from bworldonline.com,  by C. H. C. Venzon

CLARK FIELD, PAMPANGA — In broad daylight on a recent Saturday, two opposing forces clashed. Explosions and shots were exchanged and not too long after, military Jeeps started ferrying “wounded” soldiers.

At first look, Fort Stotsenburg in this former US military base seemed to be hosting a real war, but what was actually going on meant to showcase the vintage Jeep lovers’ fraternity.

A reenactment of the Battle of Bataan was the highlight of the “Seasons Jeepings” event, a gathering of the Military Vehicle Collectors Club of the Philippines (MVCCP) that was organized by Jeep body manufacturer MD Juan Enterprises, Inc. and the Mabalacat Tourism Office.

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from inquirer.net, by Albert Labrador, Philippine Daily Inquirer

BATAAN, Philippines—As the sun gleamed off the blade of his Gunto, the Japanese captain looked left and then right at the troops poised to charge the wire before them. Shells screamed above them toward the enemy line. With the first explosions, he raised the sword and screamed: “Tenno heika!”

The troops screamed “Banzai!” and made the short headlong rush into the barbed wire defenses. The joint Philippine-American forces quickly recovered and were soon firing into the advancing Japanese. Allied soldiers who had fallen in the initial rush were carried off by their comrades to waiting jeeps.

The first Japanese troops to make it to the wire collapsed on it and died there, becoming the bridge for their comrades to rush over.

Whistles blew from Philippine Army officers, bayonets were fixed and an attack was launched to rid the lines of the surviving invaders. The Philippine Scouts and Army troops brought forward in jeeps to the front lines jumped the sandbagged wall and rushed into the Japanese lines, stabilizing the front and saving the day in a short but violent battle.

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from mb.com.ph, by Aris R. Iligan

MANILA, Philippines — To express their keen sense of history and endless love for a Filipino icon – the jeep, owners of war vintage military jeeps gathered in Clark Air Base in Pampanga Dec. 3, a few days before the 70th anniversary of the infamous Dec. 12, 1941 Pearl Harbor attack that triggered the invasion of the Philippines. The gathering was to celebrate the birthday of the four-wheel-drive legend.

More than 50 fully-restored vintage jeeps – coming from Metro Manila and the provinces of Pampanga, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and Cavite, had an “eye-ball” at Fort Stotsenberg at Clark for the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the historic vehicle.

The occasion was also highlighted by a reenactment of the Battle of Bataan, a nine-day fierce firefight between joint forces of the Philippine and United States military versus the Japanese Imperial Army that began in January 31, 1945.

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