MALAYBALAY, BUKIDNON ─ The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) together with the City of Malaybalay and Malaybalay City Tourism, unveiled the Camp Casisang marker in Casisang, Malaybalay, Bukidnon last 7 March 2024.

Camp Kasisang was a Prisoner-of-War (POW) camp in Malaybalay, Bukidnon which held US General William Sharp, and thousands of POWs captured in during the Second World War. During this time, then army officer Manuel Roxas had health issues. Due to this, Roxas and his men decided to go to Malaybalay and snuck in the said camp, only to be discovered by the Imperial Japanese Forces during a roll call of Filipino POWs in the camp. Initially sent to the Japanese Headquarters in Davao, Roxas was sent back to Bukidnon where he once again stayed in Kasisang. After the American and Filipino POWs were separated from each other, Roxas became the leader of the Filipino side and created a plan to make the camp self-sufficient, employing the POWs to agriculture, medicine, trade, and other recreational activities. The camp would eventually close, and Roxas, Sharp, and other POWs would be shipped to other camps and incarceration areas. In 1948, the Philippine Historical Committee (predecessor of the NHCP) installed a marker in Camp Kasisang. The contents of the marker has since then been updated, resulting in the marker installed this year.

The event was graced by NHCP Executive Director Carminda R. Arevalo, City Councilor Cromwell Dinlayan, Provincial Board Member Atty. Nemesio Beltran Jr., Malaybalay City Mayor Jay Warren Pabillaran with invocation and national anthem by BukSU Chorale.

The NHCP is the national government agency mandated to promote Philippine history through its museums, research, and publications, and to preserve historical heritage through conservation and the marking of historic sites and structures.

Refer to:

NHCP Communications Team
T.M. Kalaw Ave., Ermita, Manila 1000
info@nhcp.gov.ph  | nhcpcommunications@gmail.com
(+632) 5335-1217 | (+63960) 328-4200