World War II in Leyte

The Philippines in the '40s

THE war our parents fought in was not our undoing. From the early years of the 20th century till the time the Japanese Imperial forces seized our land, we were a colony of the United States of America, heavily dependent on her for a good number of essential things: economy, education, politics, defense, trade, markets, capital.

Name it and you' ll find the trademark of Uncle Sam written all over. From the books that we read in Grade one to the language that we spoke in the halls of the Philippine Assembly, there was Mother America coddling the overgrown baby Juan de la Cruz.

In the meantime, Japan during these years had shot up like a meteor in the world economy, leaving behind her Asian neighbors and threatening US dominance in many fields. In fact, as early as 1905, American policy makers were afraid Japan would penetrate the countries held by the US and the British in Asia.

AS a growing capitalist nation, however, she was still behind the west in many respects. But the prospects for surpassing the US in a peaceful competition for fresh markets seemed dim.

The situation grew worse in July 1939 after the US purposely did not renew her 1911 Commercial Treaty with Japan. On July 1941, the US finally instituted a full embargo, leaving Japan no other alternative except war. Expansionism through military conquest -that was the only attractive solution.

Thus, in the Japanese war room were found not only her generals but representatives of the big business combines - the zaibatsus - working closely together. Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo, Yasuda, to name a few, had gobbled up contracts for the military hardware Japan would use in the Far East in her ensuing military adventures.

The Philippines in 1940 was not of course ready for war. She had no munitions industry to speak of, no steel industry with which to manufacture military hardware, no shipping or automobile industry, and her communications system left much to be desired. This situation led military advisers in the US to declare the Philippines indefensible in case of war with Japan.

The so-called War Plan Orange, drafted as a contingency measure in 1925, sought to defend only Manila and Corregidor, leaving the rest of the archipelago defenseless. US Military advisers were in favor of abandoning the entire country after a short resistance. This attitude did not change in the '30s. US policy in 1934 - 35 recommended "no improvements or reinforcements" on the defense status of the country.