Exigencies of war : 20th anniversary World War II military liberation issue

Formerly BULETIN NG KAPISANANG PANGKASAYSAYAN NG PILIPINAS VOLl;l\m

IX

SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER. 1965

Nos. 3 & 4

(2Qth Anniversary World War II Military Liberation Issue)

Ej<lGEi'lClES OF \JV J.\R

With a Brief Biography of President FERDINAND E. MARCOS

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CA. JR

CELEDONIO A. ANCHETA

RICARDO A. ARCILLA

Editor

Associate Editor

PUBLISHED QllARTERLY BY

THE PHILIPPINE HIST()RICAL ASS()CIATION ·MANILA

E 'I<IGE~ICIES

OF \JV t\R (20th Anniversary World War II Military Liberation Issue)

INTRODUCTION by

President FERDINAND EDRALIN MARCOS of the Republic of the Philippines

CELEDONIO A. ANCHETA Editor

RICARDO A. ARCILLA Associate Editor

MANILA 1965

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CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ____________________________________________________ F oreword __________________________________________________________________________ Edit ors Introduction ____________________________________________ Ferdinand E. Marcos Message __________________________________________________________ Carlos P. Romulo Letter of Introduction __________________________ Col. C. P. Dela Cruz

Section I -

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The Escape

Dedica tion '____ --___ -___ -------_--____ ----------------------------------------------------------F oreword ____________________________________________________ M iguela M. Solis The Escape from Panay to the Ilocos ____ Celedonio A. Ancheta History of the 14th Infantry ________________ Arturo L. Dingcong

Section II -

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111

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The "Good Fight"

History of the 15th Infantry _____________________________________________________ _ 59 Air Commandos in the Philippines ______ Col. Samuel O. Sartor 135 The Battle of San Mateo ____________________ Celedonio A. Ancheta 139 The Battle of Bessang Pass _____________________________________________ _____________ 142

Section III -

The Victory

Brief Biography of President Ferdinand E. Marcos ____________ Biographical Data of General Carlos P. Romulo ________________ Biographical Data of General Macario Peralta, Jr. ______ ______ __ Biographical Data of General Rigoberto J. Atienza ______________ Farewell Address of General Russell W. Volckmann ____________ Address of Colonel Robert H. Arnold on the Operation of the 15th Infantry ____________________________________________________________ Donald V. Jamison Met President Marcos in Philippine Jungles ____ ______________________________________ Bill Cain

Section IV -

165 170 177 179 183 186 194

The Heroes

Honoring the Heroes __________________ ______________ Encarnacion Alzona 201 Plaridel as Intellectual and Writer ________ Leopoldo Y. Yabes 208 The Teachings of Our National Heroes __ Celedonio A. Ancheta 216 iii

CONTENT~

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On Jose Rizal, Sic Et Non ........................ Ceferina T. Yepez 219 Beyond the Call of Duty............................ Ely A. Agbayani 224Reserve Officers' Service School (ROSS) Class Number One .................... Celedonio A. Ancheta 227

Section V -

Book Reviews and Bibliography

Command Responsibility: Its Legal Aspects

by Adamin A. Tallow.................... Ricardo A. Arcilla 283 The Ethnohistory of Northern Luzon

by Felix Keesing ................................ Mario D. Zamora 290 Bibliography .................................................................................... 295

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page Facing President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos ______________________________ Xl General Carlos P. Romulo ______________________________________________ Xlll Officers and Members of the Philippine Historical Association ________________________________________ ...... _.__ General Russell W. Volckmann and the Author _________ _ Dr. Gregorio F. Zaide presenting the CITIZENS AWARD to Professor C. A. Ancheta ____________________ Colonel Robert H. Arnold ________________________________________________ General Macario Peralta, Jr. ____________________________________________ General Rigoberto J. Atienza -_________________________________________ Captain Donald V. Jamison _______________________ .____________________ Dr. Jose Rizal-Mercado ____________________________________________________

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41 59 177 179 200 201

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FOREWORD Our hero is a man of peace, Preparedness he implores; His sword within its scabbard sleeps, But mercy, how its snores!

- McLandburgh Wilson

Twenty years ago the people of this part of the globe breathed a new air- of freedom, when the Philippines was liberated from the Japanese military occupation. General Douglas MacArthur returned in fulfilment of his pledge, "I shall return," which he announced immediately after his arrival at Melbourne from the Philippines on March 17, 1942. And on July 5, 1945, after he had returned, he issued a communique announcing that the entire Philippines wa') liberated, and the Philippine campaign could be regarded as virtually closed; this marked the beginning of a new page in Philippine history.

It should, however, be remembered that before the liberation of the Philippines twenty years ago, the situation here was miserable and gloomy. Under the laws of war, the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Imperial Forces in the Philippines on January 3, 1942, after the occupation of Manila a day previous, proclaimed the establishment of the Japanese Military Administration for the purpose of supervising the political, economic, and cultural affairs of the occupied land; that marked the beginning of the military occupation of the Philippines by the Japanese. In the meantime somewhere in Bataan the Filipino-American troops reeled before the smashing assaults of the Japanese invading forces. This heroic defense of Bataan crumbled on April 9 and followed by the fall of Corregidor on May 6, 1942. In so far as the American armed forces in the Philippines were concerned, the war was over, but to the Filipinos the war was on. Many Filipino officers and men refused to follow the order of General Wainwright to surrender; instead they fled to the mountains with their arms and whatever they could bring with them. With the help of the people, they waged relentless guerrilla vii

viii

FOREWORD

warfare against the Japanese invading forces. This state of affairs lasted for about three years.

This issue of the Historical Bulletin attempts in a modest way to recount some of the heroic defenses of the Filipino officers and men against the superior invading forces - the Japanese Imperial Army - from the days of occupation in 1942 to the days of liberation in 1945. These accounts had been written in blood, sweat, and tears of those who resisted and fought against the .T apanese. The present Editors are eye-witnesses and participants in these plights.

The limitation of space will not permit a detailed recount of the different encounters of the Filipino troops with the Japanese forces; the documents presented here have been selected from those which have not yet been published.

If the publication of these accounts could instill the minds of those who had not been under the Juez de Cochillo, to use the popular phrase then, into thinking about the difficulties, hardships, and bitterness experienced by those who defied the Japanese military authorities here, then this issue shall have accomplished something.

Men may come and go, but their deeds remain as history. Some of the persons named in these documents perished in action, others have long been dead, but their memories must be kept alive. It was the poet Tyrtaeus of antiquity who once said: A noble thing is to lie dead, fallen in the front ranks, A brave man in battIe for his country.

Grateful acknowledgment is accorded to Colonel S. O. Sartor for his "Air Commando's in the Philippines," to Regent Encarnacion Alzona for her "Honoring the Heroes," to Professor Leopoldo Y. Yabes for his paper on Marcelo H. del Pilar, to Miss Ceferina T. Yepez for her Sic Et Non on Jose Rizal, but above all to General Rigoberto J. Atienza, who was then the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, for allowing the Editors to avail themselves of the records and files of documents and other papers in the Headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines without which, the publication of this Liberation Issue of World War II of the Historical Bulletin would not have been possible. Also the Editors are very grateful to General R. W. Volckmann, to Colonel R. H. Arnold, and to Captain D. V. Jamison for their participation in this issue of the BuU,etin; to all our friends and comrades in

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FOREWORD

arms in those years of storm and stress during the Japanese occupation, who have given the Editors directly or indirectly materials that are integral parts of this special issue; to Lt. Col. Ambrocio P .

Peiia, National Adjutant of USAFIP, NL; to Mr. Osvaldo Galvez and Professor Ricaredo Demetillo of the University of the Philippines who helped the Editors in any form in this publication. Last but not least, to the officers and members of the Board of Governors of the Philippine Historical Association, who gave the Editors all the inspiration and encouragement for this number of the Historical Bulletin.

C. A. A. R.A.A. Quezon City, Philippines February 24, 1966

PRESIDENT FERDINAND EDRALIN MARCOS (lnaugurakd as the sixth President of the Philippines on 30 December 1965)

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I N T ROD U C T ION

This special issue of the Historical Bulletin on the liberation of the Philippines in the last stages of the Pacific War during World War II will, I am certain, illuminate further the drama and heroism that attended the great battles fought in this country.

The battJe for the Philippines was as much of an epic story of the courage of righting men as was Bataan.

I am privileged to have been a participant in both these phases of the war in this land, and I can say from my experienoe that in both the siege of Bataan and the liberation of the Philippines, the utmost vas demanded from our fighting men.

The difference was that in the latter battles, our forces had the initiative and the greater weight of men and~uipment.

It was a situation in reverse, and there was an exhilaration in it for our side, for then we could at last exercise what we had for so long yearned to do -- and that is, to pursue the enemy and engage all the elements that enemy could throw at us in a toe-to-toe battle.

I am proud to say that our forces, and I do mean the Filipino troops, many of them guerrillas, gave more than an adequate account of themselves.

Bataan and Corregidor were avenged. although not in the cruel way that these bastions were beaten down by the invaders.

This special issue, published Historical Association, might well of the libera~ion or the Ph" ippi affirmation of the Filip"n his loyalty to freedom.

1966

the Philippine commemoration Let it be an

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13994 _ D802.P5A71965 \I E R I TAG E ExigenCies of war : 20th anniversary World War II military liberation issue I introduction by President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos; Celedonia A. Ancheta, editor; Ricardo A. Arcilla, ociate Editor