Pamaran reminds society of gallantry, heroism of those who fought in World War II
By AJ Siytangco
Published Apr 8, 2019 05:48 pm
By Hanah Tabios
“If you do not care for your freedom and democracy, nobody will care for you. Then, you will be enslaved only by the strongest nation.”
This was the reminder of retired Sandiganbayan Associate Justice and Veterans Federation of the Philippines (VFP) president Manuel Pamaran to the seemingly forgetful society about the lessons of World War II, the deadliest and the most destructive human conflict ever recorded in history.
Retired Sandiganbayan Associate Justice and World War II veteran Manuel Pamaran
(Alvin Veri / MANILA BULLETIN) According to the latest data of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO), Pamaran, 92, is among the 4, 841 living war survivors of the 260,000 Filipino men and women who came forward to the call made by the United States and Philippine Commonwealth to resist the Imperial Japanese invaders in the Philippines in the I940s. Pamaran said Filipinos today should look upon any surviving veterans of the Second World War as a monument of valor and bravery. “Without the veterans of World War II, we will have no country which we can call our own,” he told The Manila Bulletin in an interview. WWII guerrilla intelligence officer As young as 12 years old, Pamaran already knew the plight of the Filipino citizenry against the Japanese forces who started smashing the backbone of America’s Philippine defenses in Clark, Pampanga just a few hours after the infamous Pearl Harbor attack in Hawaii in December 7, 1941. When schools were closed due to the rising tension, he joined the Hunters-ROTC Guerilla organization after the dissolution of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA). He said his age became an advantage in performing daring tasks, such as spying on the oppressors and providing information to the Filipino resistance movement stationed mostly in the mountains of Luzon. “Nonetheless, despite the Japanese occupation, I still continued my studies by working in the farm at daytime and as a guerrilla. So I was a farm laborer during daytime, but at night time, I was a working student,” he narrated when asked about his quest for survival at that time. For him, the challenge was not the distance traversed from one point to another to gather details, but the suppliers of the counter-intelligence reports not from the enemy’s end, but from his fellow countrymen---the Makabayang Katipunan ng mga Pilipino or MAKAPILI, that was branded as the early group of traitors in Philippine history. “Because of poverty, many Filipinos joined MAKAPILI. MAKAPILI is an informal organization of militia in a town or barrio. They are apparently extension of the Japanese army,” he said. But Pamaran said he could not blame these people as survival became a primary concern during the Second World War. Plight of Filipino war veterans And decades after the war ended, Pamaran, who is now the head of a government-chartered organization aimed at preserving the welfare war veterans, addressed the government to intensify its efforts in compensating the sacrifice of the neglected heroes as well as their living spouses and children. “They fought for the country and we are now enjoying the independence that they preserved but they are receiving only P5, 000 a month and some of these veterans are sickly and very poor,” he reiterated. In fact, it was only on December last year when President Rodrigo Duterte signed into the law the Republic Act 11164 or the act mandating the increase of the old-age pension of senior veterans of World War II, Korean, and Vietnam Wars. For the longest time, Filipino war survivors were only receiving P5, 000 as pension. The 300 percent hike increased it to P20, 000, but it only took effect January this year. “And, please, some appropriations from the housing committee an order where they can establish even a hovel or even a small hut. But right now, the poor veterans are under the mercy of some landlords. They are ejected or evicted from one person to another. So instead of concentrating on their livelihood, they are concentrating on where to stay,” he added.
Retired Sandiganbayan Associate Justice and World War II veteran Manuel Pamaran(Alvin Veri / MANILA BULLETIN) According to the latest data of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO), Pamaran, 92, is among the 4, 841 living war survivors of the 260,000 Filipino men and women who came forward to the call made by the United States and Philippine Commonwealth to resist the Imperial Japanese invaders in the Philippines in the I940s. Pamaran said Filipinos today should look upon any surviving veterans of the Second World War as a monument of valor and bravery. “Without the veterans of World War II, we will have no country which we can call our own,” he told The Manila Bulletin in an interview. WWII guerrilla intelligence officer As young as 12 years old, Pamaran already knew the plight of the Filipino citizenry against the Japanese forces who started smashing the backbone of America’s Philippine defenses in Clark, Pampanga just a few hours after the infamous Pearl Harbor attack in Hawaii in December 7, 1941. When schools were closed due to the rising tension, he joined the Hunters-ROTC Guerilla organization after the dissolution of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA). He said his age became an advantage in performing daring tasks, such as spying on the oppressors and providing information to the Filipino resistance movement stationed mostly in the mountains of Luzon. “Nonetheless, despite the Japanese occupation, I still continued my studies by working in the farm at daytime and as a guerrilla. So I was a farm laborer during daytime, but at night time, I was a working student,” he narrated when asked about his quest for survival at that time. For him, the challenge was not the distance traversed from one point to another to gather details, but the suppliers of the counter-intelligence reports not from the enemy’s end, but from his fellow countrymen---the Makabayang Katipunan ng mga Pilipino or MAKAPILI, that was branded as the early group of traitors in Philippine history. “Because of poverty, many Filipinos joined MAKAPILI. MAKAPILI is an informal organization of militia in a town or barrio. They are apparently extension of the Japanese army,” he said. But Pamaran said he could not blame these people as survival became a primary concern during the Second World War. Plight of Filipino war veterans And decades after the war ended, Pamaran, who is now the head of a government-chartered organization aimed at preserving the welfare war veterans, addressed the government to intensify its efforts in compensating the sacrifice of the neglected heroes as well as their living spouses and children. “They fought for the country and we are now enjoying the independence that they preserved but they are receiving only P5, 000 a month and some of these veterans are sickly and very poor,” he reiterated. In fact, it was only on December last year when President Rodrigo Duterte signed into the law the Republic Act 11164 or the act mandating the increase of the old-age pension of senior veterans of World War II, Korean, and Vietnam Wars. For the longest time, Filipino war survivors were only receiving P5, 000 as pension. The 300 percent hike increased it to P20, 000, but it only took effect January this year. “And, please, some appropriations from the housing committee an order where they can establish even a hovel or even a small hut. But right now, the poor veterans are under the mercy of some landlords. They are ejected or evicted from one person to another. So instead of concentrating on their livelihood, they are concentrating on where to stay,” he added.