When is the Day of Valor? Called 'Araw ng Kagitingan' in Filipino, this official regular nationwide holiday is celebrated annually on April 9th. If the date clashes with an Easter holiday, then the day may be moved as was the case in 2009. The holiday may also be known as 'Bataan Day' or 'Bataan and Corregidor Day'. It commemorates the fall of the Bataan peninsula during the second world war. History of the Day of Valor At dawn on April 9th 1942, Major General King, of the United States Army was forced to surrender his forces of over 76,000 Filipino, Chinese and American soldiers to the Japanese. Unprepared for the number of prisoners, the Japanese decided to walk the prisoners 150km to a prison camp in San Fernando. Over 20,000 prisoners died on this march either through starvation, exhaustion or at the hands of the Japanese. The trek became infamous as the 'Bataan Death March'. While the holiday marks an event which was a victory for the ...