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CLARK, PAMPANGA — The Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) recorded the biggest number of participants in this year’s commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the first kamikaze take off in Pampanga on Friday despite the bad weather brought by Severe Tropical Storm ”Kristine”.
Amid the heavy downpour, approximately 130 people offered their prayers for the repose of all the war dead in the Philippines as they joined the commemoration ceremony at the Kamikaze West Airfield in Clark Freeport Zone.
In a message to the Daily Manila Shimbun, CIAC public affairs division chief Augusto Sanchez said “so far (it is the) biggest” number of attendees of the event that being held every year.
Aside from Filipino and Japanese visitors, the event was also participated by representatives from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines.
In his speech during the event, CIAC, Office of the President and CEO, Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Nancy Paglinawan said the kamikaze shrine “is a symbol of peace and friendship among all other nations that promote the same goodwill.”
“Our company, the CIAC, joins the kamikaze memorial service today to remind all of us that our mutual goal is to promote peace using the lessons of war,” she said.
Amid the ongoing conflict in middles east and other parts of the world, Paglinawan noted that the shrine serves as “serious reminder that there are no victors but only victims in any war and that the kamikaze experience must never happen again.”
“This shrine must be an instrument to promote cooperation and a mutually beneficial relationship among the community of nations. Peace and friendship is also our commitment, and we are one with you on this mission,” she added.
As “the international security environment seems to have become increasingly unstable” with conflicts and war in other parts of the globe including “China’s growing hegemonic postures” in the region, Tokkotai Memorial Foundation, Chairman and retired Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) General Shigeru Iwasaki emphasized the preservation of culture and “enhancement of friendly relations with the Philippines.”
“Now more than ever, you must carry the spirit to protect our country and face this national crisis with a compassion towards compatriots,” he said.
“We are determined to preserve the spirits and aspirations left behind by the fallen heroes, striving for Japan’s progress, the preservation of its culture and the enhancement of friendly relations with the Philippines,” he added. Robina Asido/DMS