Philippine Veterans Bank launches World War II film

MANILA, Philippines - The tableau of Philippine World War II history will once again be enriched as Philippine Veterans Bank, together with award-winning Spyron-AV Manila, jointly launch Unsurrendered 2: The Hunters ROTC Guerillas at the Ayala Museum in Makati City.

Serving as the sequel to Unsurrendered: 100 Voices, filmmakers Peter Oarsons and Lucky Guillermo turn their World War II sights on the heroics and exploits of Hunter ROTC Guerillas, one of the first and youngest Philippine resistance groups that challenged the might of the Japanese invaders from 1942, after the fall of Bataan and Corregidor, until the end of the war in 1945.

The 53-minute documentary directed by Bani Logroño will give viewers a glimpse into what prompted teenaged PMA and ROTC cadets, deemed too young then to join the ongoing war against the Japanese, to flee into the mountains of Antipolo and organized themselves to be one of the more effective guerilla units that resisted the imperial rule of Japan. The documentary, through interviews with surviving Hunters ROTC members, their families and their friends, and with insightful commentaries from noted Filipino World War II historians, will tell the story of courage, determination and patriotism of the determined group of Philippine resistance fighters whose role in the liberation of the Philippines is mostly forgotten and largely left out of our history textbooks.

With the production of the documentary, PVB and Spyron-AV Manila hope to challenge the youth of today to rise to the occasion for the sake of the country in the same way that the Hunters ROTC lads did in 1942 after the defeat of Filipino and American defense units at Japanese hands.

The producers of the film hope that with the launch of the new documentary and the planned road shows in schools and universities to follow, the generation of today will not only associate the liberation of the Philippines with General Douglas MacArthur but will also come to know the important contributions of Miguel Ver, Terry Adevoso, Gustavo Ingles, Frisco San Juan, Emmanuel de Ocampo and the thousands of other Filipino guerillas resistance fighters.

PVB chairman Roberto de Ocampo, OBE, whose own father is a member of the Hunters ROTC, will deliver a special message prior to the film screening.

The launch of Unsurrendered 2: The Hunters ROTC Guerillas is in time for the continuing commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in the Philippines.