Formation of Underground Resistance

Filipino soldiers who escaped from Bataan and other POW camps went into the mountains of Luzon or relied on Filipino locals to guide them to other safe zones harboring guerrilla fighters or Allied stragglers after the Allies surrender. There was no main defense of the Manila Bay, and radio and communications also stopped as the Japanese military continued their invasion. Ramon Magsaysay Sr., a Filipino soldier who escaped after the fall of Corregidor was the major face of the Western Luzon Guerrilla Force who commanded over 10,000 guerrillas and would later become the 7th president of the Republic of the Philippines. Most soldiers joined guerrilla units or went into hiding with the help of Filipino civilians. Many of the soldiers made desperate attempts to establish communications with the Allied force. 

Different Groups of Guerrilla Fighters

  • Western Luzon Guerrilla Force
  • Hukbalahap Guerrillas
  • Hunters ROTC
  • Marking's Guerrillas
  • Aetas 
  • United States Army in the Philippines of Northern Luzon (USAFIP-LN)​

Why the underground resistance forces were formed:

​
Filipino communities were weary about Imperial Japanese Army's violent breaches in the conduct of war in China as the Nanking Massacre had caught international attention and news stories were printed in newspapers. There was also visible string of atrocities including brutal warfare, raping, and killing of civilians was seen throughout Manilla. Women were also selected to be comfort women, euphemistic term for sex slaves.
Kempeitai, the Japanese secret military police, treated the civilians cruelly. Torture, kidnapping, murder, rape, extortion, unlawful arrests, and censorship happened regularly. Destruction to the cultural and natural landscape of the Philippines. 

Japanese Propaganda Efforts

Propaganda leaflets describing Japanese military and empire as a friend and brother to the Filipino people and together, they could form a Greater Asia. ​Media outlets were also controlled by the Japanese military. 

Examples:
This content is a supplementary resource guide to our book.
Philippines' Resistance: The Last Allied Stronghold in the Pacific
The people of the Philippine Islands during the early half of the 20th century experienced various waves of Western imperialism, two wars of attempted secession from Western powers, and two world wars. And yet the Philippine Islands and its people have received only small subheadings in many American textbooks and histories. 
The wartime experiences from the perspectives of the Philippine people have gone unnoticed and have become overshadowed by the sociopolitical dominating legacy of American figures like General MacArthur, leader and historical symbol of the Pacific Theater during World War II. MacArthur's famous phrase "I came through and shall return" is etched into every facet of World War II historical narratives, textbooks, and monuments that pay tribute to the Allied forces in the retaking of the Pacific from the Japanese. But It is the lesser known people and leaders of the Philippine resistance against the Axis powers whose efforts and contributions allowed for the effective and speedy return of MacArthur's military forces. 
The Philippine guerrilla resistance consisted of a diverse cast of Filipino men and women, ethnic and indigenous minorities, American and European immigrants and soldiers, young and old, rich and poor, from farmer to politician. The various units of Philippine guerrillas, their tactics, military resources, and vigor to survive and end the Japanese maltreatment of the Philippine peoples paint the Pacific Theater from 1941-1945 as desperate, dark, and bloody for Asian communities throughout East and Southeast Asia. But their resourcefulness, cooperative efforts to collaborate and network with MacArthur across the South Pacific, and massive grassroots liberation movement directly point to the remarkable value that the Philippine Underground Resistance proved to be in aiding the Allies' ability to retake the Pacific

​Bataan Death March

​Supplies of the
​Guerrilla Fighters