Image:Judgefloro
I lived in New Cabalan, Olongapo City, Philippines my whole life and always see the Dove Monument when I commute to school , but I don’t really know the history of the statue or what it meant. I though it is just a roundabout for jeepneys. But after some research I learned a ton about the history of Olongapo City, my hometown.
The "Kalapati" or the Dove Monument can be found in New Cabalan near the main highway. The history of it after a ton of research is that it is called The World Peace Memorial. It is built to commemorate the lives that are lost during the battle at Zigzag Pass. I never knew a major battle has been committed near my house. During my childhood, I thought that big bird is alive and moving. It just perch there to give us goodluck and protect us from evil. As you can see I have a vivid imagination. I think all kids have an amazing imagination but as we grow up we don't develop it anymore and live in the real world. Imagination is not the topic of this post its the monument in my home town so lets move on.
According to the Wiki It was requested by a Japanese businessman named Mr. Kasanobu Miyazaki to build a shrine for his fallen brother named Captain Masanobu Miyazaki. Captain Miyazaki lost his life during the battle at the Zigzag Pass. This is one of the longest and most tragic battles during the World War II, I guess this the most tragic battle in my home town and not the whole Philippines or the World. I'm not really sure they didn't teach us this in history class. I just learned about it during my first year college after giving us an assignment about history. Ok, let us go back to my research. Instead of building a shrine like we see in Japan, I mostly see it in anime and its amazing and is good looking. This is the Itsukushima Shrine in Japan, pretty good looking right?
Image: © JordyMeow / Creative Commons, Miyajima Torii
Instead of building a shrine like in Japan, Mayor Gordon suggested instead to build a peace monument dedicated to all the fallen Filipino, American, and Japanese during that tragic battle. A shrine like in Japan would be amazing in my hometown but this monument is more than eye candy and more fitting for its message. As we all know dove signify peace and this shrine/monument serve as a reminder of all the fallen one who risked their lives to give us freedom. This is the first time I learned the history of this monument after living in New Cabalan for 18 years I now know the purpose of this wonderful place,
