1. Paper 1: Japanese Occupation
a. Why did Japan invade the Philippines?
The Japanese were looking for territories to accommodate their excess population and
their manufactured goods. They started a war in the Pacific against the United States by
attacking Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in December 1941. This led to the United States formally
declaring war against Japan. As a result of this, the Philippines being one of the nations under
the control of the United States at that time, became a target for the Japanese. This led to the
Japanese occupation which lasted between 1942 and 1945.
Japan occupied the Philippines at the start of World War II because it was situated in the
middle of the Dutch East Indies, which is Indonesia in the modern world, and Japan. Japan,
having lacked oil resources because of the importation ban by the United States, wanted to
establish a base of operations in the Philippines so that they can safely transport oil from Dutch
East Indies and French Indochina , currently Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, to Japan.
Additionally, Japan and the United States at that time treated each other as enemies because of
past historical events, which greatly motivated the Japanese to occupy the Philippines which
was a controlled nation by the United States although it has technically been given its
independence.
b. Discuss what the Japanese have done to the Philippines during their occupation
Martial Law was enforced. They instilled an iron fist rule. They imposed curfews and
anyone who dares to oppose their militaristic rule would either be punished brutally or be killed.
Filipinos who want to express their nationalistic ideals such as singing of the national anthem
and the raising of the Philippine flag was strictly prohibited. The use of radios and transmitters
were prohibited probably because the Japanese wanted to limit communication to target
revolutionists and rebels. The democratic practices inside the government were put to a halt.
Although indirectly, the Japanese provided a Japanese adviser to each Filipino commissioner so
as to maintain absolute surveillance of their activities. The Japanese maintained a totalitarian
form of government and controlled almost every aspect of the Filipinos' lives. In education, the
Japanese language was taught in public schools. The economic activities during the occupation
were necessarily limited. Industry, commerce, and trade suffered many difficulties. Agriculture
plummeted for some time. Work animals were decreased. Means of transportation were
confiscated by Japanese authorities and the owners were only given a piece of paper with
scribbles that are unreadable. Food was scarce. The “Mickey Mouse”money that was handed
out by the Japanese government caused inflation. The Kempeitei or Military police during the
Japanese occupation was known for its violence and abuse. Tortures and punishments that are
brutal were enforced whenever someone was suspected or was accused of not abiding their
policies and laws. If a guerilla was captured, there was a very slim chance for that guerilla to
come back alive. Chances are he or she would be brutally tortured and would die a slow and
painful death in the hands of the Japanese. These guerillas were revolutionaries who did not
abide by the Japanese occupation. They resorted to Jungle warfare because of the advanced
military prowess of the Japanese as compared to the Filipinos. These guerillas took advantage
of their knowledge and awareness of the geography of the Philippines to fight back the
Japanese who had lesser knowledge about the geography of the Philippines.
The worst incident that happened to women during the Japanese occupation was the
introduction of comfort women. These comfort women were treated as sex slaves by the
Imperial Japanese army and were raped and abused. If a Japanese military officer finds a
Filipino woman he is attracted to, chances are , that woman would become a comfort woman for
that Japanese military officer. That woman had no right to refuse and will be forced to attend to
that military officer’s sexual needs. These incidents will be left unattended and the victims will
not attain Justice because it was created and controlled by the Imperial Japanese government.
REFERENCES
Agoncillo, T. A. (1990). History of the Filipino people (8th ed.).
Express, J. L. (2021, June 19). Why did Japan invade the Philippines? Japan Luggage
Express. https://www.jluggage.com/blog/history/why-did-japan-invade-the-philippines/
Teaching about the comfort women during World War II and the use of personal stories of the
victims. (2020, April 29). Association for Asian Studies.
https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/teaching-about-the-comfort-wom
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