Still waiting for benefits, RP war veterans recall their ordeals

MANILA, Philippines - At the age of 89, retired Master Sergeant Mariano Eslao was looking forward to only a few things in this world, and one of them was granted by US President Barack Obama. Eslao is among an estimated 17,000 surviving Filipino World War II veterans who will be receiving lump-sum pensions from the US government, perhaps the oddest part of Obama’s stimulus package for reviving the US economy. That would end a 60-year wait for benefits promised to those who fought Japan under the US Army command. But so far it has only been an announcement. "Meron na, pero hangga’t wala, puro drawing lang ‘yan [I already applied for the pension, but until I receive it, I won’t believe that it’s true]," he said. As a Filipino citizen, Eslao will receive $9,000, while veterans who opted for US citizenship are entitled to $14,000. For many poor old-timers, the unexpected cash is the only thing they can bequeath to their families. At the rate the octogenarians are dying, many veterans will certainly end up only with the satisfaction that they were mentioned in one of Obama's first major acts. Eslao of course hopes to be around to see the check in his hands. But he has already survived long enough to tell us his compelling war story. Eslao was among the 75,000 Filipino and American soldiers fighting in Bataan when it fell to the Japanese Army. Only a college sophomore when he joined the war, he was among those who started the infamous Bataan Death March. Beheadings, cut throats and casual shootings were the fate of many. Those who fell from exhaustion were often run over by Japanese trucks. As many as 11,000 men could have died during the march, but there has never been a precise count. Walking under the searing April sun, the marchers were not given food or water. Eslao recalls eating plants and small insects. "Kahit na anong gumagapang, basta anong makakain, kukunin mo [You will take anything that crawls, anything that you can eat]," he said. Eslao, however, was one of the luckiest. In Orani, Bataan, he met an enterprising boatman who offered to help him escape… but in exchange for twenty pesos! At midnight, Eslao rolled down a ditch while Japanese guards were not looking. He then rode the boat and went back home. A soldier who completed the march Retired Brigadier General Felix Pestana was an Air Force pilot who was ordered to ground his plane and join the infantry in Bataan. Soon, he too was marching, eating small insects, and drinking his own urine in order to survive. Pestana walked until San Fernando, Pampanga where the prisoners were forced onto trains that would bring them to Camp O’Donnell in Capas. Gratitude and hope filled Pestana as the train chugged through Pampanga. Onlookers by the railroad were throwing food at the emaciated soldiers. "Tumataba ang puso mo na merong Pilipino na nagmamahal pa rin sa’yo, hindi natatakot na mapatay sa pagtulong sa amin [It was heartwarming to know that there were Filipinos who loved us, who were not afraid to die for helping us]," he said. Like many veterans, Pestana had an opportunity to become a US citizen and live in the United States. But he declined, preferring to remain near where many of his friends fell. "Ako maswerte, buhay pa ako ngayon, pero marami akong kasamahan na namatay [I’m lucky that I’m still alive, but I have a lot of colleagues who died]," he said. "I belong to the defenders of Bataan, and now our mission is to keep the spirit of Bataan and Corregidor alive." - Candice Montenegro, GMANews.TV Interactive map produced by Mavie Ungco and Ian Navarro, audio-slide show by Mavie Ungco and Abbie Lara