Ride for Valor: Bikers retrace the road to freedom for National Heroes Day

Ride for Valor: Bikers retrace the road to freedom for National Heroes Day

Bikers from Pampanga, Bataan, Tarlac, and nearby provinces pedaled along the route traversed by the country’s heroes in a fun ride for a cause dubbed, “Ride for Valor.”

The “Ride for Valor” is a non-competitive 160 kilometers long bike ride to raise funds to save our heroes’ historical markers so that we may remember their sacrifices. The funds will be turned over to the Filipino-American Memorial Endowment (FAME), a non-government organization that maintains the kilometer markers of the Bataan Death March from Mariveles, Bataan to Capas, Tarlac.

In the past, Bataan Death March markers had been uprooted, destroyed, and neglected due to drainage and other road projects. Ten (10) Death March historical markers in Mariveles, and four (4) in Limay, Bataan have to be relocated due to road widening and other repairs in the area.

The Death March markers serve as a reminder of the route taken by Filipino soldiers who defended the country against Japanese forces during World War II. About 10,000 brave soldiers died along this route; many of the bodies were never identified or recovered by their families.

The "Ride for Valor" is part of the 30th anniversary of the Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB). PVB is a commercial bank owned by World War II veterans and their families. As part of its charter, PVB allocates 20% of its annual net income for the benefit of its shareholders.

Around 80,000 Filipino and American soldiers and prisoners of war were forced to march 69 miles from Bataan to Tarlac by the Japanese military during World War II. Only some 54,000 persons reached the camp, and around 20,000 died due to dehydration, starvation,  diseases, and the brutality of Japanese captors.

For more information, visit www.veteransbank.com.ph.