THE

BATTLE
OF
MACTAN

Group Members:
Arcel Joy P. Tomnob
Allysa Joyce Casas

Submitted To: Prof. Johanna Marie Fe M. Cruz

 I. Background of the Author/Creator

The Battle of Mactan was a fierce clash fought in the Philippines on 27 April 1521. The
warriors of Lapulapu, one of the Datus of Mactan, overpowered and defeated a Spanish force
fighting for Rajah Humabon of Cebu under the command of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand
Magellan, who was killed in the battle.

Magellan’s expedition had left Spain in August 1519 on a mission to find a westward route to
the Moluccas or Spice Islands. On March 16, 1521 (Julian calendar), Magellan sighted the
mountains of what is now Samar. This event marked the arrival of the first documented
Europeans in the archipelago. The following day, Magellan ordered his men to anchor their
ships on the shores of Homonhon Island.

There, Magellan befriended Rajah Kolambu and Rajah Siagu, king of Limasawa, who guided
him to Cebu.[4] There he met Rajah Humabon, the Rajah of Cebu. Then, Rajah Humabon
and his queen were baptized into the Catholic faith, taking the Christian names Carlos, in
honor of King Charles I of Spain, and Juana, in honor of King Charles’ mother, Joanna the
Mad. To commemorate this event, Magellan gave Juana the Santo Niño, an image of the
infant Jesus, as a symbol of their new alliance and held their first Mass on the coast.[4]

As a result of Magellan’s influence with Rajah Humabon, an order was issued to each of the
nearby chiefs, to provide food supplies for the ships, and to convert to Christianity. Most
chiefs obeyed. Datu Lapulapu, one of the two chiefs on the island of Mactan, was the only
one to show opposition: he refused to accept the authority of Rajah Humabon in these
matters. This opposition proved influential. Antonio Pigafetta,[5] Magellan’s voyage
chronicler,[6] wrote that Zula, the island’s other chief, sent one of his sons to Magellan with
gifts but Lapulapu prevented the journey and refused to swear fealty to Spain.[7]

Rajah Humabon and Datu Zula suggested that Magellan go to Mactan, to force the Datu’s
compliance.[4] Magellan saw an opportunity to strengthen the existing friendship ties with
the ruler of the Visayan region and agreed to help him subdue the resistant Lapulapu.

II. Historical Background of the Document

On April 10, 1942, the march began in Bataan when our fellow Filipinos accepted their defeat
against the Imperial Japanese Army on the three-month battle that started on January 7, 1942 up
until April, and it was called “Battle of Bataan” during World War II. The estimated total distance
of the march is between 60 to 69.6 miles (96.6 to 112.0 km) starting from Mariveles, Bataan to
San Fernando, Pampanga and from the Capas Train to various camps. There are approximately
80,000 collective prisoners of war from different municipalities in Bataan like Bagac and
Mariveles, on the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O’Donnell. The prisoners were transferred forcibly
by Japanese soldiers, in addition to that the report estimates and ranged 5,500 to 18,650 deaths of
prisoners.

During the march, prisoners received little food or water, and many died. Moreover, if an
American or Filipino prisoner was caught on the ground or fell, they are surely be shot instantly.
The march was characterized by severe physical abuse including beating and torture and wanton
killings. On the march, the "sun treatment" was a common form of torture. Prisoners were forced
to sit in sweltering direct sunlight without helmets or other head coverings. Anyone who asked
for water was shot dead. Some men were told to strip naked or sit within sight of fresh, cool
water. Trucks drove over some of those who fell or succumbed to fatigue, and "cleanup crews"
killed those too weak to continue, though trucks picked up some of those too fatigued to go on.
Prisoners were randomly stabbed with bayonets or beaten.

Once the surviving prisoners arrived in Balanga, the overcrowded conditions and poor hygiene
caused dysentery and other diseases to spread rapidly. The Japanese did not provide the prisoners
with medical care, so U.S. medical personnel tended to the sick and wounded with few or no
supplies. Upon arrival at the San Fernando railhead, prisoners were stuffed into sweltering,
brutally hot metal box cars for the one-hour trip to Capas, in 43 °C (110 °F) heat. At least 100
prisoners were pushed into each of the unventilated boxcars. The trains had no sanitation
facilities, and disease continued to take a heavy toll on the prisoners.

According to Staff Sergeant Alf Larson:

The train consisted of six or seven World War I-era boxcars. ... They packed us in the cars like
sardines, so tight you couldn't sit down. Then they shut the door. If you passed out, you couldn't
fall down. If someone had to go to the toilet, you went right there where you were. It was close to
summer and the weather was hot and humid, hotter than Billy Blazes! We were on the train from
early morning to late afternoon without getting out. People died in the railroad cars.

Upon arrival at the Capas train station, they were forced to walk the final 9 miles (14 km)
to Camp O’Donnell. Even after arriving at Camp O'Donnell, the survivors of the march
continued to die at rates of up to several hundred per day, which amounted to a death toll of as
many as 20,000 Americans and Filipinos. Most of the dead were buried in mass graves that the
Japanese had dug behind the barbed wire surrounding the compound. Of the estimated 80,000
prisoners of war (POWs) at the march, only 54,000 made it to Camp O'Donnell.

III. Content Presentation and Analysis of Important Historical Information

After bombing Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Japan and their troops began the invasion in
the Philippines on December 8, 1941, their ultimate goal is to dominate the Asia and the Pacific.
At that time, we have the U.S military bases presence here inside the Philippines. As the
Japanese troops approached the Philippines, U.S General Douglas MacArthur moved the U.S.
forces from the city of Manila to the Bataan Peninsula, hoping that he could save the city from
destruction. After a long three months of fighting against the Japanese troops, the combined U.S.
– Filipino army at the Battle of Bataan had surrendered and faced their defeat. On April 9, 1942,
General Edward King Jr., with his fellow American and Filipino soldiers being crippled by
starvation and disease, surrendered his 75,000 troops.

Japanese General Masaharu Homma made a plan to do with the big army he had captured. The
plan was to move them to Camp O’Donnell, about 80 miles away, which the Japanese would turn
into a prison. From Mariveles, the prisoners would march north more than 60 miles to a village
called San Fernando. From there, the prisoners would ride by train for 25 miles to the town of
Capas and then march on foot once more for about 7 miles to Camp O’Donnell, which had been
a Philippine army post. The size of the captured army took the Japanese by surprise. The
Japanese thought there were only around 25,000 Allied soldiers, but the number was closer to
76,000. They split the army into smaller groups of 100 to 1,000 men, took their weapons, and
told them to begin marching.

Facing the Death March, the prisoners had to march in intense, hot conditions. They were given
almost no food or water along their journey. Because of the extreme thirst, some men took risks,
such as trying to drink dirty water from the side of the road. As the prisoners became weaker and
weaker, many of them began to fall behind the group, and those that fell behind were beaten and
killed by the Japanese. Some exhausted prisoners were run over by trucks and other army
vehicles. The exact number is unknown, but it is believed that thousands of troops died due to
the brutality of their captors, who starved and beat the marchers and bayoneted those who were
too weak to walk.

The march lasted for six days, although it went on for up to 12 days for others. When the soldiers
reached the camp, conditions didn’t improve much. Thousands more died at the camp because of
starvation and disease over the next few years.

IV. Contribution and Relevance of the Document in Understanding the Grand

Narrative of the Philippine History

The Bataan Death March has its own relevance and contribution to the patriotism of the Filipinos
up until now that we commemorate the lives of the brave veterans who fought hard just to claim
the freedom from the Japanese invasion during the World War II. The Philippines now has the
ability to stand whenever we are having boundary problems against foreign troops. Taking a
stand when there are problems compromising the sovereignty of our land, thus protecting the
Filipinos.
Though in the war against the Japanese invasion, Bataan is the sacrificial land and the center of
defense to be able to cut the lines of the Japanese troops in entering the Great Manila. Many of
the Filipino soldiers were reservist meaning they only trained for duration of 6 months prior to
the war against to the Japanese soldiers who are well trained when it comes to battle. The
relentless heart of the Filipinos to pursue the protection of the land and the people inside it was a
massive core to fighting traits and strategies.

Filipino fighting spirit in every aspect of our daily lives, facing great fall down in the country yet
still standing with the great smile and continuing the “bayanihan” spirit across every island of the
Philippines was the great contribution of these march. We are not easily shaken and stumbled by
the obstacle blocks of life, hence reaching each other’s hands to offer help who needs it the most.

V. Learning Experience

Understanding the whole story of the Bataan Death March fires up the sacrifices and the
patriotism of the Filipinos who gave their lives fighting not just for our freedom but for the
entirety of our land. The forced-march had caused many lives to suffer from great pain,
starvation, and lack of medical support. Thus, the mistreatment and lack of dignity suffered at the
hands of the Japanese military is a wound that is still felt in the families of those brave Veterans
and within Filipino communities that also deeply suffered. The Bataan Death March is a stark
reminder of the worst in humanity and a talking point that should not be forgotten so that we may
never repeat such atrocities towards our fellow man, even during war.