Araw ng Kagitingan 2015

1. Araw ng Kagitingan (Filipino for Day of Valor), also known as Bataan Day or Bataan and Corregidor Day, is a national observance in the Philippines which commemorates the fall of Bataan during World War II. 
2. It falls on April 9, although in 2009 it would have coincided with Maundy Thursday and its celebration for 2009 was moved to April 6.
3. 9 April 2015 is the 73rd anniversary of the Fall of Bataan in 1942.
4. The theme for the year 2015 is: "Ipunla ang Kagitingan, sa Kabataan, Ihanda ang Beterano ng Kinabukasan."
5. 6 April 1961, Congress passed Republic Act 3022 declaring April 9 of every year as Bataan Day.
6. 30 June 1987, Executive Order 203 revised all national holidays in the Philippines, renaming the April 9 holiday as "Araw ng Kagitingan (Bataan and Corregidor Day)".
7. 25 July 1987, Executive Order 292 revised the holidays anew, but it did not affect the naming of the April 9 holiday.
8. 25 July 2007, Congress passed Republic Act No. 9492 putting into law the "Holiday Economics" policy of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo; this put the observance of each holiday, with the exception of New Year's Day and Christmas, to the Monday nearest it.
9. Starting with the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, all celebrations of the holiday have been observed on April 9, instead of being moved to the nearest Monday, and the holiday has been called simply "Araw ng Kagitingan".
10. At dawn on 9 April 1942, against the orders of Generals Douglas MacArthur and Jonathan Wainwright, the commander of the Luzon Force, Bataan, Major General Edward P. King, Jr., surrendered more than 76,000 starving and disease-ridden soldiers (67,000 Filipinos, 1,000 Chinese Filipinos, and 11,796 Americans) to Japanese troops.
11. In Maywood, Illinois the second Sunday in September is remembered as Bataan Day. Maywood provided Illinois National Guard soldiers of the 192nd Tank Battalion who served on Bataan.
12. Our government declares April 5 to 11 as Philippine Veterans Week.

References:

http://lopez-museum.com/2015/04/08/the-fighting-filipinos-for-araw-ng-kagitingan-day-of-valor-2015/

http://www.gov.ph/araw-ng-kagitingan/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataan_Day

http://www.philstar.com/news-feature/2015/04/09/1441984/araw-ng-kagitingan-remembering-veterans