Magandang umaga sa inyong lahat. Governor Lazaro, Mayor Perez, Congressman Chipeco, distinguished members of the diplomatic corps, colleagues, General Perkins who has come all the way from Japan, members of the 296 th U.S. Army Band who work for General Perkins. Most of all, honored veterans of the internment camp, Fr. Reuter, Filipino heroes, Commanders De Ocampo and Ingles, other members of the guerillas and the hunters at that time, the representative of the University of the Philippines, Chancellor Dr. Davide, Reverend Fuller:

Thank you so much for joining us. Those of you who have come from Manila to be our hosts, thank you very, very much for your warm and gracious welcome. We’re very proud to stand with you today.

It’s very fitting and important that we come here for this purpose of commemorating the events of sixty Februaries ago not merely, not only the happy occasion, the liberation of those over 2,000 Allied internees, but also to commemorate the sad, tragic, unspeakable horror and sacrifice of the people of Los Baños, the citizens of Laguna who came so dearly after the rescue of the internees. It is fitting and right and important that we commemorate those events for several reasons, it seems to me.

Number one, of course, is to thank the people of Los Baños and Laguna for your heroism and your bravery, and for keeping the faith in what must have seen the most dark hours that any humans could suffer. By doing that, we don’t do it to give meaning to the sacrifices of those we lost sixty years ago, rather, it seems to me, we do it to draw strength and inspiration. For if you could survive that, if the town of Los Baños, the province of Laguna, could survive that and move on to prosper, then any of us anywhere in the world can do the same thing no matter how grim, no matter how tragic, no matter how dark the momentary circumstances that we go through now.

I think of, for example, the people in Afghanistan have suffered so much. I think of the people in Iraq who have suffered so much and still suffer to this day, always having the hope that they draw from their own history of sacrifice and those who have gone before, and the hope that those of us provide as allies, as we did sixty years ago, standing together against tyranny as we do today in standing together against tyranny. It is essential that we do that as our leaders are saying. Even President Bush is traveling among our allies today to review those alliances. So, we thank you. We draw inspiration from you.

I think a third purpose for commemorating what we do here is to rededicate ourselves, for the best way of recognizing the sacrifice of those who went before us and thanking you is to rededicate ourselves, to recommit ourselves, to promise you, to promise our fathers, our grandfathers, our grandmothers and grandfathers that we will pay it forward, and we’re doing that in so many ways. Yes, we do it with parachute jumps and trooping the colors together, and bands, and laying wreaths and all those ceremonies that are terribly important to keep the memory alive. But we also do it in our daily lives.

I’ve been privileged to meet again here Mrs. Tidon, who lost all of her family here when the Japanese came in and massacred them, along with 1500 others. She today plays host to Peace Corps volunteers, welcoming them to her family when they are here. And that’s one small way that Mrs. Tidon helps. Thank you very much for carrying out that memory. Thank you, Mrs. Tidon.

The principal of Los Baños National High School, Dr. Esmeralda de Castro and four other scholars who are benefiting from a fund set up by the veterans of Los Baños to perpetuate the memory of what went on and pay forward into the future by drawing new students with the same sense of duty, honor, country, patriotism, and commitment. So we see it in that way too as moving forward. We see our soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and of the United States Army working together in Balikatan 2005 doing medical and dental, capacity building exercises here in the Philippines, here in Laguna province, and also further north in the provinces that were devastated by typhoons.

In this way too, we practice together, we keep our interoperability going, we reaffirm our alliance and solidarity for all that is good, just and true, and strong in a wonderful country that is so welcoming to Americans and friends all around the world. Even in one small humble way I would also like just to mention because I know this matters so much to the Governor and to Senator Gordon and to the town’s people, we are about 25 people today from the American Embassy who have come not only to participate in the wreath laying, and in the speeches, but also to climb the mountain afterwards, to climb the sacred Mount Makiling that is both spiritual on the one hand, and recreational of the truest sense on the other. We Americans feel warmly welcomed in Laguna. We feel warmly welcomed and safe in the Philippines, and we’re coming here to do something that is recreational and even touristic, because we simply enjoy being in this great country of yours. So, Governor and Mayor thank you for welcoming us here today, and we hope to, in a small way do something enjoyable to also show that we are returning your hospitality and appreciate it so much.

Ladies and gentlemen, to our hosts, thank you once again for welcoming us here. Be assured that our friendship, our cooperation is strong, and will remain so. We dedicate ourselves to keeping it that way. Keep the faith, as Fr. Reuter kept the faith and has inspired us to do so. Welcome to the future. Thank you very much. Maraming salamat at mabuhay.

 

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