BATAAN

The pictures below were taken on May 16 and 17, 1998 when some college (Mapúa) classmates and I were invited to Bataan province by FX (Francis Xavier) and his wife Vissia. FX, who now co-manages their family's engineering firm, is one of the best buddies (besides Mike Yanong and Allan Cura) I have since college. Everytime I ran out of allowance as a student, I would stay at their place to save on meal expenses. Mike and I were frequent visitors and over-nighters at their place.

With me in the photo on the left are (from left) Ed Nonog, Vicky Tabernilla, FX Martinez, and his wife Vissia Martinez. We stayed overnight in one of the staff houses of Bataan Nuclear Power Plant and dropped by Mt. Samat the following day on our way home.

At the top of the historic Mt. Samat which is now a World War II military shrine and "Dambana ng Kagitingan" (Monument of Heroism)site. Brave Filipino and American soldiers lost their lives fighting the Japanese invaders here.

In the background is the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. It would have been the Philippines' first nuclear plant but it got caught in a web of political and financial controversies which reduced it into a white elephant that costs millions of pesos a year to maintain.

In this picture, the base of the Cross Memorial is at least visible in the background. This time, we look like we're band members doing a publicity pose.

The beach near the nuclear power plant was surprisingly clean and beautiful. It was not crowded and the white sand extended far offshore making swimming really enjoyable.

This is the Cross of Heroism (Dambana ng Kagitingan) which serves as a memorial to the World War II Filipino and American soldiers who died during the siege of Bataan. The cross rises at the peak of Mt. Samat.

	At the top of the historic Mt. Samat which is now a World War II military shrine and "Dambana ng Kagitingan" (Monument of Heroism)site. Brave Filipino and American soldiers lost their lives fighting the Japanese invaders here.
	In the background is the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. It would have been the Philippines' first nuclear plant but it got caught in a web of political and financial controversies which reduced it into a white elephant that costs millions of pesos a year to maintain.
	In this picture, the base of the Cross Memorial is at least visible in the background. This time, we look like we're band members doing a publicity pose.
	The beach near the nuclear power plant was surprisingly clean and beautiful. It was not crowded and the white sand extended far offshore making swimming really enjoyable.
	This is the Cross of Heroism (Dambana ng Kagitingan) which serves as a memorial to the World War II Filipino and American soldiers who died during the siege of Bataan. The cross rises at the peak of Mt. Samat.