Japanese Conquests.
Organized resistance to the Japanese ended on May 6, with the surrender of 10,000 starving American and Filipino soldiers on Corregidor and the other island forts across the entrance to Manila Bay. Following the Battle of Bataan, in which that peninsula was captured April 9 by the Japanese, together with a defending army of 36,853 men, Corregidor had been besieged and under repeated bombardment for almost a month. Lieut.-Gen. Jonathan W. Wainwright was in command at the time, having succeeded Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who flew out to Australia on March 17 to assume the supreme command of the United Nations' forces in the Southwest Pacific. The four-months Battle of the Philippines was gallantly fought but was a losing contest from the start. The United States was not prepared to defend the islands. The most the defending forces could hope to do was to fight a delaying action and, for a period, immobilize a large Japanese army. The Japanese easily achieved air supremacy over the island of Luzon and swept over it rapidly before reinforcements could reach General MacArthur. A few successful attempts were made to send supplies through the Japanese blockade, so the men on Bataan Peninsula were never short of small arms and ammunition, but they lacked heavy guns and air support, and from Jan. 11 to April 9 they lived on short rations. Hunger was, therefore, a decisive factor in the final surrender.
The city of Manila was lost on Jan. 2. Adm. Thomas C. Hart performed a noteworthy feat in evacuating the naval base at Cavite and in bringing the United States Asiatic Fleet into secure waters. The large island of Mindanao fell early, due largely to advance operations by the Japanese colony at Davao, although native resistance continued down until May. Based on the harbor facilities of Davao, Japanese forces in January began their first large-scale invasion of the Netherlands Indies. Following the fall of Bataan, conquest of the rest of the archipelago began with an attack on Cebu, April 10. Cebu City, principal port of the second most important province of the Philippines, fell three days later, American-Filipino forces on the island being so small as to make effective resistance impossible. On April 16 the Japanese landed on the island of Panay, a rich sugar-producing area. Altogether, some 20,000 Filipino soldiers were killed in action before American and Filipino resistance was overcome. There is no doubt that the United States record in the Philippines and the certainty of independence contributed to the will to resist, which was in such marked contrast to the attitudes of the Malayans and Burmese towards the invader. Guerrilla bands, remnants of the United States-Filipino forces, have continued to operate in Luzon, Mindanao and some smaller islands. Japanese news broadcasts have indicated that Filipino prisoners of war are being held as hostages for their surrender. Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita, conqueror of Malaya and Singapore, had been sent in early March to the Philippines to oppose General MacArthur. Lieut.-Gen. Masaharu Homma, who preceded him as commander, is reported to have committed suicide for his failure to conquer the islands.
Internal Affairs.
Developments under Japanese occupation are a matter of uncertainty. There are indications that civilians have passively opposed the occupying forces. On July 8 the Japanese military authorities banned all political gatherings and societies. The local currency has been replaced by Japanese military notes. The banking system is being operated by the military through the Southern Regions Development Bank. Agriculture and industry are being exploited by the National Development Corporation, a Tokyo company controlled by the military and the financial oligarchy. Schools, theaters, business houses, industries, transportation and communication facilities, have all been taken over by the Japanese, and the Japanese language has been introduced into the schools. In March it was reported that the Ishibara Company had begun exploitation of the rich iron ore deposits in southern Luzon. Evacués returned on diplomatic exchange in September, reported some 3,500 civilians, mostly Americans, interned but not badly treated at Santo Tomás University. In April the Japanese designated Jorge Vargas, former secretary to President Quezon, Mayor of Manila and chief of civil administration in the Philippines.
On March 23, Francis B. Sayre resigned as High Commissioner to the Commonwealth since military activity had rendered his position largely unnecessary. Three days before its occupation President Quezon left Manila for Mindanao, and subsequently went to Australia and the United States. In May he set up a provisional Government of the Philippines in Washington, where it has been functioning ever since. The work of the regime is naturally very limited and is, at present focusing largely on a study of postwar problems of the Commonwealth. In short wave broadcasts from San Francisco the exiled Government urges Filipinos to continue their resistance. President Quezon signed the Atlantic Charter on behalf of the Philippines Commonwealth, and has taken a seat on the Pacific War Council. Thus, the Commonwealth has, in effect, been accepted as the equal of the other United Nations. A rewording of the Selective Service Act has also made it possible for the 80,000 Filipinos in the United States and Hawaii to enter the armed forces of the United States. In February the First Filipino Infantry Battalion was formed with a hope that the new unit might eventually help in the reconquest of the Philippine Islands.
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