Balantang Shrine was built in honor and memory of the gallant men and women of the 6th Military District, under the command of General Macario Peralta, who liberated the island of Panay from the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.
A national shrine located at Balantang, Jaro, Iloilo City and the only military cemetery established outside Metro Manila. It is the site of the bloodiest battle of the guerrilla forces of Col. Macario Peralta, Jr. that occurred in the hallowed grounds of Balantang. The battle started in 06 February 1945 up to the liberation of Iloilo City on 20 March 20 1945.
Declared as a National Shrine on 13 July 1994 by virtue of Proclamation No. 425. Its Memorial Cemetery Museum displays World War II vintage firearms, 81 mortars, photographs and situation maps depicting historical events. The cemetery also houses the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Also known as Kiangan Shrine, the shrine marks the place where the "Tiger of Malaya", Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita, the highest Commander of the Japanese Imperial Army informally surrendered to Capt. Grisham of the 6th US Army in the Philippines based in Kiangan, Ifugao. He was later flown to Camp John Hay where he formally surrendered to the Fil-American forces on 02 September 1945.
It is the site of one of the fiercest battle during World War II.
The shrine symbolizes the victory of the Allied Forces against the Japanese invasion forces during World War II. The war memorial was designed after a traditional Ifugao house and was built in 1974 to commemorate the end of World War II in the Philippines.
Features of the shrine are the Bantayog or The Memorial monument, a guest house, the Admin Building, ceremonial ground and stage.
The Capas National Shrine (Paggunita Sa Capas) is in Barangay Navy, Capas, Tarlac. The shrine was built by the Philippine Government as a memorial to the Filipino and American soldiers who died in Camp O'Donnell at the end of the Bataan Death March. This is an important site related to Veterans' Day in the Philippines (Araw ng Kagitingan), every 9 April, the anniversary of the surrender of the combined US and Philippine forces to the Japanese in 1942.
The area around where the Bataan Death March ended was proclaimed by President Corazon Aquino (Proclamation No. 842) to become Capas National Shrine on December 7, 1991. The shrine encompasses 54 hectares of parkland, 35 hectares of which have been planted with rows of trees to represent each of the deceased. On April 9, 2003, a new memorial wall and obelisk was unveiled. The 70-meter obelisk towers above the grounds of the former interment camp. The obelisk is surrounded by a black marble wall engraved with the names of the Filipinos and Americans known to have died at the location. On the three large wall segments that almost encircle the obelisk, there are statistics about the total numbers of prisoners and deaths, together with poems for peace.
A small monument built by an American group calling themselves the "Battling Bastards of Bataan", honoring the American soldiers who died during the period. A few hundred meters from the Obelisk is a garden separated from the rest of the shrine by a creek, it is passable with the means of a hanging bridge. The relics of an old train (also known as the Box Car) and railings are also present in the Shrine.
The Republic Memorial Cemetery at Fort McKinley was established in May 1947 as a fitting tribute to the gallant Filipino men and women who brought honor to the country and fought for the sake of freedom and democracy. On 27 October 1954, the Memorial Cemetery was renamed Libingan Ng Mga Bayani (LNMB) by the late President Ramon Magsaysay. Presidential Proclamation No. 208 was then issued by President Ferdinand E. Marcos on May 28, 1967, to reserve an area of 142 hectares from the Fort Bonifacio Military Reservation. This was intended for National Shrine purposes and placed under the administration of the Veterans Memorial and Historical Division, Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, Department of National Defense.
The Libingan Ng Mga Bayani is under the administration and maintenance of the Grave Service Unit (GSU), a unit of the Philippine Army Support, Armed Forces of the Philippines. The mission of the GSU is to provide grave services to deceased military personnel who died in line of duty or were honorably discharged, Filipino veterans, former presidents, government dignitaries, statesmen and national artists. Aside from maintaining the LNMB and the military grave site at Manila North Cemetery, the unit is also capable of providing mortuarial and memorial services to authorized personnel.
Bataan Peninsula was the scene of harsh fighting between American-Filipino forces and the invading Japanese forces. On 09 April 1942, the Bataan defenders surrendered to the Japanese. About 70,000 U.S. and Filipino soldiers were captured.
The Shrine of Valor (Dambana ng Kagitingan) atop Mt. Samat in Pilar was built in memory of the soldiers of World War II. The shrine epitomizes the gallant and heroic stand of the Fil-American Forces (USAFFE) at Bataan, which was the scene of the most heroic defensive battles during World War II. The mountain is now a war memorial built by Ferdinand Marcos, a War Veteran himself in 1966. A huge white cross stands as a mute but eloquent reminder of the men who died there. It also acts as a tourist attraction with a war museum nearby that has a wide array of displays from paintings of the Philippine heroes to armaments used by the American, Filipino and Japanese forces during the heat of the battle.
It consists of the "Colonnade", a marble capped structure with an altar, esplanade and a museum. Inside the museum are dioramas where you can learn more about the battle of Bataan and the Death March that followed. The captured US & Filipino soldiers were forced to march more than a hundred kilometers from Bataan to Tarlac.
The Memorial Cross is a towering structure made of concrete, steel and marble. It is 92 meters high and the arms' length is 15 meter on each side. It is 555 meters above sea level with an elevator goes up to the arms of the cross where the viewing galleries are found. The exterior finish of the cross at the base up to an 11-meter level is capped with "Nabiag Nga Bato" sculptural bas relief's depicting significant battles and historical events.
From the Colonnade to the Cross is a fourteen flight zigzagging footpath on the mountain slope. A permanent ceremonial stage was constructed where the annual celebration of the Araw ng Kagitingan is held everth 9th day of April.
The General Ricarte National Shrine was built in Batac, Ilocos Norte in honor of General Artemio "Vibora" Ricarte, a native of the town. &nsbp; He was known for being a revolutionary hero because of his patriotism during the Fil-AM War and an important personality in World War II - Japanese Occupation.
The shrine is made up of a memorial park with a statue and two field guns. It features a life-size bronze statue of Gen. Ricarte, a viewing deck, bas-relief wall that depicts historical events, museum and fountain. It has a library and museum which showcased Ricarte's life through a number of his photographs and relics, and a collection of American and Japanese guns used in WWII.
