THE PHILIPPINES

AND THE WORLD WAR II

THE WORLD WAR II

It was by far the greatest armed conflict in the history of mankind
and basically, a life-and-death struggle between democracy and
totalitarianism. This second global conflict resulted from the rise
of totalitarian, militaristic regimes in Germany, Italy, and Japan, a
phenomenon stemming in part from the Great Depression that

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to be ranked
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modern times.

December 08, 1941- it is when the Philippines joined immediately after

after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor because of the Filipinos lov
of Freedom and loyalty to America.

THE PHILIPPINES
PREPARES FOR WAR

As the crisis mounted in the Pacific, the Philippines also girded

for war. The military training of the youth was intensified. First
aid courses were given in all schools and social clubs.

April 01, 1941- President Manuel L. Quezon

created the Civilian Emergency Administration(CEA)

with branches in the provinces and towns.
Pangasiwaan sa Kaligtasan ng Mamamayan
at ang kanyang paglilingkod sa bayan.

July 10, 1941- it iwas the night when first black

out practiced which took place in Manila. Evacuatio

centers were established and air raid drills were
conducted in Manila and other cities.

July 26, 1941- Lt. Gen. Douglas Mac Arthur , Military Adviser
to the Philippine Commonwealth, was called back to active service
by President Roosevelt and took command of the newly-formed
United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). In to this
Army command were induced 100,000 Filipino soldiers, whom
Mac Arthur had trained in modern warfare.

Lt. Gen. Douglas Mac

Arthur

Pres. Franklin Roosevelt

OUTBREAK OF
THE WORLD WAR II

December 08, 1941- at dawn of Monday, the newspaper boys

awakened Manila with shrill cries Extra! Extra! JAPAN RAIDS HAWAII!
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, mightiest U.S. naval base in Haw
took place exactly at 2:30 a.m. of the same date in the Philippine time

December 07, 1941- According to American time, it was 7:55 a.m. a

a date which will live in infamy as President Franklin Roosevelt said

Japan launched a surprise attack on the Philippines, just ten hours after

the attack on Pearl Harbor. Initial aerial bombardment was followed by

landings of ground troops both north and south of Manila. The defending
Philippine and United States troops were under the command of General
Douglas Mac Arthur, who had been recalled to active duty in the United
State Army earlier in the year and was designated commander of the
United States Armed Forces in the Asia-Pacific region. The aircraft of his
command were destroyed; the naval forces were ordered to leave; and
because of the circumstances in the Pacific region, reinforcement and re
supply of his ground forces were impossible.

 At last, the war, which the Filipinos dreaded, had come. The Pacific
by name an ocean of peace- became an arena of a global war. The
people were shocked by the news of war. There was excitement
everywhere, but no panic. Men from all walks of life, including college
boys as young as 16 years of age, jammed the Army headquarters,
volunteering for combat service.

First Japanese
Air Attacks on
the Philippines

The first point to be bombed was

Davao,City in Mindanao.
The air attack took place at 6:30 a.m.
December 8, 1941.

Tuguegarao, Baguio, Iba, Tarlac and Clark Field were

subsequently raided.
The enemy air attacks were most destructive at Clark
Field,where the American Air Force as blasted.

Before sunrise of Tuesday,

December 9, the city of manila
experienced its wartime air raid.
The sleeping residents were
awakened from their slumber by
the wailing alarm of the sirens.
The Japanese planes soared over
the city and bombed Nichols Field.
The USAFFE anti-craffe betteries
thundered to action and filled the
sky with bursting flak.

Japanese Invasion Begins

 On December 10 the Japanese invaders made

their first successful landing at Aparri and Vigan
in Northern Luzon.
Two days later, more assault forces made a
beachhead in Legazpi in Southern Luzon.
Way down south in Davao the Japanese landed on
December 20.
Two days later the main Japanese invasion forces,
under the command of lt. Masaharu Homma,
landed in Lingayen.
Other landings took place at Atimonan and
Mauban on December 24.

 At noon of December 10 they bombed the U.S.

Navy Yard at Cavite, reducing it a heap of
smouldering ruins, and raided Nichols Field and
Fort McKinley.
Captain Jesus Villamor and two other Filipino
pilots bravely engaged the raiders in battle.
Villamor shut down one enemy plane.
On December 11, over Batangas airfield, Captain
Villamor and five other Filipino airmen attacked
two enemy formations of 27 planes each.
Two Japanese planes were shot down during
dogfights, but Villamor lost two men.

CHEERLESS CHRISTMAS
OF 1941

 As Christmas approached, fighting raged with

increasing fury in Luzons battle areas, and the
enemy air raiders rained more bombs on Manila
and other places.
The cold misty of the dawn of December 16th
came, but there was no traditional misa de gallo
in the churches of Christian Philippines. It was
suspended owing to the exigencies of the war.

 Two days later, the Japanese planes bombed Iloilo

City, blowing up the gasoline stores and inflicting
heavy damage on Camp Delgado. This was the
first Japanese air attack in the Visayas.
The war situation began to loom ominously
hopeless for the USAFFE. Gen. Hommas forces
were closing in to Manila in a pincer movement
from North and South.

 Realizing the futility of the defending Manila, Gen.

MacArthur ordered the transfer of valuable
military supplies of the USAFFE to Corregidor and
Bataan and those that could not be moved were
destroyed.

December 24- the eve of Christmas, Pres.

Quezon, accompanied by his family and the War
Cabinet, moved to Corregidor, where the
Commonwealth Government was transferred. He
left Secretary Vargas, justice Jose Laurel and
other top officials in Manila to look after the
peoples warfare during the critical times.

 December 25,1941- was the cheerless

Christmas Day. The Japanese plane soared over
Manila and drooped propaganda leaflets. In the
afternoon, they returned and bombed the Nichols
Field. They strafed a crowded Pagsanjan-bound
passenger train at College Junction, Laguna,
killing many passengers and wounding many
more. Christmas that year was indeed dreary.
From the Japanese, the Filipino people received a
macabre Christmas gift- death from exploding
bombs.

RETREAT TO BATAAN

December 23, 1942- Gen. McArthur put into effect

the secret military plan , WPO-3 (War Plan Orange
No. 3) which provided withdrawal of all USAFFE
forces to Bataan Peninsula, where the last stand
against the enemy invaders would be made.

In consonance with his orders, the Northern

USAFFE army fighting in Northern Luzon under
Gen. Jonathan Wainwright and southern army
fighting in Southern Luzon under Gen. Albert M.
Jones began to retreat towards Bataan.

December 26- Gen.

MacArthur claimed
Manila as an
Open
City in order to save it
and its inhabitants from
the ravages of war.

 December 29- Pres. F.D Roosevelt sent a

message to the Filipino people, praising their
gallant resistance against the Japanese invaders
and promising their liberation. I give to the
people the Philippines, he declared, my
solemn pledge that their freedom will be
redeemed and their independence
established and protected.

SECOND COMMONWEALTH PRESIDENTIAL

INAUGURATION
On December 30, 1941, amid the crashing echoes
of war, the second inaugural ceremonies of the
Commonwealth were held.
Outside the Corregidor tunnel, Chief Justice Jose
Abad Santos administered the oath of office to
President Quezon and Vice- President Osmea.
Among those who witnessed the simple ceremony
were General MacArthur, American High
Commissioner Sayre, and the members of the War
Cabinet.
On the same day, at the residence of Jose Yulo in
Manila, the elected members of the Philippines
Congress were sworn into office by Justice Jose P.
Melencio.

JAPANESE INVADERS ENTER

MANILA

By the last day of 1941 MacArthur, who was

fighting against overwhelming odds, had
succeeded in bringing his retreating northern
and southern armies inside the jungled
ramparts of Bataan, where he hoped to make
his last stand.
Meanwhile, Manila was stunned by the
terrifying news that Japanese forces were
converging on the city from the north and
south.
Jorge B. Vargas, whom Pres. Quezon had
designated as Mayor of Greater Manila, and
the city authorities took precautionary
measures for a peaceful entry of the enemy.
On January 2, 1942, the Japanese invaders

THE ESCAPE OF QUEZON

AND
SAYREcollapse of the USAFE in the
Realizing
the ultimate
Philippines, President Roosevelt wired President Quezon
to come to the United States.
This was a matter of military expediency and political
significance. If President Quezon were to fall into the
hands of the Japanese, Americas prestige in the
Philippines would be weakened; moreover, there would
be no Filipino leader who could maintain the continuity
of a Philippine government- in exile abroad.
In response to the wishes of the American President,
Quezon, with his family and the War Cabinet, left
Corregidor by submarine on the night of February 20,
1942.
They reached Panay, he and his party went to Negros,
then to Mindanao, and later reached Australia by plane.
After a brief rest in Australia, he crossed over to the
United States, reaching San Francisco on May 8, 1942.
A special train brought him to Washington, where
President Roosevelt and other high American officials

The Philippines
and
World War II

Bataans Heroic Stand

Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma

Commander of the Japanese Imperial Forces

In the Philippines.
January 9, 1942 he hurled his troops against
the USAFFE lines in Bataan.
He was found guilty of war crimes by an Allied
military tribunal after the war and was sentenced
to death by hanging.

 January 2, 1942 Japanese troops entered Manila.

April 9, 1942 the defenders of Bataan had no
choice but to surrender to the Japanese.
Corregidor remained brave to fight against
Japanese.
May 6, 1942 Corregidor capitulated in the hands
of the Japanese troops.
The fall of Corregidor signalled the end of
organized Fil-American resistance to the Japanese.

Bataan Death March

The 76,000 Filipino and American soldiers who
surrendered in Bataan underwent a terrible
ordeal.
They were forced by the Japanese to march from
Mariveles in Bataan to Capas in Tarlac, a distance
of more than 100km, under broiling sun with
little or no food and water.

Gallant exploit of Sergeant Calugas

Mess Sergeant Jose Calugas

A Filipino army cook of the Philippine Scouts, who
courageously manned an abandoned cannon and
delayed the advancing Japanese invaders, thereby saving
his retreating comrades from annihilation.
This happened in Culis, Bataan, on January 15, 1942.
Above and beyond the call of duty.
He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor,
the highest military decoration given by the US
Government to a soldier.
He was the only Filipino to have received his high military
honor during World War 2.

Igorot Heroism in
Bataan

 These Igorot soldiers fought side by side with their

Filipino brothers against the Japanese invaders.
February 1942 Gen. Homma, in an attempt to cut
off the USAFFEs First Corps from its
communication and supply lines, ordered the 20th
Japanese Infantry to attack the left flank from the
rear.
The Igorot Company of the 11th Infantry, 11th
division, fiercely resisted the enemy assault and
died to the last man.

Mac Arthur Flees to

Australia

 Pres. Roosevelt ordered Mac Arthur to go back to

Australia and take command of the newly-formed
Southwest Pacific Area.
March 11, 1942 Gen. Mac Arthur left Corregidor
in four fast PT boats.
March 17, 1942 General Mac Arthur told the
world: I came through and I shall return.
The people pinned their hope and their faith in
ultimate victory. They had implicit confidence
in Mac Arthur.

THE FALL OF BATAAN

Lt.Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright succeeded

MacArthur as commander of Fil-American
troops, now changed from USAFFE (United
States Armed Forces in Far East) to USIP (United
States Force in the Philippines). He occupied
MacArthurs headquarters in Corregidor, and
from there he directed the gallant defense of
Bataan. The brave Filipino and American
defenders reeled before smashing onslaught of
the invaders, but they held their ground and
fought on with tenacious courage.

Lt.Gen.
Jonathan M.
Wainwright

MacArthu
r

 ..

General
Homma

THE DEATH MARCH

.

 More than 76 000 USAFFE forces,

including 66 000 Filipinos, laid down
their arms in Bataan. This mass
surrender. Aside from these war
prisoners, there were
26 000 civilian refugees (men,
women, and children) who were
trapped behind the USAFFE lines in
Bataan.

The infamous Death March began in

Mariveles and Cabcaben on April 10, 1942. The
prisoners, weakened by hunger, thirst, fatigue,
sickness and fatigue, painfully trudged at the
points of Japanese bayonets along the road to
San Fernando passing through Limay, Balanga,
Orani and Lubao. Man perished on the way due
to the Japanese who gave food, water, or
medicine to the war prisoners, in violation of
the Geneva Prisoner of War Convention and
brutally killed those who could no longer walk.

ROUTES OF THE DEATH

MARCH
..

 In San Fernando the weary and

hungry marchers were herded like
cattle into the boxcars and were
transported by railway to Capas.
Before reaching their destination,
hundreds of prisoners again marched
on foot to their prison camp at Camp
ODannel. Only some 56 000 reached
the camp alive on April 15, 1942.

 The prisoners camp was a greater

hell than the Battle of Bataan.
According to the records of War
Crimes Commissions, which tried the
surviving Japanese military officers
who were responsible for the
atrocities committed in the
Philippines, 22 155 Filipinos and 2
000 Americans died in Camp
ODonnel.

The Fall of the Philippines

 The fall of Bataan marked the doom of the

Philippines, rocky Corregidor, guarding the
entrance to Manila Bay. Continued to defy
the Japanese forces, nut with the capture
of Bataan it could not long resist the
enemy assaults.
On May 6, 1942, Corregidor fell. Nearly
12,000 Fil-American soldiers were taken
prisoner. With the fall of Corregidor,
organized resistance against japanese
invasion of the Philippines came to an end.

 General Wainwright, the valiant

defender of Corregidor, suffered
humiliation at the hands of his
captor, General Homma, during the
surrender negotiations.
On May 10, 1942, Major-General
William F. Sharpe, Jr. Commander of
the Visayan-Mindanao forces, in
compliance with the order,
surrendered to the Japanese in
Malabaybay, Bukidnon.

Martyrdom of Chief justice Abad Santos

The fall of Bataan on April 9,1942

and the fall of Corregidor on may 6,
were publicized events during the
war and were deeply mourned by the
Filipino people during that time
Another sorrowful event was the
execution of Chief Justice Jose Abad
Santos by the Japanese in Malabang,
Mindanao on may 2, 1942.

 President Quezon wanted to bring

Abad Santos to Australia later to the
United States. But the latter
preferred to remain in the Philippines
to help his people in their darkest
period of need.
April 11, 8:00am Abad Santos,
accompanied by his son, Col. Benito
D. Valeriano and two constabulary
soldiers, fled Cebu City in a car,
speeding toward to the town of Barili.
Unfortunately before reaching to
Barili, they were caught by the

 Gen. Kiyotaki Kawaguchi,

commander of the Japanese forces in
Cebu, interrogated Abad Santos and
asked him to take the oath of
allegiance to Japan and collaborate
with the Japanese military
authorities.
Two weeks later, General Kawaguchi
went to Mindanao with a Japanese
invasion force. He brought with him
the two prisoners ----Chief Abad
Santos and his son.

 Several times Abad Santos was

interrogated in Malabang by the
Japanese military authorities. He was
repeatedly asked to collaborate with
Japan, and he always gave a defiant
answer. For his heroic refusal to
collaborate with the enemy, he was
condemned to die.

 Before he was going to die, he was given

permission to say goodbye to his son.
When his young son learned that his
father was about to executed, he cried.
After a last prayer and a tearful farewell,
Chief Justice Abad Santos left his
disconsolate son. He then faced with
serene courage the enemy firing squad
and died in the finest tradition of herioc
martyrdom. This happened in the
afternoon of May 2, 1942 at Malabang,
Mindanao.

GENERAL ROXAS
SAVED BY A
CHIVALRIC
JAPANESE
OFFICER
Claudine Marie
Opog

 May 11, 1942 Jose Abad Santos

and Manuel Roxas fell into the
Japanese hands after their
execution which was ordered by
General Yoshihide Hayashi,
Director General of the Japanese
Military Administration.
Lt. Col. Nobuhiko Jimbo
Christian Japanese, who saved
the life of the two. His act of
compassion for an enemy showed
that not all Japanese militaries
were barbarians.

 President Quezon wanted to

bring Roxas in Australia but he
demurred because he believed
his presence in the Philippines
was needed to boost the morale
of the people of the and armed
forces.
Roxas toured in Mindanao and
Visayas, execpt Cebu and Leyte
and helped General Sharpe,
commander of the USAFFE
forces in Mindanao and Visayas,
in maintaining the morale of the
troops and civilian population.

 Roxas met his friend Chief Abad

Santos in Bacolod, Negros Occ.,
who was also left behind by
Quezon.
They had an enjoyable reunion
w/o knowing that it would be
their last meeting on earth.
May 6 Fall of Corregidor, after
this, General Wainwright, ordered
the commanders of USAFFE units
ina ll parts of the Philippines,
including General Sharpe, to
surrender to victorious Japanese.

 In compliance with Wainwrights

order, General Sharpe assembled all his
troops at Malaybalay, which was
designated by the Japanese military
authorities as the place where the
USAFFE troops would lay down their
arms. Hence, Roxas became a war
prisoner.
Hayashi learned that Roxas was one of
the prisoners in Malaybalay he
dispatched an order in headquarters in
Davao City to interrogate Roxas and to
execute hin if he refuse to colalaborate
withJapan.

 Major General Torado Ikuta,

Japanese comamander of the
Japanese forces in Mindanao assigned Lt. Col. Jimbo to grill
Roxas.
Lt. Col. Jimbo did not obey
Hayashis order for humanitys
sake and because he admire
Roxas for his brilliant
intelligence and patriotism.

 He hid Roxas in a safe place

at the Furukawa Plantation.
He submitted Roxas case to
Gen. Homma and Gen. Wachi
(succeeded Hayashi) and
pleaded Roxas life.
Jimbo succeeded in his
humanitarian mission
because Wachis
recommendation, rescinded
Hatashis execution order.

November 22,
1942 Jimbo
brought Roxas to
his family.

GUERILLA
WELFARE or
RESISTANCE
MOVEMENT

 It should be noted that not

all Filipinos surrendered to
Japan.
Guerilla Filipino soldiers
and officers who had
escaped from Bataan and
other battlefields, and
numerous patriotic civilians
secretly organized
themselves, in order to keep
the democracy in their land.

 Besides giving battle to

the enemy, they gathered
valuable information,
concerning Japanese ships
and troops, airstrips,
fortifications, and war
plans, and this
information was
transmitted by radio to
Macarthurs headquarters
in Australia.

Guerilla Leaders:
Nakar Northern Luzon
Peralta Jr. pany
Vinzons Camarines Norte
Ablan Ilocos Norte
Danwa Mt. Province
Abcede Manila
Escudero San Pablo City
kangleon Leyte
Pendatun Cotobato
Ali Lanao

 Gov. Confessor and

Brig. Gen. Roxas
rendered invaluable
services to the
resistance
movement,
although they did
not actually
participate in the
combat.

 The success of the guerilla

warfare was due, in large
measure to the support of the
people.
During the Zona of towns
they were herded like cattle
in churches and schoolhouses,
starved and tortured for days,
and many were brutally put to
death.