The Army Vice Commander Brig. Gen. Leodevic B. Guinid joined the celebration of the 57th General Atienza Day to commemorate the unparallel heroism of late Gen. Rigoberto Atienza, an Army Engineer, in a wreath-laying ceremony at Camp Atienza, Libis, Quezon City on October 09, 2023.
General Atienza Day is a yearly activity of the 51st Engineer Brigade to honor the death anniversary of General Rigoberto Joaquin Atienza on October 08, 1966. Gen. Atienza was known for his performance as an Army Officer Engineer, where he played a significant role in anti-Japanese movements during the heydays of the Japanese occupation of the Philippine Islands.
Gen. Atienza was a United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) member who stood in the last defending line of Bataan. He also joined the 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war to suffer the holocaust of the Death March from Kilometer Zero to the Internment Camp in Camp O’ Donnel, Capas, Tarlac. Upon his release, he took command of the Engineering Battalion of the 41st Division, an Army unit manned by Filipinos from the Southern Tagalog Provinces. Later, he became the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines during the administration of President Diosdado Macapagal.
During his keynote message, the Army Vice Commander called on the Army troops to follow Gen. Atienza’s exemplary service as a guiding principle. “I call on our soldiers to look to his example, to serve with the same level of courage he displayed and with a selflessness that puts our nation and our people above all else,” Brig. Gen. Guinid said.
Photos by Pvt. Vhino Lozano, OACPA