Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos
The 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 P26 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-inexile 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 Japanesesponsored 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.
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.
Southern Manila showing the destroyed
Quezon Bridge
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 postwar era hold their assembly
behind the newly-renovated
campus building.