Ang Kalatas September 2017 | Page 6

ONE MOMENT IN TIME

Memorare : Lest we forget

EVERY year , the Memorare-Manila 1945 Foundation remembers the 100,000 victims of the Battle of Manila .
By ALFREDO ' DING ' ROCES
We had a chance to attend this year ' s ( February 18 , 2017 ) ceremonies at the Memorare monument in Intramuros . This ritual commemorates a historic event that certain types of Filipinos do not want to remember ; but thank God there are these indomitable other types who urge the world to never forget .
It was quite an experience to watch a handful of my countrymen - now fading into that goodnight - joined by youth of the new millenium , struggling to keep the memory alive of the insane horror of man ' s inhumanity to man , so that it may never happen again . •
ALFREDO ROCES is an artist , photojournalist , and book author living in the Sydney suburb of Davidson ; an octogenarian who in retirement continues to love life and to capture its wonder with his paint brush , his camera , and his words . Roces has opened his ‘ gallery archive ’ to AK NewsMagazine for readers to follow and enjoy each month . A stature depicts Filipinos suffering from the ravages of World War II .
Clockwise from top : Dramatic re-enactment of Japanese military on the attack against Filipino guerrillas and civilians .
Youthful Japanese , Miss Sena Kaneko , speaks , representing Bridge For Peace .
A survivor of the massacre of Manila , Roderick C M Hall , offers his recollections .
World War II Historian Dr Benito J Legarda jr .
06 SEPTEMBER 2017 | AK NewsMagazine , Vol 7 No 12 www . kalatas . com . au