Caithline Bo A.

Laguesma
2010-36183
CORREGIDOR
The journey to Corregidor Island has been one which provided a person with much
insight. From the ferry to the island itself, lessons were learned. But these lessons were mostly
from the people who made that island what it really is today.
The island’s name Corregidor came from the word “corregir” which means: to look. This
tadpole-shaped island served as a signal to alert Manila of incoming enemies. After the Spanish
Colonization, the Philippines was sold to America through the treaty of Paris. The war started
when the Japanese wanted to colonize the Philippines as well, so when every other place was
already finished by the war, it came to the final resistance of the Philippines: Corregidor. In
Corregidor, shelters were built. For the Americans, it was the Malinta tunnel and for the Japanese
it was the Japanese tunnel. With the war, the Japanese destroyed most of the buildings of the
Americans including the office of MacArthur.
The war actually shows us great patriotism, the Japanese shows this in a quite unusual
way compared to the usual person. In Corregidor is the favourite suicide mountain of the
Japanese soldiers. It was where they decided to kill themselves by jumping off a cliff. Before
this, others choose to stab themselves with their bayonets through their stomachs, then their
intestines in an L-shaped fashion, while others decide to just jump off the cliff. This is what they
call hara-kiri. Although this act could be considered as an opposition to your natural customs,
the Japanese actually just prefer to die rather than to just surrender. This was also shown when
the Americans set the Japanese on fire, and still they continued fighting. Lastly, this was shown
when the Japanese sent suicide bombers to Malinta Tunnel. This shows that choose their country
over themselves, thus honouring the act hara-kiri. The Japanese deem a person useless if he is
not standing and fighting. This is why they sent soldiers to kill those who were wounded and sick
in the hospital where the Filipina nurses were the ones who fought the Japanese and died. This
whole act is for their Emperor, implying that they refuse to bow down to their enemies.
Many lives were lost in this battle. But I believe that through this, the unity of the
Americans and Filipinos was greatly shown through not only the defeat of the Japanese, but also
the battle itself. In this fieldtrip, I learned that although the Japanese and the Americans had
different ways of thinking, both parties were fighting for the same thing: their country. They
wanted Corregidor for not just their pride and advantage, but most of all their honour.