Tuesday, August 23, 2005
So: For my country (Part 1)
By Jocy L. So
Unraveling
"Most of the men released were sick and malnourished, but instead of recuperating, these officers and soldiers went underground and called on other able-bodied Filipinos to join them in the mountains and carry on the fight against the Japanese."
LAST week, the 60th anniversary of the end of the most devastating war in history, World War II, passed by quietly in our country. Although the Philippines was site of some of the fiercest fighting, very little attention has been placed upon our nation and the Filipino fighters who participated in WWII.
The upcoming Hollywood-produced Caesar Montano movie "The Great Raid" hopefully will enlighten people about Filipino contribution to WWII history. But, it's also important that we not only wait for Hollywood to tell us stories about WWII for all around us are people who have live through, fought in, and experienced first hand what life was like fighting during the war.
This is the story of Rodulfo Soriano, the grandfather of one of my students, and a WWII hero.
* * * * *
When World War II broke out on December 7, 1941, I was a third year high school student in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental. For months prior to the hostilities, we already got a hint that war with Japan was inevitable and forthcoming when the wooden "guns" we third and fourth year students used for PMT were changed to real guns. We were introduced to, and taught how to operate, the machine gun, 30-caliber gun, and the 60mm mortar by army officers assigned to our school. We also learned basic warfare techniques.
As students at the age of 16, we felt mixed emotions. Some were afraid, but there were also some who were excited. For many, our sense of patriotism, our desire to serve the country, to kill and be killed for the Philippines, was at the highest level.
Classes were suspended when the Japanese started invading our shores. Fighting became a reality. We watched as Japanese planes bombed and strafed any military installations they saw. Authorities told people to remain calm and to await further announcements. Third and fourth year students, both boys and girls, were told of the possibility of being called to service any day, the boys as soldiers and the girls as auxiliary groups such as medics.
One day, the boys, including myself, were told to go to a regular army camp for induction. I was assigned in Camp Magallon. While there, I kept track of how the war was unfolding. One by one, the Japanese captured our camps and air force bases in Luzon. This was very disappointing news to us in Camp Magallon especially since we were told that we might be sent to Manila to reinforce Bataan as soon as we got our arms and supplies.
As it turned out, we were informed by headquarters that there would be no need to reinforce Bataan as it was already a hopeless situation with the men there on the verge of surrendering. To add to the misfortune, the Japanese torpedoed the ship that was to bring guns and supplies to Negros, causing it to sink near Maricalum, a town of southern Negros. And so, without guns and supplies, the troops in Camp Magallon were disbanded and told to go home to await further orders.
My mother was happy to see me not in uniform yet but I was bored and restless. There was a war going on and I wanted to do my part to serve my country.
Events went by fast. Bataan fell to the Japanese. Then Corregidor. The US army and the Philippine army service men surrendered. General Doughlas MacArthur evacuated to Australia, but vowed, "I shall return." These words raised the morale of the remaining Philippine and American soldiers.
The Japanese imperial army occupied the whole of the Philippines. They started putting into prisoner of war camps anybody they suspected of having been in the army. This forced all able-bodied Filipinos to go into hiding.
However, around June 1942, Filipino soldiers and officers captured in Bataan and the rest of Luzon were released by the Japanese from POW camps as a gesture of reconciliation. This was ordered by then Japanese emperor, Hirohito. Most of the men released were sick and malnourished, but instead of recuperating, these officers and soldiers went underground and called on other able-bodied Filipinos to join them in the mountains and carry on the fight against the Japanese.
Thus, the guerilla movement was born.
Jocy L. So teaches at Davao Christian High School
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