Our grandfathers Tata Terong and Lolo Domeng both fought in World War II. They’re both dead now but if they managed somehow to stay healthy and alive, they would be 106 and 104, respectively, this year.

I wonder if there are any WWII veterans still alive, and who exactly are the blue-vested veterans who we regularly see at the annual rites in Bataan.

Our grandmothers Inang Cedes and Mama Des are also both gone. They passed away in 2017 and 2016, respectively. They would have turned 101 and 98 this 2026.

The youngest non-combatant elements of the guerilla movement would have been the teenage couriers who quickly moved letters and messengers. If they were aged at least 10 in 1942, and 16 by the war’s end in 1946, they would have been born sometime in 1932. They would be around 94 this 2026. If they started messenger work at 13 in 1942, and managed to survive up to this day, they would most probably be 97 years old by now.

Many, if not most, of my friends tell me they also have grandfathers and great grandfathers who joined the guerilla movement. I asked around as we marked Araw ng Kagitingan this week.

Exactly how many and who are the last remaining and living World War II veterans and their widows, only the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office knows. The agency had a ₱827-million budget for 2025. Apart from providing veterans and widows their pensions, the government also maintains the Philippine Veterans Memorial Hospital for them.

Women also fought in the frontlines, but formal recognition was not widespread. The then colonial US military forces rarely recognized their presence and contribution. If the Filipino men were refused equal treatment and equal benefits alongside the Americans they served with, it is not difficult to imagine that Filipino women were unseen.

But documentation and records cannot erase the women of the guerrilla movement: Josefa Capistrano and other women organized the Women’s Auxiliary Service. Ana Omega organized her own guerrilla unit, and served as an intelligence officer against the invading forces. Yay Panlilio held the rank of colonel and helped lead guerrillas in Rizal province. Juanita Kagahastian served as a nurse.

Felipa Culala, known as Kumander Dayang-Dayang, led the successful rescue of eight guerrillas captured by the Japanese forces in Candaba, Pampanga. This, and other battles won by Dayang-Dayang, inspired the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas to organize the Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon. Celia Mariano, organizer and editor. Remedios Gomez of Mexico, Pampanga, became known as Kumander Liwayway. Actress Carmen Rosales became one of the most prominent women guerrillas of the time. (Pangasinan proudly named a barangay after Carmen.)

The US estimates that there were 260,000 Filipino and Filipino-Americans who served and fought in World War II. This is a small number compared to 1.3 million who filed claims. The G.I. Bill included veterans from 66 countries, but excluded the veterans of the Philippines, the only US colony in Asia at the time of the Pacific war.

It would be an awesome thing to disclose the name of today’s surviving World War II veterans and their widows and widowers, for their honor and for the pride of their families and of the nation. This could have been done last year, the 80th anniversary of the surrender of the Japanese Imperial Army in the Philippines. It could be done this year, the 80th anniversary of the birth of the Philippine republic, with a ceremony fit for heroes.

Everyone else could participate in such a ceremony, especially families of the many other Filipino guerrilla fighters who courageously fought in the war.

While we are at it, why stop with the national and family heroes of World War II, when nothing stops us from tracing our lineage to the revolutionaries of 1896. Surely, those great men and women had families too, and proud descendants to this day.

In an era when national identity and psyche is somehow not positive, a national remembrance of heroes that would include family ancestors would be both a fitting tribute and also a way of recharging and inspiring the flagging spirit of today’s generations.

We are a people with a lot of heroes. Our nation and families produced heroes. They are not faceless and nameless. They are our grandparents and great grandparents. Let us name and honor them. Let us be inspired by them.