The National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated stations present The Pacific Story. In the mounting fury of world conflict, events in the Pacific are taking on ever greater importance. Here is the story of the Pacific and the millions of people who live around this greatest sea. The drama of the peoples whose destiny is at stake in the Pacific War. Here, as another public service, is the tale of the war in the Pacific and its meaning to us and to the generations to come. The Filipino Underground. Three of us stood there in the crowd that day in Manila. It was May 6, 1942. There were Japanese guards around everywhere. Lupo and Rafael and I knew they were watching us. The one to the right is watching you now, Juan. I know. Keep looking straight ahead. We looked like any other Filipinos, but the Japanese were suspicious of us. Japan has now brought peace and tranquility to the Philippines. The Japanese we had come to hear were speaking now. Yesterday, Corregidor capitulated to us. A pattern is now in our hands. There was no sound in the crowd if he said this. Japan has now broken all resistance in the Filipino Islands. We watched as the Japanese cheered, and we took note of the Filipinos who cheered with them. Jose Lora is cheering with them. Be quiet, Rafael. Look, there is Thomas Convassor, but he is not cheering with the Japanese. Keep your eyes open and your mouth shut. We watched everything. In Japan, the Filipinos will now be able to take their place in the greater East Asia co-pospority sphere. Right mind! Right mind! Paul Roaches is cheering with them now. Shut up. Peace has come to the island. But if you should hear shooting, do not recover loud. There will be shooting in the sea from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the making of the motion picture, Teardown of the Stars and the Strength. Right mind! Right mind! The three of us split up and walked away. We met later in our headquarters. Rafael and I were sitting there talking when Lupo came in. Juan, look at this, Juan. Lupo spread out a copy of the Tribune before me. Look here, listen to what it says. Craft units of the Imperial Army will march in the parade on the morning of June 3rd to celebrate the fall of Corregidor and Bataan. Quiet, Rafael. The parade will afford Manilans a rare treat to appreciate the might of the Japanese Army. People living on the streets where the parade passes may watch from the sidewalks, but must close their windows for the second floor up and refrain from watching or standing at those windows. And they say that all resistance is broken. These people are collaborating with the Japanese, Juan. They have been collaborating since the day the Japanese set foot in the Philippines. Didn't you see all Rochas cheering with the Japanese this afternoon? And his son Andong too? All of us knew that Alejandro Rochas, who was one of the big owners of the Tribune, and his son Andong, who was on the staff, were collaborators. Rochas' name filtered through the underground, throughout Manila and Luzon, and even out into the island. Alejandro Rochas of the Tribune has been assassinated. Andong Rochas of the Tribune has been shot to death. Keep up. La gada. Keep up. Keep up. The murders have taken place at seven widely separated points, sir. Take our hostages at once. We will take a quick and decisive action to stop these outrages. They rounded up hostages, innocent Filipinos, old men and young men, and one hardly more than a boy. Ready, aim, fire! More Filipinos than ever before were at underground headquarters when we met that night. We talked by the light of small lamps. We cannot waste our precious Filipino blood by losing ten hostages for each collaborator, or for each Japanese. This was our chief. No, our course must be to operate away from the centers of population, to maintain close watch on everything that happens at every center of activity throughout the island. On June 3, 1942, Rafael and I watched the Japanese parade at the Luneta, celebrating the fall of Corregidor and Batan. This show of power, one, is not only in celebration of Batan and Corregidor. It is a warning to us and to all Filipinos who resist them. While we stood there watching the parade, Lupo was with the squad at the railway bridge. As the parade passed, we thought of him. Look, there is Jose Loralican with the Japanese. Yes. How can one who was a member of the Supreme Court collaborate with a Japanese like this, Juan? There was no answer to that. The Japanese troops and tanks and armored cars paraded by him. This was a demonstration that all resistance had been broken. Look, Juan, look! That Japanese Corredor is bringing a message up to the Japanese commander. It must be urgent. It was urgent. While the Japanese paraded their strength, Lupo and his squad blew up the strategic railway bridge at X. The Japanese were becoming tense and nervous. By radio, we kept in contact with our underground forces in the north and south of Lausanne, in the Negros Islands, in the north of Cebu, in the Visayan region in the heart of the archipelago, and down in Mindanao. The Japanese have little control here in Mindanao except around Deva, and at some of the inlets where there are landings. Major General William Fretcher Sharp is here in Mindanao with us. Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Strawn is here in southern Lausanne with us. By radio, we were kept informed of the number and the disposition of the Japanese all over the Philippines. And by radio, we sent messages to them. So you see, we cannot prosper with Japan and the Greater East Asia co-prosperity sphere unless we learn to co-prosper with the other nations with which Japan is seeking to co-prosper. What station is that we are getting on the radio? That is our Manila station. That is our Ananta. Oh, yes. Thus it will be seen that to prosper we must observe the ABC of the new order. And that's it. Thanks. You. Collaborate. Ananta. There is a lot everywhere. Why do you listen to those stupid fools, the Japanese? They broadcast nothing but propaganda. If you would know the truth about what is happening to... What is that? Who is that? Oh, that is one of those broadcasters of the underground. They are cutting in on our broadcast from Manila. It was my understanding that this had been a stop. It was a stop, sir, but in the last several days it has been going again. Take the necessary steps to see that this is a stop at once. Yes, sir. Round up the guilty Filipinos and bring them here before our meat. Almost before the search for our radio equipment was started, we learned they were after us. We moved our equipment every day. They soon discovered that we had equipment scattered throughout the island and that we were in touch with all their movements. Juan. Juan. Yes? Juan, did you get the warning from headquarters about the new detachment of Japanese being sent out? No, I was just trying to make contact. Just came over my set. They're sending out new detachments to try to root out radio communications. Well, they've never been able to help our operation so far. Headquarters ordered that all equipment must be moved to safe places at once. Well, then we'd better get moving at once. I will get back to... Juan, Rafael, they are up here as fast as you can. I was just packing up the radio equipment. There isn't time. The Japanese squad is closing in on you right now. They landed during the night and they have located your set here. How far away are they? They can't be more than a few hundred yards. You two get out of here as fast as you can. I'll go out and meet the Japanese alone. There's no time to save all the equipment. We carried what we could and from our hiding place in the thicket, we watched Lupo and the Japanese. You are looking for the radio? You know where it is? I just heard the man run away from it. It is over this way. Take us to it. Lupo led them back in the general direction of the radio equipment. He fumbled through the thicket and at last brought them close enough so they could discover it themselves. Take off this equipment. Take it back. We saw the Japanese carrying the equipment through the woods. Where did the man go? He ran through the thicket that way when you came up. They placed an armed guard with Lupo at the radio shack and went on in the direction he had indicated. That made it easy for us. We waited until the squad was well away from the shack. Then Raphael crept up on the Japanese guard with a knife. By this time, the underground had spread throughout the islands. We operated in bands, from just a few to groups of such number that we could besiege whole Japanese units. While we destroyed roads and broke up Japanese communications, we gathered information. Little by little, the Japanese realized that they could not hunt down and kill all of us. They turned to other methods. To many influential Filipinos, they made handsome operas of collaboration. Some Filipinos accepted. And they used those that accepted to try to reach those that had not. You have shown a good judgment, Dr. Karam. Thank you, Colonel, for the cover. Dr. Karam, you have known Thomas Confessor a long time? Yes, quite a long time, yes. I understand that Thomas Confessor was the governor of the island of Panay. Oh, yes, yes. He is a well-educated man. Ah, so? Yes. I remember he holds degrees from the University of California and the University of Chicago. Ah, yes, yes. As you may know, we offered to make him mayor of Manila. Yes, yes, yes. I recall that. Dr. Karam, you are a man of a higher standing. You are a man of integrity. You could do your country a greater good by communicating with Thomas Confessor and telling him that you have seen the wisdom of working with us and that he could bring peace and tranquility to his people by doing the same. Hmm. You mean that you wish me to ask Thomas Confessor to return here? A such a request would mean more coming from you than from us. Communicate with him and extend to him the invitation to join with us. Thomas Confessor had escaped from Manila in a sailboat. Now he was far away working with his people against the Japanese. We knew when we read Dr. Karam's letter to Confessor that it was inspired by the Japanese. Besides being signed by Dr. Karam, it was signed by General Timbo, Senator Villoso, and Captain Tondo, all collaborationists. Thomas Confessor wrote back. The words of his reply were printed and passed from hand to hand among the underground throughout the islands of the Philippines. In Nipahuts, in boats on the sea and in the rivers, in the mountains, in the lush green valleys, everywhere, Filipino patriots read Confessor's words. If Japan is really sincere in her desire to have peace and tranquility in the Philippines, she should declare the Philippines free and independent. She should evacuate all her forces. Please tell this to your friend Colonel Furukawa and tell him to submit this to the superior authorities of the Imperial Government of Japan. This would put to a test the sincerity of Japan's desire to give us peace and independence. The burden of your so-called message to me consists of the entreaty that further bloodshed and destruction should stop and that our people be saved from further sufferings and miseries. The responsibility for accomplishing this does not rest upon us, but entirely upon your friends who have sworn allegiance to Japan. Now that the hour of test has come, how dare you advise the people to forsake the constitution of the Philippine Commonwealth. You were wrong when you told me that there is no ignominy in surrender. Should I surrender, I would be surrendering something more precious than life itself, the principles of democracy and justice and the honor and the dignity of our people. You and your fellow puppets are trying to give our people peace and tranquility by destroying their honor and dignity. I hope I have made myself clear enough. I will not surrender as long as I can stand on my feet. Raphael and I read the letter to a Filipino peasant. Well, what do you think of it? The Japanese said they would give us a better life. Better life. Have they helped you? They have taken our crops. They have turned my rice paddy fields into cotton. They have starved us until we had to kill our buffalo that works with us in the field just to get something to eat. As Thomas Confessor says in this letter, you can get nothing from the Japanese. But they said they would. This is your land, not theirs. My boy, have you seen my boy? When there was nothing to eat, he went away to find something. We will see if we can help you find your boy. I will help you if you will help me. We will help you. You meet us at the water tower tonight. The peasant joined us. When the Japanese came to his place, he got information for us. This went together with the thousands of other bits of information that we were coming in to us from all over the islands every day. Two days later, Lupo came across the boy in the square of a small town. Get back there! Hold back that father! Stay back! Why are they beating that boy? They say he tried to steal something to eat. They have left him tied up to that post like an animal. They beat him until he was unconscious. And all the time, he was surrounded by Japanese soldiers. When he was unconscious, they let him hang there tied to the post. I went and got his father. My boy. My boy. Here. Let me cut his hands free. Hold him. My boy. What they have done to you. You asked me to help you, Lupo. You have helped me. So little. Now I will help you. We will go with you. Help me carry my boy and we will go with you anywhere. They left their land. The boy became one of our both watches. The boy's father worked on our supply line. As more and more joined our groups all over the islands, we needed more and more supplies. Because of the close watch of the Japanese, we could get almost no supplies within the islands. Supplies had to come in from the outside. The steamer Isabel is bringing food and arms and ammunition and medicine. Have boats ready to meet it. This was the chief speaking to us over the radio. The message went out to all the units in our part of the island. That means that we have two days to concentrate our boats in the channel. Yes. The boats coming from the greater distances will have to sneak down the creek so they will not be discovered by Japanese planes. I will send out the word to the boats at once. In the dark of the night, while Isabel dodged through the Japanese lines between the islands and toward the rendezvous point in the channel, our small boats were picking their way down the creeks to meet her. In the crew of one of these boats was a peasant whose son had been beaten. In another hour it will be light. We should be there before dawn. How many boats will be there to meet the steamer? As many as we can master. Each boat must take as much as it can possibly carry. Yes. What is that? I hear the sound of another boat there in the dark. Probably another one of ours. You will hear more and more of them heading for the channel as we get closer. The boats came from all directions. Big boats, little boats, fast ones, slow ones, old ones, new ones. They came down the creeks and across the bays. They hugged the islands as much as they could and hurried across the open water. By daylight, Isabel had anchored in the channel. And around her, like a hundred chicks around a hen, were our boats. Look out below there. All right. Don't worry. Wait. All right. A little more. A little more. Over. This way. A little more. There. As fast as the surprise could be lifted out of the hold of the Isabel, they were lowered into the boats around her. Men scrambled up and down over the sides of the Isabel. The boats below her were alive with men, moving like busy ants working against time. Easy. Easy. All the way. Let me push it. Little more. Now. Drop it. The boats were loaded to their gunnels, and had each got its cargo pulled away and headed for its destination. I saw the boat with the peasant in it head up the coast, along to the open sea. How much more is there to unload one? We are about half unloaded. This concentration of boats around the Isabel, sooner or later Japanese planes will discover us. We are unloading as fast as we can. We were about three quarters unloaded when the Japanese planes spotted us. The boats scattered, and the Isabel lay there helpless. As soon as the three Japanese planes had gone, the boats came back to the ship. They worked like mad, and with all you the planes would be back. We finished unloading the Isabel two hours after nightfall, and in a howling squall, it slipped through the darkness and out through the Japanese lines to safety. But now the Japanese knew that a new cargo of supplies had been brought in. They knew that guns and ammunition and food and medicine were being distributed everywhere through the islands to the underground forces. The Japanese turned to other means of winning over the people. How hard they tried to make holidays like real holidays. Lupo and Rafael Nier stood on the streets in May 1943. They cannot do with force. They try to do this way. They fool no one. They help us, for we can see the ones who are collaborating. There is Jose Laurel again. Yes, Jose Laurel. Others besides us saw the collaborators, especially Laurel. He learned a few weeks later that he was a marked man. The Afro-Pinos who wounded the senior Jose Laurel in the attempted assassination have been executed. All our resistance will be crushed. Soon a force of 2,000 Japanese was organized to destroy our underground movement. The word spread by radio and by bamboo telegraph. A fresh unit of Japanese troops is moving into southern Luzon. Keep a sharp lookout for them. A strong force of Japanese is heading for Negros. They will land at Cadiz and move down into... 300 Japanese marines, heavily armed and well equipped, are moving into the back country with orders to clean out all underground resistance. They are now concentrated at the point... The 300 are headed up the canyon. They should be here tomorrow. This was our chief. We know this back country. They do not. Let us use this advantage. They are approaching in three groups. We are in touch with all their movement. Until now we have operated at night. This they will expect us to do again this time. We will move down and surprise them in broad daylight. We split into three groups. We stalk the approaching Japanese like animals. We will halt here. Keep hidden. We will wait until they are faster. We waited. Just before noon we heard them coming up the canyon. There they are. There they are. Rafael was nervous about the How much longer are we going to wait? Fire! Fire! We have fired the Japanese. Rafael, charge them. Get them! Everyone! Rafael was killed. The Japanese bullet through the head. We killed every one of the 300 Japanese. We settled down to get the reports from the other Japanese units and out to crush our resistance. The reports came in from the other islands. The Japanese have reported that Major General William Fletcher Sharp and the Moro Battalion have surrendered in Mindanao. They are still resisting. Our Chief Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Straun is reported to have been captured by the Japanese. This is not confirmed here in southern Luzon. We have destroyed the Japanese sent after us. They are now organizing the Philippine Constabulary to use against us. But they trust them so little. They have only one bullet. We lost some of our leaders and some of our men. But the Japanese punitive expedition against us failed. We knew that soon they would be using some other device against us. It was not long until it changed. Here is a man we should question, Chief. About the Romans? Yes. What Romans have you heard? There would be an uprising against the Japanese on July 4. Who told you that? The old man who runs the vegetable stand down to the market and the man at the window in the bank. Anyone else? No, but I hear them tell the same thing to others. That's all. Take him away, Lupo. We investigated. The ones spreading the rumors were suspected of being collaborators. The roots. The Japanese hope that those that are sympathetic with the underground will betray themselves. There will be no activity of any kind on July 4. On July 4, we saw Japanese watching everywhere. Nothing was betrayed. But our work went on. A report to the commanding general. At midnight our gas arena supply was blown up. This sabotage follows the same pattern as the recent destruction of our ammunition and the wrecking of our fleet of supply trucks. Vigorous steps have been taken, but additional troops will be necessary to patrol effectively our entire installation at least a point. We waited for the strong reaction that followed all our important sabotage. When none came, we knew the Japanese were getting ready to play their ace card. It came in October 1943. Today, by proclamation, the new Philippines has been born. Under the beneficent wing of Japan, we declare our independence as a new and foreign nation on the 15th day of October in the year 1943. The proclamation was made by José Laurel, who was installed as president of the new Philippines by his Japanese collaborators. José Laurel. Filipinos will never forget his name. Under him, the Philippines, like Nazi Germany, now have only one fascist party, the Calabasas. Yes, and Benigno Aquino to hate it. We noted the names of the collaborators, Laurel, Aquino, Quimbo, Biloso, Tando, and the others. And to the great mass of information that we were gathering for use of the Americans when they would come back, we added the detailed records of these men. Hardly was José Laurel installed as puppet president when he issued a general offer to the Filipino underground. Therefore, in the interest of peace and tranquility, and to unite all the Filipino people to work out our future harmoniously together, I offer complete amnesty and pardon to all members of the underground who give themselves up. This offer has the guarantee of the Japanese government. Every underground band in the Philippines, from the mountains of northern Luzon to the jungles of Mindanao, the offer was ignored. We chose to wait for the coming invasion and to fight alongside the Americans for the deliverance of our islands. You have been listening to the Pacific Story, presented by the National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated independent station, as a public service to clarify events in the Pacific and to make understandable the cross-currents of life in the Pacific Basin. For a reprint of this Pacific Story program, send ten cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. I repeat, for a reprint of this Pacific Story program, send ten cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. The Pacific Story is written by Arnold Markowitz. The original musical score was composed and conducted by Thomas Paluso. The principal voice was that of Jack Edwards Sr. This is the National Broadcasting Company. Thank you.
