The surrender of the Japanese Army
THE following days of September were busy for the American soldiers receiving in surrender thousands of vanquished enemy officers and men of the Japanese Imperial Army. Added to their task was protecting them from harm coming from local civilians who lost their freedom and independence during the hideous and harsh years of Japanese occupation.
"On September 11, the mass surrender of the defeated Japanese soldiers commenced. They marched down from Nagacadan by companies. Today a battalion, by my estimate, must have been inspected by American soldiers. Each enemy company was inspected by a squad of American soldiers.
All weapons from rifles, pistols, hand grenades, bayonets and any sharp articles were taken away from them. Watches and cash were also confiscated. I saw a number of American soldiers giving cigarettes to the surrenderees who bowed in appreciation.
The inspection done, the Japanese are escorted to Ibulao some 5 kilometers below the town where army trucks haul them into a barbed wire compound in Bolog to wait for transportation to the lowlands. It took the Americans four hours, more or less, to finish inspection.
My father's diaries noted that daily for the next two weeks, enemy officers and men marched in by battalions and inspected by American soldiers, and led to Ibulao and Bolog, then to the lowlands. Civilians were discouraged from getting close to the Japanese and advised to distance themselves some 10 meters away.
However, business minded civilians are able to enrich themselves by trading food with the hungry and sickly enemy soldiers. In a cat and mouse situation, they did their trade against a policy of the Americans preventing them from trading with the Japanese soldiers.
My father nevertheless noted interesting encounters among the Americans, Japanese and civilians. He wrote:
1. "Some civilians requested the Americans to give them captured Japanese spades as working tools to till their rice fields and farms. Some Americans gave the natives while others flatly refused following orders from superiors.
2. "A squad of American soldiers was quarreling among themselves over a good watch taken from a Japanese soldier. Each wanted it, and then I noticed one of them got it, threw it to the ground and stepped hard on it. Their sergeant sounded a whistle and everyone quieted. It was probably the best thing to do, to destroy the reason that leads to animosity.
3. "Japanese officers are separated from regular soldiers during inspection. An officer with probably the rank of colonel or general appeared quite haughty as he and other officers waited their turn in the long line for inspection and processing.
"He got tired standing at parade-rest and issued a command to his junior officers for all to sit down on the dirt road. He himself sat on a flat stone. When his time came he staggered climbing the stone stairs to the command post. His face looked disfigured due to hunger.
"I noted over a hundred civilian women, some of whom are probably nurses, tailed the estimated two battalions of subjugated Japanese soldiers. Civilian Japanese families including children were detained separately, fed and medically attended.
4. "Again American guards, more in number, resumed their posts along the surrender route forbidding civilians to trade with the enemy. Posted in conspicuous places say all articles in the possession of the enemy belong to the US Army, and anyone caught will be dealt with accordingly.
"To my knowledge, the civilians found ways to trade with the crushed Japanese soldiers who seem resigned to their destiny in the hands of the American soldiers. They threw their arms and anything heavy, including backpacks by the road side, except for their blankets, water canteens, and lighter articles.
5. "Cash and other items traded by the Japanese with civilians were confiscated. The Japanese after knowing that the Americans were forfeiting even cash burned said money by the millions in the barrios before coming to Kiangan poblacion to surrender.
6. "A funny incident happened involving my neighbor Mr. Alberto Crespillo who bought a brand new tobacco pipe from an American soldier. This was confiscated including his personal fountain pen and some cash. The pipe is American made and definitely brand new. No Japanese got such even from Americans at Bataan or Corrigidor.
7. "High piles of bayonets, helmets, pots, spades and other articles taken from the Japs filled wide spaces at the municipal ground. Earlier forbidden to civilians, Captain Marvel later on gave the lot to the mayor for distribution to the people as souvenirs.
"In the afternoon of September 17, Capt. Marvel and his company were relieved when there were few Japs coming down to surrender. The American soldiers of this company got worthwhile souvenirs.
"On this day September 18 onwards, small groups of Japanese strugglers came to surrender. And barrio folk were free to go home to check on their homes and rice fields. In Nagacadan, houses were ransacked and wood walls were used as firewood by the Japanese. All houses were destroyed.
"Several Chinese and Filipinos came down with a number of Japanese to surrender. The Filipinos when asked how they happened to join the enemy said they were forced as carriers or cargadores. Most of them came from Nueva Ecija and Laguna provinces.
"Several Japs continue to come down in small groups, usually at night, being afraid of the natives.
"Stories of civilians digging treasures run wild. A guy from Tuplac sitio was able to uncover a leather bag containing more than two thousand pesos. Lucky for him he has enough to live on as a ganta of rice cost ten pesos.
"It is interesting to mention that several treasure hunters uncovered dead Japanese, instead of gold, silver or cash. Unlucky fellows.
"Seeing that no more Japs to surrender in big numbers except for only few sickly civilian Japanese, their Filipino and Chinese wards, all the remaining American soldiers left. A platoon of Filipino soldiers from the 14th Infantry came to receive any surrendering enemy.
"I end my records of enemy activities, their surrender, and the American Army mapping up operations on this date, September 20; and will now turn to the post-war problems of the people.
To be continued. The series is published weekly every Saturday by SunStar Baguio, Philippines.
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Note: The narrator is the youngest son of the late Luis I. Pawid of Kiangan, Ifugao and Angeline Laoyan of La Trinidad, Benguet. He is a journalist by profession, former town Mayor of La Trinidad, Benguet, and former Executive Director of the defunct Cordillera Executive Board, Cordillera Administrative Region. He now resides in New Jersey, USA.