: (Deliberately) I'd rather you escaped!

(164) ROMAN: What?

(165) PRADO: Yes, if you. escaped, that would show that you had guts enough to escape. . . were brave enough to live
the life of a hunted ..

(166) ROMAN: If I escaped, I'd go back to Manila, marry Lourdes and give a name to my son ...

(167) PRADO: Your son?

(168) ROMAN: Well, my child-to-be. That's why I tried so hard to be in Manila ... to marry her.

(169) PRADO: You thought that would justify deserting your men at Infanta?

(170) ROMAN: I came and followed them to this place, didn't I?

(171) PRADO: They've found you guilty of desertion in the face of the enemy. The case has been reviewed thoroughly.
I can't influence their decision.

(172) ROMAN: So you'll help me escape.

(173) PRADO: Yes. Did you know I was here talking to Captain Rustia? I convinced him to use blank bullets.

(174) ROMAN: Blank bullets! They’re going to shoot me with blank bullets?

(175) PRADO: Yes. So, don't be afraid. As soon as you hear the shots, fall down. I've talked to the medical officer. He'll
pronounce you dead. Nobody will question his decision. Then, the burial detail will bring your "body" to me. Then you are
free..
(176) ROMAN: Suppose they found me, would they not hurt me?
(177) PRADO: Once you have been pronounced dead, you stay dead. That's the law. They can't kill you twice.

(178) ROMAN: You planned all this?

(179) PRADO: For you, my son. I've planned all this for your sake... and now for your child's sake .

(180) ROMAN: (Feverishly) Thank you father, thank you. I know I can depend on you.

(181) PRADO: So have no fear. Chin up. And face that firing squad without any flicker in your eyes.

(182) ROMAN: Yes, father.

(183) PRADO: Captain Rustia will be here soon. Don't let him know that you know. Don't let anybody know. But be
brave. Nothing can harm you.. Remember that. Be brave.

(184) ROMAN: (For the first time, he is calm and looks brave.) Nothing can harm me. Father, I'll remember this as long
as I live.

(185) PRADO: What? Yes. As long as you live. Don't forget now, pretend to fall. From there on, leave everything to me.

(186) RUSTIA: (Enters, followed by SGT. BRUNO and the two privates.) I'm sorry, Colonel Del Prado. Your time is up.
We have just (looking at his watch) about two minutes before zero hour.
(187) ROMAN: (Calmly) I'm ready, Captain Rustia.

(188) RUSTIA: (Surprised.) Good. Any last wish?

(189) ROMAN: None. (Smiling) It's too late for anything.

(190) RUSTIA: I think you are a brave man, Romy.(He shakes ROMAN's hand.)

(191) ROMAN: Thank You, Dan.

(192) RUSTIA: (With sincere feeling.) God be with you! (Then because it is his duty, he orders his men.) Tie the prisoner
and put on the hood. (SGT. DRUNO brings out the rope, while the two privates prepare to put the black hood over
ROMAN's head.)

(193) ROMAN: If I may. have any last wish, don't tie me. I’ll face the squad without the hood.

(194) RUSTIA. As you wish.

(195) ROMAN. Father, good-bye. (Extends his hand.)

(196) PRADO: (Instead of taking his hand, embraces his son tightly and whispers.) Good-bye, Romy. I'll take care of
Lourdes. (Roll of drums is softly heard. In the distance, sound of fighting is distinct now.)

(197) RUSTIA: (Commanding) Prisoner, attention.

(198) (Father and son separate. ROMAN smartly stands at attention with head high.)

(199) RUSTIA: About face; forward march. (Roman marches out "bravely" followed by the two, privates and a dazed SGT.
BRUNO. CAPT. RUSTIA gives a last look at the immobile COL.DEL PRADO, who is facing front with tears streaming
down his cheeks.) I sympathize with you, Colonel del Prado. But I think, you have a brave son. A brave son. (Exits.)

(200) (The roll of drums steadily becomes stronger, then suddenly stops. The voice of CAPT. RUSTIA is heard off-stage:
"SQUAD, READY, AIM, FIRE!" A volley of shots is heard. COL. DEL PRADO stands there for a moment with the mixed
emotions of a father who has lost his son and a soldier who has done his duty. Then he tearfully smiles, happy in the thought