Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos The Japanese Occupation of the Philippines (1941-1945)

Tatlong Taong Walang DiyosThe Japanese Occupation of the

Philippines (1941-1945)

One of the first acts of the Commonwealth Government was to put up a Filipino Army under the National Defense Law. This was to provide a defense system for an independent Philippines.

To lead the Philippine Army was Gen. Douglas MacArthur who had retired from the US Army. President Quezon appointed MacArthur as Field Marshal and gave him the task of forming and organizing a Filipino Army complete with a defense plan of modernization for the islands.

MacArthur, however, was severely limited by budget constraints because of priorities given to other social needs.

The Rise of Japan

• In the 1930s, Japan was a fast-rising power in the Pacific and was soon taking over countries like Manchuria and French Indochina. The country was ruled by Emperor Hirohito and a clique of military officers headed by General Hideki Tojo.The “Yellow Peril” as Japan was later called was becoming an obvious threat to other countries in the Southeast Asian region.

Sensing the threat to the Philippines, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the incorporation of the Philippine Army into the US Army with the name “United States Army Forces in the Far East” or USAFFE. The army was commanded by General MacArthur with Maj. General Jonathan Wainwright as field commander.

The USAFFE, however, was still totally unprepared when World War II began.

On 7 December, 1941 (December 8 in the Philippines), the US Naval Base in Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese. This was followed by other attacks in the American bases in the Philippines.

The next day, December 8, President Roosevelt addressed a joint session of the US Congress. His speech called the day of the Pearl Harbor attack – “a date which will live in infamy” – and asked the Congress to declare war against the Japanese Empire.

On December 9, a squadron of Japanese Zeros attacked the Batangas Airfield. They were met a group of P-26 fighters led by Capt. Jesus Villamor (DLSC College of Commerce ’32) who shot down two planes. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross twice by General MacArthur. Villamor became an intelligence officer coordinating the Filipino guerillas during the occupation. He was awarded the Medal of Valor by the Philippine Government in 1954. The airbase in Pasay City is named after him.

The Japanese invaded the Philippines on December 8. Unable to stop the advancing enemy, MacArthur ordered Manila declared an Open City and evacuated the USAFFE to Bataan and Corregidor where he planned to hold out until the United States would send reinforcements.

Meanwhile, the Filipinos waited apprehensively for the enemy and could only watch in disbelief as the Filipino-American army left the city

On January 2, 1941, the Japanese forces entered Manila.

The same day, civilians of the Allied nations against Japan were interned in the campus of the University of Santo Tomas where they would remain imprisoned for three years

On February 18, President Quezon and his family were evacuated to Australia then to the US where a government-in-exile was formed

The USAFFE forces held on in Bataan and Corregidor for five months. But, lacking food and medical supplies, the USAFFE on Bataan surrendered on April 9 followed by Corregidor on May 6.

The Japanese invasion of the Philippines was complete. They would occupy the country for the next three years.

The Bataan Death March

The Japanese considered the Philippines as their Asian brother and made the country a part of their Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. To attract the Filipinos to cooperate with them, the Japanese Government promised to grant the Philippines their independence.

On October 14, 1943, the Japanese-sponsored Second Philippine Republic was proclaimed with Jose P. Laurel as president.

In spite of the strings attached by the Japanese to such a rule, Laurel sought to alleviate the hardships of the war and occupation on the Filipino people by promoting food programs.

In spite of his belief that he accepted the presidency to help his countryment, Laurel was arrested by the Americans for collaboration in 1945.

In spite of the Japanese’s efforts to win the Filipinos, their brutality on the citizens made them a hated enemy. The Japanese military also arrested and tortured many Filipinos on suspicion of being guerillas.

Still many Filipinos collaborated with the Japanese by serving as spies and informants. There were also some who collaborated by providing the enemy with needed supplies.

As one of the ways to attract the Filipinos, the Japanese even returned to the Philippines, General Artemio Ricarte. The old Katipunero had been living in Yokohama, Japan since he was sent into exile by the Americans. He would eventually die in his country fleeing with the Japanese in Northern Luzon in 1945.

Many Filipino soldiers and some American officers eventually formed guerilla units that fought the Japanese. These guerillas were helped by the civilians. Their intelligence network also proved useful to the American forces to prepare for their invasion of the Pacific islands, including the Philippines

The Catholic Church, on the other hand, considered itself neutral during the war. Many of the priests were Spanish and, therefore, were considering subjects of a neutral nation – Spain.

The Archbishop of Manila, Michael O’Doherty, and members of several religious orders who were American or British were arrested and interned.

Many of the religious either joined or helped the guerillas.

The Return of the Americans

In October, 1944, the American forces finally landed in Leyte. Along with MacArthur was Commonwealth President Sergio Osmeña, who succeeded Quezon, after the latter died in the U.S. in August.

The Battle for Manila

• The American forces would push further into the islands, forcing the Japanese to retreat. In January, 1945, the Americans landed in Lingayen, Pangasinan and began their thrust into the capital city of Manila. President Laurel declared Manila an open city and fled with his cabinet and family to Baguio where they were eventually flown to Japan.Meanwhile, the Japanese forces under General Tomoyuki Yamashita fled to Northern Luzon. Many of the Japanese soldiers, however, decided to hold Manila and fight the Americans to the end. They began to fortify the city, trapping many civilians in the district.

On February 3, 1945, the American forces finally arrived in Manila and freed the more than 3000 Allied internees in the University of Santo Tomas internment camp.

As the freed civilians celebrated their freedom, the Japanese forces in Manila began burning and killing civilians the southern districts of Ermita and Malate and parts of Tondo, Santa Cruz, Binondo and Quiapo.

Southern Manila showing the destroyed Quezon Bridge

Unwilling to risk the lives of their men, MacArthur’s officers insisted that the capital be bombed. The general refused because of the high number of civilian casualties it might cause.

He, however, agreed on a carpet artillery shelling of the district. The results were the same – thousands of civilians were killed and the historic heritage of the city destroyed.

An American cannon unit fire at Japanese defense positions down a street in Binondo.

Two American soldiers run across the open ground in the University of the Philippines campus.

An American tank smashes through the St. Scholastica College Building near Vito Cruz St.

An American tank smashes through the Fort Santiago gate in Intramuros.

After a month-long battle, Manila was finally cleared of enemy troops on March 3, 1945.

The capital was totally destroyed.

The Legislative Building where the National Library was also housed in its basement

Letran College in Intramuros

The dead. The Japanese massacred hapless civilians while the battle raged on. General Yamashita would eventually be executed for war crimes including the killings in the Battle of Manila.

Manila after the battle, 1945

The De La Salle College Massacre

The February 12, 1945 Massacre On February 12, 1945, a Japanese officer along with 20 soldiers forcibly made their way into the college, where 54 civilians sought refuge with the 16 Christian Brothers and the college's chaplain-Redemptorist Father Cosgrave CSSR.. The soldiers then shot, slashed, or bayoneted the people in the college. Those who did not die were later left to bleed to death. The chapel was then set on fire. Only 10 people survived.

Façade of the De La Salle College building after the Battle of Manila

Fr. Egbert Xavier, FSC, the DLSC school director was suspected of helping Filipino guerillas. He was arrested on February 10 by the Japanese and was never seen again.

Many of the dead victims were piled on top of each other as others bled to death

A Christian Brother lies dead among the benches inside the chapel

American military investigators at the entrance to the La Salle chapel

Gasoline containers and dynamite placed by the Japanese found in the sacristy of the chapel

Burned corridor leading to the chapel

The burned interior of the chapel

The back of the marble altar of the chapel where pools of blood stain the floor

Bloodstains on the wall near the entrance to the chapel. It was said that these stains remained for several years and cannot be removed in spite of renovations to the chapel

The following Christian Brothers were killed by the Japanese:• Brother Egbert Xavier, FSC - Director • Brother Flavius Leo FSC • Brother Alemond Lucian FSC • Brother Baptist De La Salle Janos FSC • Brother Adolf Gebhard FSC • Brother Berthwin Philibert FSC • Brother Arkadius Maria FSC • Brother Friedbert Johannes FSC • Brother Gerfried Joseph FSC • Brother Lambert Romanus FSC • Brother Mutwald William FSC • Brother Paternus Paul FSC • Brother Rornuald Sixtus FSC • Brother Hartmann Hubert FSC • Brother Maximin Maria FSC • Brother Victorinus Heinrich FSC

The back of the building showing the damaged left wing

The DLSC building in the late ’40s showing the repairs done on the façade and interior.

The first students of the post-war era hold their assembly behind the newly-renovated campus building.