WWII Heroes Project 2025:
83rd ANNIVERSARY AND COMMEMORATION OF THE DAY OF VALOR (ARAW NG KAGITINGAN)
PVT TOMAS MANABAT, MISSING-IN-ACTION: REMEMBERING A BATAAN DEFENDER FROM BAMBAN, TARLAC
The month of April is an important historical event in the history of our Nation and in WWII, for the gallant Filipino and American soldiers extreme sacrifices shared, the hardships fought and the ultimate price paid in the battlefields of Bataan and Corregidor and its aftermath; the Death March and incarceration at Camp O’Donnell (Capas POW Camp) in 1942.
As we commemorate the Day of Valor and remember those who fought and died, allow me to share the heroism and sacrifice of one of the sons of Bamban who paid the ultimate price for our freedom; Private First Class Tomas Manabat.
A member of the elite Philippine Scouts and stationed at nearby Fort Stotsenburg with the 4th Veterinary Company, 12th Medical Regiment, he was one of the very few Filipinos with the unit, task to veterinary works and in taking care of the horses of the other Philippine Scouts at the fort, particularly the 26th Cavalry. With the fighting raged in Bataan beginning in January 1942, PFC Manabat joined the other units in the peninsula, defending the Filipino-American lines until retreated at the back of Mt. Samat. By then, he was deployed as auxiliary infantry and fought just like any other Philippine Scouts in the battlefields of Bataan.
American records show PFC Manabat was able to retreat into the last Filipino-American line but captured by the Japanese even before the start of the major offensive on April 3, 1942. Hence, he became a prisoner-of-war prior the surrender of Bataan. He was presumed to be killed on April 8, 1942. His remains were never recovered after the war, and his name is listed in the Tablet of the Missing, at the American Cemetery and Memorial in Taguig.
Back in Bamban, Tarlac, his hometown, he is immortalized and enshrined at the Bamban WWII Museum, for his ultimate sacrifice and legacy of heroism as a beacon of patriotism, for the generations of Filipinos in general and the Bambanenses in particular, to be inspired, especially the youth.
“PFC MANABAT, you are not forgotten!”
