April 9 is Araw ng Kagitingan or Day of Valor.
It’s the day Filipinos commemorate the heroism of compatriots who valiantly fought and suffered (many died) in Bataan, 82 years ago, against the Japanese invaders.
Today, the country confronts another form of invasion.
Last Tuesday, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and allied organizations led a protest in front of the Chinese consulate in Makati.
Protesters stomp on a portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping to denounce China’s incursion into the country’s exclusive economic zone and repeated harassment of Filipino fisherfolk and Philippine ships in the West Philippine Sea.
Bayan stressed that “Our legitimate resistance against Chinese aggression should not lead to foreign military buildup and the ‘recolonization’ of the Philippines through the installation of American military facilities across the country.”
Photos by Bullit Marquez.
