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war and social upheaval: World War II Pacific Theater -- the Philippines Japanese occupation
World War II: The Philippines--Japanese Occupation
Figure 1.--The Japanese were anxious to show popular support for their invasion and occupation of the Philippines. This was a lottle more complicated than in the European colonies. At the time of the Japanese invasion, the United states was in the process of grnting indepenence to the Filipinos. Note that there were no Filipino flags along with the Japanese flags handed out to these children. We are not sure just when thus photograph was taken, but believe it was Janury 1942. The press caption read, "Accent on youth--Philippines: Japanese propaganndisrs concentrated on Filipino children in their campaign to woo coopration. They distributed Jap flags as toys to the youngsters and made sure that there were plenty of photographer on hand when the little ones, as duly instructed , waved their playthings at parading Jap tanks." The tanks were the Type 95 Ha-Go light tank, comparable t0 the the American M-3 Stuart light tank.
The Japanese internment of American civilians as well as Allied civilians in other areas is a poorly described subject. Even less well covered is the Japanese treatment of the local population in occupied countries. The Japanese announced they plan to grant independence and set up a puppet regime to work with. Japanese military occupation authorities began setting up a new government. The Japanese promised the Filipinos independence. They organized a Council of State made up of selected Filipinos. The Japanese military then directed civil affairs through the Council. As the War increasingly went against the Japanese, the declared the Philippines independent to gain more domesic support (October 1943). The Japanese-puppet republic was headed by President José P. Laurel. Much propaganda was made of this. In fact the Japanese retained total control of the Islands and no real political activity was permitted. Plans were layed to exploit Philippines resources to support the war effort. We do not yet have details on the Japanese economic exploitation. The Japanese requesitioned rice to feed the occupation forces and to ship back to Japan. Food shortages developed in Manila and oher cities. Some people moved back to rural villages. Shipping food and other resources back to Japan became complicated by 1943 with the increasingly effective American submarine campaign and the growing resistance movement. The Japanese puppet regime generated little support among the Filipino people, in part because of the behavior of the occuption forces. The Filipino people suffered greviously under Japanese occupation. There were rapes and other attacks on civilians. The Japanese Army press ganged large numbers of Filipinos into slave labor camps. Filipino women were forced to work in brothels operated by the Japanese military. Important members of the Philippines elite worked with the Japanese in occupation political institutions. This later became a political issue. Collaborators had various motives. Some though tht collaboration helped shielded the Filipino people from Japanese opresion. Here President Quezon himself thought this might be necessary in the circumstances. Others were concerned with protecting family and personal interests. Others were influenced by Japanese propaganda promoting pan-Asian solidarity. Here it is easy for people not facing draconian Japanese repression to criticize collaborators. Of course there were different levels of collaboration. Those people who reported on the resistance is a very different matter. Others collaborated to obtain information to pass on to the resistance and the Americans.
America acquired the Philippines Islands from Spain in the Spanish American War (1898). It was America's primary experience with colonialism. After a bloody insurgency, the Philippines became a quiet American outpost in the Pacific. A small number of American military and civilians lived in the Philippines. The civilian included government administrators, military dependents, business people, missionaries, and teachers. Many became very attached to the Philippinrs and Filipino people. It was very clear by 1940, especially after President Roosevelt embargoed oil exports to Japan that war with Japan was likely. It is unclear why so many American civilians stayed in the Philippines. The War Department ordered civilan dependents home. Why many stayed is unclear. Apparently some did not want to leave their husbands. There are other indications that Ameican officials in the Philippines sought to delasy or prevent dependants from returning to America. Their motivations are unclear, but some apparently believed that their presence strengthened the American commitment to the defense of the Philippines. Other civilian dependents apparently believed that America could defend the Islands, especially when President Roosevelt moved the Pacific Fleet forward to Pear Harbor. Civilians in the Philippines like many other Amerians underestimated the military potential of Japan, especially the Imperial Navy. Whatever the reasons, at the time of Pearl Harbor, there were about 6,000 Americans in the Islands. The Japanese seized four U.S. territories (Wake, Guam, two Aleutiansin islands (Attu and Kiska), and the Philippines during World War II. The Philippines at the time was a Commonwealth which the United States was preparing for independence. It had by far the largest number of American civilians interned by the Japanese. The Japanese after invading the Philippines quickly rounded up American civilians and interned them. The Japanese set up internment camps on Luzon and other islands. The Japanese internment of American civilians as well as Allied civilians in other areas is a poorly described subject. Even less well covered is the Japanese treatment of the local population in occupied countries.
The Japanese immediately installed a puppet regime. Under the Americans there were elections abd the Philippines had basically achieved home rule. This was all swept away as the Japsnese ppointed compliant politicians. The Japanese promissed independence, but electiond were mot to be part of the system--only Japanese appointments. Many Filipino politicians participated and cooperated with the Japanese believing that the Americans had been decisively defeated. The Japanese banned all political parties except the Kapisanan ng Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas (Association for Service to the New Philippines, KALIBAPI). It was basiclly Fascist political party. It was the sole party of state during the Japanese occupation. The Japanese chose Supreme Court Justice Jose P. Laurel to become the president of the Japanese-sponsored Republic. He had been wounded in an assasination attempt. The Jaspanese appointed National Assembly elected Laurel the new president (September 25, 1943). Benigno Aquino Sr. the father of Ninoy and the head of the Kalibapi, was elected Speaker. Jorge Vrgas was the third major Filipino collasborator. Vargas was appointed by President Manuel L. Quezon as his Executive Secretary, the first indivudul to serve in that capacity. Department of National Defense when the Japanese invaded (December 1941) designated Vargas as their secretary. As the Americn led defense began to collapse, President Manuel Quezon as the mayor of the City of Greater Manila. He thus had the responsibity of creaating an open city the Japanese reacged Manila (January 2, 1942). The Japanese apprently saw him as aperson they could work with. They appointed Vargas chairman of their Philippine Executive Commission. The motivation of the men associated with the Japanese is unclear.
The Japanese Imperial General Headquarters (IGH) pre-positioned over ten divisions on Formosa (Taiwan) for the attacks to follow the Pearl Harbor attack. The Japanese Fourteenth Army was formed (November 6, 1941). It was part of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group and given the assignment of invading and occupying the Philippines. It would be tghe primary Japanese formation that woulf fight the battes in 1942 and 1944-45 as well as conduct the occupation. Formosa is separated from Luzon by the Luzon Straits (about 200 km wide). Luzon, the northern-most and most important of the Philippine islands. Japanese attack on the Philippines began with air strikes from Formosa. The Japanaese Fourteenth Army under the command of Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma invaded Luzon. The 14th Army had two first-line infantry divisions, the 16th (Susumu Morioka) and 48th Divisions (Yuitsu Tsuchihashi), to invade and conquer Luzon, and the 65th Brigade as a garrison force. There was also the 56th Division. The Fourteenth Army had the 4th and 7th Tank Regiments, five field artillery battalions, five anti-aircraft artillery battalions, four antitank companies, and a mortar battalion. A strong group of combat engineer and bridging units was part of the 14th Army's support forces. The Americans and Phiipinos withdrew into the Bataan Peninsula, hopevto hold out there until reinforcements arrived from merica. Gen. MacAcrthur's mimmanagement of the campaign meant that supplies were not pre-positioned in Bataan which eventully doomed the forces there. The invasion went so well that the IGH detached the 48th Division and reassigned it to the Sixteenth Army for the invasion of the Netherlands East Indies. This weakened the Japanese Army and was a factor in the Americans resisting as long as they did. They were replaced by the 4th Division. General Homma protested the shifted and requested more reinforcements. IGH sent the 10th Independent Garrison to the Philippines and the 21st Division Infantry Group as well as the First Field Artillery Headquarters to command the field artillery units. The 4th and 7th Tank Regiments were part of the Fourtteenth Army as well as 1st, 8th, and 16th Field Artillery Regiments and the 9th Independent Field Artillery Battalion. It was the Fourteenth Army was responsible for the infamous Bataan Death March after the surrender of surviving American and Filipino forces in Bataan The 65th Independent Brigade was accused of the Mariveles Massacre. [Farolan] The Foutteenth Army came under the direct control of Imperial General Headquarters (June 1942). Serious complications followed. The Southern Expeditionary Army Group from its headquarters in Saigon continued to issue orders. These orders at times conflicted with those of the IGH in Tokyo and dirupted the command situation. Gen. Homma partly as a result encounteted problems with junior officers who used the confusing command situation to issue orders without his approval and even countermand orders with which they disagreed. [Toland] Homma was criticized in Tokyo and was replaced by Lieutenant General Shizuichi Tanaka (August 1942). The 4th Divsiin was assigned to the Fourteenth Army. The 30th Division was assigned to Mindanao. For 2 years these forces battle against light, but persistent resistance actions. They were also used to seize rice and other food commodities from the country side without payment. The result was that overall farm production declined. Farmers wrenot about to grow crops only to have the Japanese Army seize it. Food shortages developed in the Philippines and were becoming serious (1944). Japanese defeats in the Central Pacific and New Guinea meant that the Americans were closing in on the Philippines (1943-44). The Fourteenth Army began to prepare for an American invasion. This time they would face well eqquipped and supplies forces. The Fourteenth Army restructured its independent infantry brigades and reserves to form the new 100th Division, 102nd Division, 103rd Division, and 105th Divisions. The Fourtenth Army reverted to the control of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group (March 1944). It became the Fourteenth Area Army (July 1944). The IGH moved two more divisions as reinforcements, the 8th and 10th Division (August 1944). The Japanese 35th Army was activated (August 1944). It was made up of garison forces on Mindamao amd the Vicayas. Yjy were mostly fed into the calderon of the Leyte battle. While actived as an Army command, it was under the overall control of the 14th Army Group commander. General Tomoyuki Yamashita assumed the command of the 14th Area Army just before the Americans struck (October 1944). He was known as the Tiger of Malaya and was the most respected commander in the Japanese Army. In the resuting battles of the Philippines campaign (1944-45) the Japanese suffered over 350,000 casualties, including virtually all of the 18,000 men of the 16th Infantry Division that fought the Battle of Leyte. The 14th Area Army was responsible for the Palawan Massacre (December 14, 1944).
Exploitation
Plans were layed to exploit Philippines resources to support the war effort. We do not yet have details on the Japanese economic exploitation. The Japanese requesitioned rice to feed the occupation forces and to ship back to Japan. Food shortages developed in Manila and other cities. The Philippines before the War was self-suffient in food production in general, but not in rice production which was imprted from the DEI and other rice produving regions. The Japnese oprihibited such imports. Some people moved back to rural villages. Shipping food and other resources back to Japan became complicated by 1943 with the increasingly effective American submarine campaign and the growing resistance movement.
The Japanese puppet regime generated little support among the Filipino people. This is difficult bto assess with any surity. There were no public opinion polls at the time. And any one with any sence would not publically state that they did not like the Japanese and preferred the Americans. It appears that many members of the Filipino elite collaborted with the Japanese. This is basically understandable. If you owned subsatntial property, you had a lot to lose if you diud not at least feign support. nd unlike verage Filipinods, they could afford to buy black market food. As far as we can tell,hoeever, most Filipinos came to resent the Japanese occupation. This was largely because of the behavior of the Japanese occuption troops.
First there were few constraints on the behavior of Japanese soldiers. They could rape and pillage without any consequence. We know of no Japanese proceution of soldiers for misconduct. Japanese atrocities against Filpino civilians are well documented. Over 130,000 murders of Filipino civioans were documented after liberation. [Rottman, p. 318] There is every reason to believe that more were undocumented. Such widespead attricities could not help but affect attitudes toward the Japanese.
Second, more than 1,000 women throughout the Philippines, many still teenafers, were forced into prostitution as 'comfort women'--sexual slvery. This was a standard, well doumented practice by the Japanese Army in occupied areas. They were imprisoned in the comfort stations near militry bases to which the Japanese soldiers had access. [Mosbergen] Every Japanese military installation of any importance had a comfort station where women were held against their will. [Yap] One factor here was that Japanese conscripts were not paid enough to be able to afford prostitutes. One of these comfort stations have been described in detail--Bahay na Pula. [McMullen]
Third, Japanese economic policies resulted in food shortages that aadversely impacted the Filipino people, especially the urban population which had to resort to the developing black market. This hit the urban poor very hard. This was in sharp contrast to the situation during the American period.
Fourth, because of the food shortages, the Japanese Army began forays in the country side and seized food from the rural peasantry. Anyone who resisted was shot.
Fifth, the Japanese Army food forays into the countryside of course only caused more severe food shoerrtages. Who was going to plant and cultivate crops if the Japanese were just going to seize it. Many farmers resorted to subsuistence farming.
Sixth, we have seen comments like 'most Filipinos remained loyal to the United States'. We are unsure how to mmmeasure and confirm this. We do know that as a result of the American occupation that the Philippines had a public health system and was the oly country in Asia, other than Japan, that had a free public education system. And notably the Filipinos showed mo interest in learning Japanese.
Seventh, the strength of the Filipino resisistance is one indicator of Filipino trust and loyalty to the Americans. Despite the seemingly decisive defeat of the Americans. There is no indication that the Filipino took to the Japanese to any extent.
Eighth, we are not sure about the effectiveness of Japanese propagnda, especially the offer of independence. Some may well have belived it. But the Americans had already committed to real independence in 1943. It did not take long after the Japanese invasion for most Filipinos to become mistrustful. They already had home rule under the Americans and the Japanese took that and the the rule of law away.
The Japanese committed terrible war crimes in the Philippines from the very onset of the War, most notably the Baatan Death March (March 1942). The treatment of Ameriacn POWs and Filipino soldiers as well as American civilian internees has been widely reported. The American internees were the largest number of American civilains held by any Axis power. There were reports of unbelievable crulity and near the end of the War, the Japamese killed a group of Ameriamn POWs on Palawan by burning them to death. The primary problem was food. As the War went against the Japanese, food became a major problem both on the Home Islands and Japanese field armies. Japanese Army regulations mandated that the Imperial soldies had the first priority for available food stocks, then the local population, and finally the POWs and civilain internees. If the Japanese had managed the situation reasonably, there should have been sufficent food throughout Southeast Asia. Unfortunately they did not manage the food situation reasonably and terrible famines occurred in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), Vietnam, and other areas. These were food exporting areas before the War. The situation was not as bad in the Philippines, but by 1944 the POWs and internees were beginning to starve. And unlike the Germans, the Japanese did not allow Red Cross parcels through to the POWs and internees. Filipino civilians had better access to food, but were targets of the most savage attrocities imaginable. The situation escalated when President Roosevelt acceeded to General MacArthur's demand that after the Marianas, the next target would be the Philippines and not Formosa (Taiwan) (July 1944). Formosa actually made more strategic sense. The decession saved the lives of many POWs and internees hovering near death by starvation, but it put the Filipino people in a war zone and the Japanese turned very vindicative knowing that most Filipinos were strongly pro-American. The Filipinps no doubt were delighted when the Americans began landing on Leyte (October 1944), but few Filipinos or Americans for that matter understood the barbarity that the Japanese would unleash on the Filipino people. Japanese propaganda had little impact on the Filipinos. Unlike Dutch, the Amerivans were in the process of granting independence when the Jpanese invaded. And Japanese behavior during the occupation only futher alienated the Filippino people. This was especially the case of the people of Manila where the Imperial Marines and others in the Manila garison refused to surender and decided to take every civilian in their grasp with them, often after raping the women.
Collaboration
Important members of the Philippines elite worked with the Japanese in occupation political institutions. This later became a political issue. Collaborators had various motives. Some though thsat collaboration helped shielded the Filipino people from Japanese opresion. Here President Quezon himself thought this might be necessary in the circumstances. Others were concerned with protecting family and personal interests. Others were influenced by Japanese propaganda promoting pan-Asian solidarity. Here it is easy for people not facing draconian Japanese repression to criticize collaborators. Of course there were different levels of collaboration. Those people who reported on th resistance is a very different matter. Others collaborated to obtain information to pass on to the resistance and the Americans.
Sources
Farolan, Ramon. "Mariveles Massacre".
McMullen, Jane. "The house where the Philippines' forgotten 'comfort women' were held". BBC Our World. BBC News. (June 17, 2016).
Mosbergen, Dominique (29 August 2017). "Harrowing story of Filipina women enslaved in Japan's wartime rape camps," Huffington Post (August 29, 2017).
Rottman, Gordon L. World War 2 Pacific Island Guide (Greenwood Publishing Group: 2002).
Toland, John. The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945 (Modern Library War: 2003). Originally published in 1970.
Yap, DJ. "PH comfort women remember the horror," Philippine Daily Inquirer (January 29, 2016).
