Capas National Shrine

Memorial to the Filipino and American soldiers who died at the end of the Bataan Death March

The Capas National Shrine is the most important World War II site in the Philippines. The site is the former Camp O'Donnell, the destination of the Bataan Death March: a 110-km forced march of starving and wounded prisoners north from Bataan in April 1942. The shrine itself is a quiet, well-maintained park with a tall obelisk in white marble surrounded by the names of the dead inscribed on a low wall — over 25,000 of them.

The shrine sits about 25 km north of Tarlac City, off the main road towards Camp O'Donnell. Allow an hour. There is a small museum at the entrance with photographs, uniforms, and accounts from survivors. Filipino families come here to remember; the atmosphere is reverent rather than touristic. Combine it with a visit to the Capas Death March Marker, on the road from San Fernando, which marks the end of the march itself.

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After the surrender of Bataan in April 1942, around 75,000 Filipino and American prisoners were force-marched to Camp O'Donnell, the railhead at Capas. Some 25,000 Filipinos and 1,500 Americans died here in the first months of internment from disease, starvation, and abuse. The 70-metre obelisk at the centre of the shrine was inaugurated in 2003.

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