August in the Philippines holds a very special holiday in which the whole country lauds its heroes.

This is because in August 1896, the Philippine Revolution began whereby Filipinos fought for independence from Spain.

August holds a deeper meaning for the Alejandro family.  It was on the 30th of August that Dever Alejandro, age 22, was executed along with 28 other Filipinos for subversive activities in World War II.

Dever is the brother of Bienvenido "Benny" Alejandro, papemelroti's co-founder.

The name "Alejandro" means "defender of man" or "warrior" and Dever certainly lived up to his name.

In 1941, Dever Alejandro, a mere youth of 19 years decided to sign up as a ROTC cadet in the Philippine Army.  A year later, they fought a bloody battle against the Japanese in Bataan and were forced to surrender.  As a punishment, they had to walk 65 miles to prison camps where many died along the way.

This event is now known as the dreadful Bataan Death March wherein Dever was among the 75,000 American and Philippine troops.  He was starved and sick while incarcerated at POW Camp O'Donnell in Tarlac.  After 4 months, he was released but needed time to recover from cerebral malaria.

After he regained his health, he once again sought to defend his beloved country.  This time, he joined a guerilla group that gathered weapons to fight the Japanese.  They also distributed subversive information.  Being active in church, Dever and his group hid the banned materials under the choir music.

It was only a matter of time before their group was found out by the notorious Japanese Kempetai police.

Dever's youngest brother Roy Alejandro recounts the story:

Sometime in January 1944, Dever joined a clandestine underground unit operating in Manila, was subsequently arrested in April 1944 by the dreaded Japanese Kempetai Military Police and incarcerated at notorious Fort Santiago.  After horrible months of indescribable torture and pain, Dever together with his underground comrades were summarily tried by Japanese Military Court, were sentenced to death and transferred to Old Bilibid Prison (Manila) to await execution.

At dawn in the early morning of August 30, 1944 Dever and his 27 comrades, weak and famished, were trucked to the North Cemetery, Manila.  Blindfolded and with hands tied behind their backs, in three's and four's, they were mercilessly beheaded by the infamous samurai swords, wielded by their barbaric Kempetai executioners."

"To the memory of those brave men and women who under and in defeat carried on the fight after the fall of Bataan.  

To those who while not bearing arms organized and assisted the Philippine resistance and who in so doing laid down their lives so that we might live.  

And particularly to those herein named who in the morning of August 30, 1944 were executed by the Japanese army for their fearlessness, invincibility and extraordinary valor, this memorial is proudly dedicated. 

It is also dedicated to all the heroes of all resistance movements all over the world who fell in the struggle for liberty when the fight seemed hopeless and the night darkest.

In our daily lives, we can see heroic deeds.  If we think about it, sacrificial acts done out of love for others are awe-inspiring! Those dear to us have in many ways inspired us to do good in this world so it's good to reflect on these and be grateful.

Do you have a hero in your family?  Let's honor them as much as we can!

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