THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION
asset.
The Commonwealth regime, was interrupted when
Japanese began looking for territories to
accommodate their population and manufactured
goods.
December 1941
 Japanese naval bombers attacked Pearl
Harbor in Hawaii.
 The United States declared war against
Japan
The Consequences of the War in the Pacific:
1. The Philippines was occupied by the
Japanese, and suuffered the effects of war
for 3 years
2. Civil liberties were suppressed by the
enemy and the economy was rigged to
satisfy the Japanese
3. Education was reformulated to change
Filipino thinking in favor of the Japanese
politics
4. Thousands were executed and imprisoned
Background of Pearl Harbor
 Americans pursued the Philippines because
they believed that it would be of use to
them.
 If it was under the United States, other
foreign powers would not oppose them.
President Theodore Roosevelt to Major-General:
Leonard Wood (January 1906) :
 Japan had no immediate intention of moving
against the United States." Yet, because of
the rising power of Japan, I am more
concerned over the Japanese situation than
almost any other.”
President Theodore Roosevelt to Major-General:
Leonard Wood (July 6, 1906)
 directed him how to hold the Philippines in
case of a Japanese attack.
President Theodore Roosevelt to William H. Taft::
 he considered giving the Philippines
independence to avoid a Japanese attack.
This was based on the supposition that the
Philippines was a liability rather than an
After the Inauguration of the Commonwealth:
 President Manuel L. Quezon appointed
General Douglas MacArthur as Field
Marshal of the Philippine Army
 the Commonwealth Assembly's first move
was to pass the National Defense Act,
which is to provide a citizen's army
Brief Timeline of Japanese Occupation
1932- Manchuria
1937- China proper
1940 - French Indo-China
1941 – Whole French colony
194X – Philippines?
July 26, 1941
 Philippine reserve and regular forces were
incorporated into the United States Army
under the command of General MacArthur
 The combined forces were called the United
States Army Forces in the Far East
(USAFFE).
 United States, Great Britain, and Holland
imposed economic sanctions on Japan
o The United States:
 froze Japanese assets,
preventing Japan from using
these assets to her
advantage
 exerted efforts to come to
peace with Japan
September 1941
 Japan sent Admiral K. Nomura to
Washington to discuss American-Japanese
problems
 Nomura proposed peace to the American
officials
December 7, 1941
 While Nomura was presenting his proposals
to Secretary Cordell Hull, the Japanese
bombers surprised Pearl Harbor in Hawaii
 2,897 men military losses at Pearl Harbor
December 8, 1941 Southeast Asia
 Both houses of Congress met in joint  Japanese advanced against Malaya
session. on their way to capture Singapore
 Five minutes later, President Roosevelt Philippines
announced: “Yesterday, December 7,
1941,-- the United States of America was  4 hrs after the sneak attack on Pearl
suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval Harbor, the Japanese bombed
and air forces of the empire of Japan." several places in the Philippines::
 He asked Congress to declare war. The 1. Clark Field, Nichols Field &
Senate declared war without a dissenting Sangley point
vote.  American planes on
 Ten minutes later, the House of the ground were
Representatives declared war with only one destroyed.
dissenting vote. 2. Davao, Baguio, and
Aparri
 Air attacks
3. Manila
December 8  Japanese planes
 Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill of attacked Port Area
England faced the House of Commons and and the ships at the
announced to the world that Great Britain piers.
would declare war on Japan.  To spare the city,
1939 General MacArthur,
on December 26,
 The European war began and 1941, declared Manila
became World War II an open city.
 Guns were withdrawn
from the city
The Japanese Offensive
 The plan of the Japanese was to strike at Japanese did not respect Manila as an open city:
the Dutch and British possessions in
Southeast Asia, especially Malaya and the  They bombed Santo Domingo Church, old
Dutch East Indies. Intendencia Building, San Juan de Letran,
 Japanese naval and air forces had to Santa Catalina College, and the offices of
destroy the American Pacific fleet at Pearl the Philippines Herald, Mabuhay, Debate,
Harbor in order to neutralize it, and then and Monday Mail.
attack the Philippines to cut America's lines
of communication in the Pacific. December 28, 1941
 The subjugation of the Philippines was a
 President Franklin D. Roosevelt said: "I give
part of the general plan of conquering the
rich countries of Southeast Asia so that their to the people of the Philippines my solemn
natural resources could be used to bolster pledge that their freedom will be redeemed
up Japan's war machine. and their independence established and
protected. The entire resources in men and
Wake Island material, of the United States.stand behind
 While Pearl Harbor was being that pledge."
attacked, Japanese bombers and
naval guns were shelling Wake The Occupation of Manila
Island.
 Three Japanese task forces were already
 The less than 400 American marines
were smothered by the number of on their way to the Philippines:
o two in northern Luzon and one in
the Japanese.
Batan Island.
Guam and Midway Island
December 8
 Struck and fell on the same day as
Wake island  Japanese landed at Batan without
any opposition.
 December 10
 Landings were made at Aparri and
Pandan, near Vigan.
 Japanese, coming from Palau
Island, landed at Legazpi
December 20
 Landings in Davao and Jolo
 There was little opposition to these
landings, there were not sufficient men
 Rumors that powerful American bombers,
B-24's, had arrived and that Japanese
bombers would be blasted if ever they
attempted to fly over Manila.
 All these rumors of American strength in
the Philippines were really rumors
calculated to bolster the morale of the
Filipinos.
December 20
 Landings at Lingayen and the
Americans failed to prevent it
 Japanese moved to Damortis and
Rosario and on to Central Luzon.
 Landings were also at Lamon Bay:
at Mauban, Atimonan, and Siain.
 Two separate forces were then
converging on Manila: the northern
force, coming from Lingayen, and
the southern force, coming from
Lamon Bay.
 Japanese armies marched toward
Manila with slight opposition
January 2, 1942
 Japanese invasion forces entered
Manila from the north and the south
 Manila became an occupied city
Quezon in Corregidor
 Manuel L. Quezon was a very sick man
when the war broke out.
 The sufferings of the people increased his
worries which contributed to his physical
breakdown.
 The only way to save General MacArthur’s
army was to retreat to the Bataan Peninsula
where he planned to hold back the
Japanese.
December 24, 1941
 MacArthur informed Quezon that he,
some of his officials, as well as
members of his family, were to leave
for Corregidor
 Secretary of Justice Jose Abad
Santos, Vice-President Sergio
Osmeña, General Basilio Valdes
and Colonel Manuel Nieto
accompanied him
 Jose P. Laurel, then acting Chief
Justice, wanted to go with Quezon,
but the latter restrained him
 Laurel pointed out that the Japanese
would make demands: "How far, can
I go in cooperating with them?” “You
can do anything," said MacArthur,
“but take the oath of allegiance to
the Japanese. If any one does that, I
will shoot him when I return.”
 Then and there, Laurel was sworn in
as Secretary of Justice to take the
place of Abad Santos.
 Quezon turned to the high officials of
the Commonwealth and gave them
his last instructions:
1. Do the best you can.
2. Make what bargains you
have to with those people
(the Japanese).
3. Try to keep the Philippines
together in one piece.
4. Try to protect the people from
Japan's brutality and avarice.
5. Do it for the future of the
Philippines
December 30
 Quezon took his oath of office as
President of the Commonwealth,
marking the end of his first term and
the beginning of his second term.
 The Fall of Bataan and Corregidor-
MacArthur's retreat to Bataan outwitted
Japanese commander-in-chief, General
Masaharu Homina who failed to encircle the
USAFFE
 MacArthur succeeded in keeping his army
intact and well-coordinated. Japanese
launched their offensives against Bataan
with heavy losses.
 Japanese leaflets asking the Filipino
soldiers to surrender and to desert
American comrades-in-arms were dropped
 on Bataan to demoralize the USAFFE, but
Filipino soldiers ignored this
Europe-First Policy
 The effect on the Bataan defenders was
partial demoralization
 Without arms, ammunition, and food the
USAFFE was bound to disintegrate under
the pressure of continued enemy attacks.
March 1942
 Rations became scarce
 Lack of food led to malnutrition,
Diarrhea, malaria, and avitaminosis
 Medicine was scarce too
March 11, 1942
 General MacArthur left Corregidor
for Australia on orders of President
Roosevelt
 He was succeeded as commander
of the USAFFE by General Jonathan
Wainwright.
 President Quezon had earlier left for
Australia.
April 9: The end of the Battle of Bataan
 General Edward P. King,
commander of the forces on Bataan,
surrendered
 King's surrender on Bataan was an
individual surrender, and not the
surrender of the entire USAFFE
force.
 78,000 forces were included in the
surrender
 Around 2,000 escaped to Corregidor
and to surrounding provinces.
Death March
 Filipino-American troops were forced
at gunpoint to march from Bataan to
San Fernando, Pampanga
 Those who could not march because
of physical weakness were shot
down or bayoneted.
May 6: The Surrender of the Philippines
 General Wainwright addressed a
message to General Homma,
through the “Voice of Freedom,"
offering to surrender.
 He met General Homma who
demanded the surrender of the
entire USAFFE forces
 Wainwright hedged, his intention
being to surrender only the men
directly under him. But Homma
insisted and stood up to leave.
Wainwright had no other alternative
than to give in to the enemy's
demand
Re-organization of the Government
January 3, 1942
 General Masaharu Homma, issued
a proclamation announcing the end
of the American occupation and the
purpose of the Japanese expedition.
 The vowed purpose was to
emancipate the Filipinos from the
oppression of the U.S.A., letting
them establish the Philippines as a
member of the Co-prosperity Sphere
in the Greater East Asia
January 23
 Hommá issued an order to Jorge B.
Vargas making him the Chairman of
the Executive Commission.
 The national government was re-
named the Central Administrative
Organization, composed of six
executive departments: Interior;
Finance; Justice; Agriculture and
Commerce; Education, Health and
Public Welfare; and Public Works
and Communications.
 Each of the departments was
headed by a Commissioner, whose
duty was to "execute an
administration within his jurisdiction
under the control of the 'Chairman of
the Executive Commission.
 “Each department shall have a
Japanese adviser and Japanese
assistant advisers
 the order further provided that
Vargas recommendation for the
Commissionership of any
department or for any subordinate
position was to be approved by the
Japanese Commanderin-Chief.
 January 29
 The Council of State was created to
aid the Central Administrative
Organization in administering the
occupied territory as an advisory
body.
*ILLUSTRATION* CENTRAL
ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION
Chairman of the Executive
Commission
Interior
Justice
Finance
Agriculture and
Commerce
Education, Health, and Public Welfare
Public Works and Communications
Council of State
JAPANESE ADVISERS
Educational Re-orientation
February 17, 1942
 The Japanese educational policy
was embodied in Military Order No.
2.
 Its basic points were:
1. Propagation of Filipino
culture
2. Diissemination of the
principle of the Greater East
Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
3. Spiritual rejuvenation of the
Filipinos
4. Teaching and propagation of
Nippongo
5. Diffusion of vocational and
elementary education
6. Promotion of love of labor.
 The motive behind this educational
policy was not only to create an
atmosphere friendly to Japanese
intentions and war aims, but also to
erase the Western cultural influence
 Priority was given to the re-opening
of elementary schools because the
Japanese believed that the mind of
the young could be easily molded
 Priority was also given to vocational
and normal schools, and those
institutions of higher learning giving
courses in agriculture, medicine,
fisheries, and engineering.
 The courses leading to the law were
not re-opened because the
Japanese military authorities thought
that lawyers were useless.
March 31, 1942
 The Department of Education, Health and
Public Welfare authorized the re-opening of
public elementary schools
 There was not much enthusiasm in
returning to schools
1. Filipinos were suspicious of
Japanese intention
2. Children found more enjoyment
and money in selling or helping
their parents.
 The total enrolled in elementary grades as
of March 1943 was 267,977.
October 14, 1943
 The Japanese-sponsored Republic was
proclaimed
Militant nationalism
 Laurel believed that the Filipinos
could stave off spiritual debacle only
by resorting to nationalism as a way
of life.
 Encouraged Tagalog as the national
language by using it as an official
language.
 Educational reforms were instituted
by requiring teachers to obtain
licenses after undergoing
examination.
o Teachers licenses were also
required of all heads of
schools, colleges, and
universities.
 Tagalog, Philippine History, and
character education was reserved
for Filipinos.
 Laurel also required that majority of
the governing board of any school,
college or university be Filipino
citizens.
 Aliens were barred from teaching the
Filipinos their own history
The Republic
 Japanese authorities realized it was difficult
to get Filipino sympathy
January 21, 1942
 Premier Hideki Tozyo said: "Japan will
gladly grant the Philippines its
independence so long as it cooperates and
recognizes Japan's program of establishing
a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.”
January 28
 Hideki addressed the House of Peers: " it is
contemplated to put into effect the
statement made previously on Philippine
independence."
 The Filipino leaders were, however, not
fooled by these empty promises.
January 30, 1943
 Jorge B. Vargas pledged support of the
Filipinos in the attainment of independence,
February 8
 A rigged demonstration of gratitude to
Japan for the promise of early
independence was held in Manila.
February 26
 The Council of State issued a manifesto
exhorting the people to exert all efforts
towards the fulfillment of independence.
May 6
 Premier Tozyo spoke before the masses
New Luneta, saying Japan would help the
Filipinos "emerge from the chaos and
turmoil of the past regime into the glorious
national existence of the new."
June 18
 KALIBAPI (Kapisanan sa Paglilingkod sa
Bagong Pilipinas) was instructed to form the
Preparatory Commission for Philippine
Independence.
 They announced the composition of the
body the next day.
 Organized on June 20 with Jose P. Laurel
as president and Benigno S. Aquino and
Ramon Avanceña as vice-presidents.
 The Commission prepared the draft of the
proposed Constitution approved on
September 4
September 25
 The National Assembly elected Jose P.
Laurel President of the future Republic.
October 14, 1943
 The Declaration of Independence was read,
the Republic inaugurated, and President
Laurel inducted into office
Economic Conditions
 Hours before the Japanese entered Manila,
masses and some of the educated,
suddenly attacked all grocery and sari-sari
stores
 Some helpless policemen joined and went
home with some loot.
 The Filipinos as a whole had lost their social
and moral balance.
 In Capas, some of the Filipino army
physicians denied the suffering soldiers the
medicine
 physicians engaged in the sale of food and
medicine, particularly sulfathiazole,
sulfanilamide, and quinine, which were for
the soldiers.
 Those who failed to receive their salaries
before the surrender died..
 Means of transportation were confiscated by
the Japanese; in exchange, the owners
received a piece of paper with unreadable
scribblings on it.
o The only consolation in receiving
such pieces of paper was that they
could be used as cigarette paper.
 Japanese planters planted cotton, a
commodity needed by Japanese war lords.
o Rice production sank and the limited
quantities produced were taken by
the Japanese military to feed their
men.
 In some cases, dresses, polo shirts, and
trousers were stolen from the interred dead
at cemeteries.
o This demand led the conscienceless
to dig the graves or destroy the
tombs of the innocent dead in the
cemeteries for gold or for polo shirts
and trousers.
 Because there was no production, most of
the people engaged in the buy-and-sell
business.
o The Japanese encouraged this kind
of business by manufacturing
Mickey Mouse” money. The result
was inflation.
 One had to carry a bayóng or
small sack full of "Mickey
Mouse” money to buy a few
gantas of rice.
 A box of ordinary match cost,
more than a hundred "Mickey
Mouse" pesos.
  Cigarette paper disappeared and the people
used newspapers and books
o Filipinos manufactured two kinds of
cigarettes
1. Doctored cigarettes
2. "American” cigarettes:
Camel, Chesterfield and
Lucky Strike. Malabon,
Rizal
o The deception was so complete that
no one could distinguish
 Coffee and could be had at second hand
o used grains of coffee were dried in
the sun and sold
o Mango leaves became the substitute
for tea. The best substitute for coffee
was toasted rice or corn
 President Laurel appealed to the people to
plant every inch of ground to vegetables
o sidewalks of Manila bloomed with
vegetables
o Kangkong saved thousands of lives,
for it contains substances vital to
physical growth.
Bigasang Bayan (BIBA) & National Distribution
Corporation (NADISCO)
 organized to control the procurement and
distribution of rice and other cereals
When the Japanese succeeded in occupying the
whole country, the enemy Kempeitai (Military
Police) began raiding houses with unregistered
radios and their occupants maimed and then
thrown into the dungeons of Fort Santiago, where
punishments were meted out to them as daily
exercise.
Forms of Punishment and Maltreatment
1. Water cure
 Hanging a suspected guerrilla by the
hand, then hitting him with a four-by-four
piece of wood
 Often times, the Japanese soldiers
made a punching bag of a prisoner's
body.
 Worst of all, the tormentors pressed red-
hot iron or electric wire into the flesh of
the helpless prisoner's body.
 A few of them were forced to cry out the
names of the guerrillas due to pain
 Some resistance men and women were
captured and executed by having their
heads cut off with the sharp-bladed
samurai sword
2. Rape of Women
 Japanese and the recruits under their
rule raped many women.
Social Conditions
 men of the cities and plains had five mortal
enemies:
1. Japanese military
2. Diseases
3. the guerrillas
4. hunger
5. Japanese-paid Filipino spies.
 The most feared Japanese word was kurá,
which meant two things to the Filipinos
depending upon the movement of the
Japanese hand:
1. "Kurá!” with an inward wave of the hand
meant "Come here!", which signified
disaster
2. "Kurá!" with an outward wave of the
hand meant “Dismiss!" or "Scram!”
 To the Filipino, slapping is a sign of
condescension; he prefers to be boxed
o To slap him is to say that he is
inferior as a man; only women, in his
estimation
 Japanese suspected, that almost all
Filipinos were guerrillas
 thousands died of malaria, malnutrition,
tuberculosis, and other diseases. Medicine,
too, was scarce.
o Many died on the sidewalks, their
identity unknown.
o Hundreds were executed by the
Japanese for stealing food or
anything that could be sold in the
buy-and-sell mart.
 Burglary and holdups were common
occurrences. The law-enforcement
agencies were helpless not only because
the agents of the law had no weapons but
also because they understood the temper of
the period.
 There were night clubs and restaurants
where the new bourgeoisie and plutocrats
spent their waking hours plotting new
 business ventures or planning a business
coup.
 the Japanese occupation resulted, first, in
the rise of a new bourgeoisie
o the rise of this new bourgeoisie led
to the breakdown of the old social
elite class.
o the social elites came from the old,
respectable, and wealthy land-
owning families.
o elites no longer held the monopoly
of the social circle; it was broken by
the rushing in of the new rich. The
result was the democratization of the
old, stiff upper-class society
o pyramid of Filipino society widened
at the base, for more people
descended to the depths and
became the social problems of the
postwar era.
Cultural Aspects
1. Film
 there were movie theaters which
presented prewar American films.
 In between were Japanese films
glorifying the Japanese war machine
and way of life
2. Theatre
 Plays were staged at the old
Metropolitan Theater
o a group of college actors
formed the Dramatic
Philippines, Inc., whose
purpose was to bring to the
stage English plays. These
plays were adapted into
Tagalog.
 Passion Play,
Applesauce, Seven
Keys to Baldpate,
Cyrano de Bergerac,
The Husband of Mrs.
Cruz, Julius Caesar,
Golden Boy, Sa Pula,
Sa Putí, Isáng
Kuwaltáng Abaká
3. Music
 Music by classical composers was
furnished by Musical Philippines,
Inc., a sister organization of
Dramatic Philippines, Inc.,
o A marimba solo by a
Japanese musician, made
the Filipino audience forget
the nationality of the soloist
owing to his brilliant
performance, although once
o Such concerts provided the
people, the elite as well as
the masses, with enjoyment,
4. Literature
 Japanese discouraged the Filipinos
from writing in English
o They suppressed the
magazine section of the
Manila Tribune, the only
English daily
o encouraging the writers in
Tagalog as the official
language,
 Some writers in English began to
wrestle with Tagalog
 Japanese administrators of the
Manila Sinbun-sya: Messrs. Kin-iti
Ishikawa and Murakarni, called a
meeting of writers in Tagalog
o There was unanimity in the
belief that Tagalog writers
were not paid decently
o Ishikawa promised that
writers would be paid
handsomely with Liwayway,
the only Tagalog weekly
publication
 writers began to manufacture short stories
and verses a la Japanese haiku.
 There was no freedom of expression
o limited in their subject matter: The
favorite subject was the rural scene,
o . The Japanese civilian authorities
were impressed and appointed a
committee to choose the best
stories. The result was an anthology
entitled Ang 25 Pinakamabuting
Maikling Katháng Pilipino ng 1943
(The Twenty-five Best Filipino Short
Stories of 1943) published in 1944.
 Two magazines that the Japanese
published became popular: the
1. Philippine Review
- published poems to historical
articles and pure propaganda
materials.
2. Pillars.
- became the refuge of those in
need of money to purchase a kilo
of coffee-corn or a few pieces of
roasted coconut meat, which
passed for chestnut.
Evaluations of the Japanese Regime
 Freedom of expression was lacking
 The Japanese encouraged the development
of Tagalog
 Whether their purpose was selfish or not,
the fact remains that the Japanese helped
the writer in Tagalog re-discover the beauty
and the potentialities of his native language.