Philippines During
Japanese Occupation
By that time, the defending Philippine
and U.S. troops were under the
command of General Douglas
MacArthur.
Lacking air cover, the American Asiatic Fleet in the
Philippines withdrew to Java on
.
• 1941 (Dec. 25) Gen. Douglas
MacArthur declared Manila an open city.
(on the advice of commonwealth President Manuel L.
Quezon to avoid its destruction)
• 1942 (April 9) – US and Filipino
defendants in Bataan surrendered
to the Japanese
During World War II
• MacArthur escaped to Corregidor
• 76,000 captured soldiers were forced to
embark on the "Death March" to a prison
camp more than 100 kilometers north.
• ~10,000 prisoners died due to thirst,
hunger and exhaustion.
The “Huks”
• farmers of Pampanga banded together
and created local brigades for their
protection
-Luis Taruc
-Juan Feleo
-Castro Alejandrino
• agreed to fight the Japanese as a
unified guerilla army
The “Huks”
• They agreed to call their organization
Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa mga Hapon or
HUKBALAHAP.
- Taruc was the leader
- Alejandrino was his right hand
- Members were simply called
Huks.
The Philippine
Executive
Commission
Established on
January 23, 1942
The Philippine Executive
Comission
Chairperson: Jorge Vargas
Dept. heads:
Interior: Benigno Aquino Sr.
Finance: Antonio delas Alas
Justice: Jose P. Laurel
Education, Health & Public Welfare: Claro M. Recto
Public Works & Communication: Quintin Paredes
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Jose Yulo
The Philippine Executive
Comission
• new constitution
-noticeably lacked a bill of rights
-contained 12 articles lifted from the 1935
constitution that fitted the wishes of
the Japanese
-was meant to be in effect only temporarily,
while the Philippines still in chaos
The
Second Republic
The Second Republic
• September 20 1943 - the KALIBAPI
held a party convention
-to elect 54 members of the National Assembly
(assembly was actually made of 108 members but half of this
number was composed of incumbent governors and city
mayors)
-President:
-Vice President:
Jose P. Laurel
Benigno Aquino Sr.
Ramon Anancena
The Second Republic
• Inauguration
-October 14 1943
-on the front steps of the legislative building in
Manila
-Philippine flag was hoisted as the national anthem
was played
The Second Republic
• Meanwhile…
-Japanese started using propaganda to gain the trust
and confidence of Filipinos who refused to
cooperate with them
-hung giant posters and distribute their materials
that contains such slogans as "the Philippines
belong to the Filipinos."
-also used newspapers, movies, and others to
publicize the same idea
Promoting Japanese propaganda was one of the main objectives of
the KALIBAPI, but still Japanese failed to gain the trust of the
Filipinos.