1980s. One of our field recon team members was part of the recovery group. The artifacts
retrieved are now in permanent display at our Bamban WWII Museum.
On June 29, 2025 , in spite of the heavy rains, we successfully welcomed the arrival of official representatives from Japan Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare from their Tokyo Office lead by Director Ishikuza Tetsuro and Furukawa Kazuchika with forensic experts to assess some suspected remains of Japanese war dead left in the former battlefields of Bamban Hills.
They were accompanied by the Philippine delegates composed of forensic experts, museum researcher, technician and experts in similar field from the Department of Interior and Local Government, the National Museum, the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts and the National Bureau of Investigation; led by Ms. Jemellyn Alo, Mrs. Hazel Ramirez, Rose Anne Pronton and Joseph David.
Also in attendance were Patrick Joseph Mansujeto, representing the Office of Governor Susan Yap and Mrs. Cherrylyn Pascua of the Bamban Tourism Office.
A couple of sets of remains were presented and an initial forensic anthropological assessment has been conducted.
Early this year, the Japan Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare concluded via DNA analysis that the remains turned over in 2018 from Bamban Museum were determined to be Japanese.
Two (2) more sets of remains are awaiting DNA TEST results from Japan MHLW. Should the remains determined to be of Japanese DNA, we shall hand them over for immediate repatriation to Japan for final burial and return to their homeland.
RECOGNITION FROM THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT
Recognition and Certificate of Appreciation from Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
WWII brought heroism and bravery from amongst the people and soldiers involved. It also brought tragedy and loss for families. We lost our grandfather; 2nd Lt. Mauricio Cauguiran, who was an officer of the USAFFE guerrillas of Bamban in 1942-1943, captured and killed by Japanese Kempei-tai military police for taking care of 2nd Lieutenant James H. Hart.
were recovered inside a Japanese navy tunnel.
About 40,000 Japanese died in the battlefields of the Bamban-Clark area in 1945. Almost all units of the Japanese Kembu Group composite army-navy division were decimated in one of the toughest fights in Luzon in 1945. Japanese families lost their father, uncles or grandfathers and most of the remains of these war dead were never recovered after the war.
remains of war dead at Bamban Museum.
In early 2000, we at the Bamban Historical Society and later with the staff and volunteers of Bamban WWII Museum, through my initiatives, embarked in the effort to search and recover Japanese remains of these war dead left in the former battlefields of the Bamban. This effort, we termed Operation Fireflies, continues to this day. Some sets of remains were already handed over to the Japanese Government that we recovered, and most of them were identified to be of Japanese origin by DNA.
Other sets of remains handed over to Japan MHLW are undergoing DNA analysis and tests. Our OPERATION FIREFLIES is a humanitarian endeavor and a mission to help in the recovery of the remains of Japanese war dead and bring closure to the tragedy that befell families for their loss in the aftermath of the war.
Finally, my efforts for OPERATION FIREFLIES have been recognized by Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare through the issuance of Certificate of Appreciation:
“for the contribution and participation in promoting the recovery of the remains of war dead by the Government of Japan.”
near Bamban Hills. Courtesy of Doug Montanino.
On the day of the visit of the delegates from Philippine-Japan Search and Recovery Team, we provided them a museum tour with our historian and museum curator, in order to provide an historical backdrop of the Bamban Hills. Our OPERATION FIREFLIES is our humble contribution for humanity. To all the war dead at the former WWII battlefields of the Bamban Hills, may they all rest in eternal peace.
Rhonie C. Dela Cruz
Director and Historian, Bamban WWII Museum
President, Bamban Historical Society
Consultant, Provincial Government of Tarlac – Provincial Tourism Office
