Full transcript of “Pagsakop Ng Japan Sa Pilipinas WWII (1941–1945) | Wars in the Philippines”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:00 torture, hunger and Mickey Mouse money are often described as the events in the Philippines during World War I when the Japanese occupied us but how did this happen why did the US allow it and how did we fight them before answering these questions we need to first go back to how Japan expanded its territory while they were only a small country in East Asia one of the reasons was their search for natural resources natural resources were not available in Japan such as oil rubber and many others needed for development so expanding their territory in Southeast Asia would
0:46 give them more resources to supply the needs of their people and occupied territory like China also one of the reasons is racism they were not allowed to give a statement about racial equality in the covenant of the league of nations because the United States prevented it the Japanese also had extreme patriotism back then or extreme love for the country and their Emperor so they were used to serving their country the US on the other hand had no plans to join World War II at first but it was an event What gave them this reason was the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Japan knew that the US was powerful, so it was a big
1:33 gamble to fight it. But they needed to eliminate the US's influence in Southeast Asia so that they could control the natural resources here. Once they had control of it, it would be easy to defend the territories they had conquered in Southeast Asia against western countries. When Japan saw that the American Pacific fleet was in Pearl Harbor and could attack or fight them, they first destroyed it, thinking that the US would just let it go. But Japan was wrong. Southeast Asia was very important to the US from the beginning. The US already knew that the Philippines was strategically located in Southeast Asia and had a large
2:19 presence in the Pacific. But as Japan's power grew, the US became concerned, so the Commonwealth assembly decided to pass the Commonwealth Act number one or the national defense act. When they thought that Japan might invade the Philippines, the US Army was included in the Filipino reserve and regular army. This combined force was called the United States army. forces in the Far East or US safe At first the US tried to stop the war by holding back Japanese assets. In September 1941, Japan sent Admiral Keino Mura to America to supposedly negotiate peace, but
3:05 in the midst of these negotiations, Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was attacked. The US was very angry and declared war on Japan. Four hours after the Japanese weakened America's forces in the Pacific by bombing Pearl Harbor, Japan bombed various places in the Philippines, starting with Clarkfield on the morning of December 8, 1941. They also attacked Davao, Baguio, and Apari, along with Nichols Field and Sangley Point. The Japanese followed by Manila. Towards the end of December, General McArthur declared it an open city to prevent further destruction. Despite this, the Japanese continued to bomb
3:52 Manila in the early hours of December 8. Japanese Army Forces arrived at Batan Island. Two days later, they landed at Apari and Pandan from Palao Island in the south they landed in Legaspi then in Davao and in Hulo due to the lack of military forces almost no one greeted these landings of the Japanese there was a rumor that powerful US war aircraft would come to destroy the Japanese planes but this was just talk to boost the morale of the Filipinos no forces arrived because the warplanes had already
4:38 been destroyed by the Japanese at Clark field and Nichols field when they first landed December 22 1941 the Japanese landed at Lingayen and the USAF did nothing here from here they reached the central zone while this was happening another Japanese force landed at Lamon Bay now there are two forces entering Luzon from the North the one in Lingayen and from the south the one in Lamon Bay even though the USAF had forces there was almost no opposition to face the Japanese And on January 2 1942 they finally entered Manila December 24 1941 told McArthur told
5:23 Quezon that he had to evacuate the corridor with his family. Quezon called a final meeting of his cabinet to announce this decision. He said that Secretary of Justice Jose Abbad Santos, Vice President Sergio Osmena, General Basilio Valdez and Colonel Manuel Nieto would accompany him in his evacuation. Josep Laurel, who was then Chief Justice, was also annoyed that he had to go with him, but Quezon said, "Oh, Laurel, someone has to face the Japanese. The people need protection. The situation will be difficult. You need a strong leader. You have to stay here." But Laurel knew that the Japanese would ask a lot, so
6:09 she asked. "How can I meet everyone? Just don't swear on the Japanese flag. If anyone does, I will shoot him myself. When I get back, Laurel was sworn in as the new Secretary of Justice. Quezon gave his last instructions to the Commonwealth officials. Do everything. Beg them if you can. Do everything to keep the Philippines united. Protect the Filipinos against the atrocities of the Japanese. There are decisions you need to think about, but make them. everything for the future of the Philippines on
6:55 December 30 in the corridor that Quezon was also sworn in for his second term as president of the Commonwealth, Quezon's escape with the American military forces was effective, the Japanese had difficulty surrendering the US forces and they could not enter the corridor because of the tightness of the defense here, but after a while, help came from the US for the soldiers in the corridor, this was because of the Europe First Policy where the US was determined to defeat the forces of Germany and its allies in Europe, the weakening of the US was further aggravated by the departure of MacArthur to Australia on March 11, 1942, Quezon left. On
7:41 February 18, aboard the submarine Swordfish, MacArthur was replaced by General Jonathan Wright. The armed forces under the US were struggling, so on April 9, General Edward P. King decided to surrender his forces in Bataan. Approximately 78,000 forces surrendered, while approximately 2,000 escaped to the corridor. This surrender was only a surrender of the forces in Bataan and not the entire UFE. It became big news all over the world but the UFE remained strong. The soldiers who surrendered in Bataan were
8:28 praised. Those who were weak due to illness and hunger were killed in a very brutal manner. It was called the Death March. When they arrived at Kapas, they were imprisoned like animals, starving and sick. Now that Bataan had fallen, the Japanese directed their defense in the corridor from morning until night. They bombed the island non-stop. On the morning of May 6, General Wayne Wright finally decided to surrender by sending a message called the Voice of Freedom to General Homa of Japan. Wayne Wright's plan was to surprise the
9:29 Japanese in the Philippines. They changed the Commonwealth government system but they also followed some systems like America. They also promised Independence and Pili. They made the Filipinos believe that they were only here to save the Philippines from the influence of the West or America, but their promise to save the Filipinos was not believed. The people still had great confidence that the Americans would come to help them in the midst of the chaos. The first to be affected was the economy because the Japanese had already taken control of the lands. Cotton was demanded. The supply of rice and other products decreased, but
10:15 before the Japanese arrived in Manila. When people learned of the possibility of war, there was already hoarding or excessive buying and stealing of various products. Even the police could do nothing but join the people who rushed to the grocery stores. People took all the food and furniture. Later, when the Japanese arrived and the economic movement was delayed, they sold the stolen food and furniture because there was a shortage of food, particularly rice. They had to sell expensive jewelry, household items, and clothes in exchange for rice and other vegetables. During these times,
11:00 opportunities were more favorable for poor farmers. They had luxurious equipment in exchange for the rice they sold to the rich, while the people of Manila who did not have land were forced to sell the equipment, those who have nothing to sell are just digging up corpses in the cemetery and taking the clothes and jewelry of the buried and exchanging them for food, even the doctors who should be treating fellow Filipino soldiers are hiding the medicines and selling them at a higher price to Filipino soldiers, particularly those who participated in the Death March, the Japanese also took advantage of this type of trade,
11:47 which created Mickey Mouse money, although there is money that is used because of its extremely weak value, you need to have a basket of Mickey Mouse money to buy a kilo of rice. Despite this, the officials in the new Japanese government led by Jose P Laurel, as president of the Republic, did everything to protect the people, there were reforms that Laurel promoted, but these were not very obvious, they made it seem like they were in solidarity with the Japanese cause for the Philippines, but the truth is that they were just riding on what they were saying the Japanese promoted the opening of elementary schools, this was because they believed They were the
12:34 best people to teach while they were young to remove American influence. Japanese language was taught in school. But Laurel promoted the teaching of Filipino language and history and its teachers were Filipino teachers. But because of the hardships of life, only a few were able to attend elementary school because the children preferred to help their parents. Because of the lack of food, he ordered that vegetables be planted in vacant lands, so the alleys of Manila were filled with spinach. This was a great help to alleviate the hunger suffered by the people. Although he was called the Puppet President,
13:19 Laurel did everything he could to negotiate with the Japanese while maintaining loyalty to the Filipinos and the Philippines. Life became difficult. Because the Filipinos had many enemies, first of all, the Thai camps or the so-called Japanese soldiers. They became violent towards the Filipinos. They entered houses with unregistered radios. They imprisoned suspected guerrillas in Fort Santiago and tortured them. They tied one hand. of prisoners and hanged while being beaten with fx4 wood there was even a chance that they were forced to drink galonggong water there was also a punishment where
14:04 their skin was burned with a hot iron or ' or a hot wire the guerrillas who were caught were beheaded they also insulted women they also became strict about the Filipinos bowing or bowing down it is not common in our culture to bow down to people but for the Japanese it is a custom they do not fully understand that it is not our culture so they slap or maybe they lock up the Filipinos who do not prohibit it it is an insult to the Filipinos when they slap them So their anger towards the Japanese intensified even more the second enemy of the Filipinos were the guerrillas themselves who
14:50 killed the suspected Japanese spies who were listening to the conversations of the Filipinos but even though this period was chaotic theaters that showed dramas even writing in the Filipino language became popular during this period haiku Even though almost the entire country was under Japanese control, the Filipinos remained steadfast in their belief that the Americans would come back to them, so when the forces in Bataan and the corridor surrendered, the combined American and Filipino soldiers formed guerrilla groups. These guerrilla units were responsible for publishing
15:37 guerrilla newspapers that contained real events outside the country. This was because the Japanese banned listening to radio that was not approved by the Japanese government. These guerrilla units were also the reason why McArthur knew what was happening in the Philippines. They were the ones reporting on what was happening to the Japanese military forces in the Philippines. Meanwhile, Kezo was led by the government in exile in Washington until his death on August 1, 1944. Osmena was the next president of the Philippines. While they were there, preparations were made on how to reclaim the Philippines from the Japanese. The return of the Americans
16:24 to the Philippines began in 1944 from Australia. They gradually reclaimed the islands in the Pacific. The Battle of the Philippine Sea became important step here October 1944 began the gradual recovery of the territories occupied by the Japanese inside the Philippines starting from Leyte until they gradually wiped out the Japanese force due to the successive attacks on their warships and aircraft to retake Manila the Americans landed in Lingay and Gulf from here they passed through Tarlac Pampanga and Bulacan until they reached Manila the Japanese when
17:10 they saw that they were losing became even more angry they massacred those in hospitals and forced innocent passers-by to work in their airfields they burned buildings and houses February 3 1945 5 30 to 6:00 pm the Americans completely entered Manila the prisoners at the University of Santo Tomas were immediately released the prisoners were so happy they sang God bless America and the Star Spangled Banner Finally February 27 1945 McArthur turned over the civil government World War I was a difficult time for Filipinos but
17:56 despite this, Filipinos remained strong and courageous in their goal of achieving freedom. The story does not end here because the country had to go through a lot to finally become free but with the end of World War I, there was a new beginning towards democratic [Music] governance.
