Camp Kasisang Explained

Camp Kasisang
Pushpin Relief:1
Location:Malaybalay
Coordinates:8.1564°N 125.1333°W
Status:Defunct
Opened:mid-1942
Closed:October 1942
Managed By:Empire of Japan
State:Bukidnon
Country:Philippines (under Japanese occupation)

Camp Kasisang, was established as a camp for American and Filipino prisoners of war on 1942, in then municipality of Malaybalay, Bukidnon in the Philippines.[1] Before serving as Mindanao's first camp for prisoners of war, it was a training ground for the Philippine Army.[2] It was located in the foothills of the Malaybalay Mountains and a few miles north of Barangay Casisang.[3]

History

The camp's barracks were of crude construction, some with corrugated steel roofs but most were made of either thatched wood or nipa palm fronds.

Water was scarce and the prisoners were limited to one water canteen per day for all purposes. One pump was the sole source of water for about 1,000 Americans and 11,000 Filipinos.[4]

Movements of prisoners

In July 1942, Filipino and American soldiers in Mindanao who surrendered to the Japanese forces were made to march from Camp Keithley in Marawi to Iligan, a distance of about 36 kilometers, to gather them all at Camp Kasisang with the rest of the prisoners of war.[5]

In the succeeding months of 1942, the Japanese transported several prisoners to other parts of the Philippines, including Manila and Davao. The camp was ordered to be closed in November 1942.

Deaths

Prisoners who were caught making an attempt to escape from the camp were killed.[6] It was report that only 19 prisoners died at Camp Kasisang as a result of the wounds they had before they arrived at the camp, and there were no deaths due to malnutrition or disease.

Notable prisoners

Commemoration

The Philippines Historical Committee (now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines) declared the camp as a National Historical Landmark in 1948.[8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Historical Background . City government of Malaybalay. 2024-02-16 . en.
  2. Book: Dorr, Robert F. . 7th Bombardment Group/Wing, 1918-1995 . 1996 . Turner Publishing Company . 978-1-56311-278-2 . en.
  3. Book: Jones, Betty B. . The December Ship: A Story of Lt. Col. Arden R. Boellner's Capture in the Philippines, Imprisonment, and Death on a World War II Japanese Hellship . 2011-12-14 . McFarland . 978-0-7864-8927-5 . en.
  4. Web site: American Prisoners of War Celebrate the Fourth of July at Camp Casisang – The World War II Multimedia Database . 2024-02-16 . en-US.
  5. Robert John I. Donesa . 2020 . THE MINDANAO DEATH MARCH: ESTABLISHING A HISTORICAL FACT THROUGH ONLINE RESEARCH . International Social Science Review . en-US . 1 . 1 . 1.
  6. Book: Dorr, Robert F. . 7th Bombardment Group/Wing, 1918-1995 . 1996 . Turner Publishing Company . 978-1-56311-278-2 . en.
  7. Book: Maramba, Asuncion David . Seven in the Eye of History . 2000 . Published and exclusively distributed by Anvil Pub. . 978-971-27-1030-8 . en.
  8. Web site: Camp Kasisang Registry . 2024-02-16 . en-US.