JAPANESE OCCUPATION IN THE PHILIPPINES
KALIBAPI (Kapisanan sa Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas) became the sole legal party, drafting the 1943 Constitution and staffing the National Assembly. (See Executive Order No. 109 and the 1943 Constitution text.)
3) Language, education, and propaganda
The Occupation pushed Tagalog and Japanese (Nihongo) while curbing English. Military Ordinance No. 13 (24 July 1942) declared Japanese and Tagalog official for public use; schools and media were repurposed for propaganda and cultural “re-orientation.”
4) Economy, everyday life, and “Mickey Mouse money”
Japan issued Japanese Invasion Money (JIM); severe shortages, price spikes, and black markets followed. Filipinos derisively called the notes “Mickey Mouse money.”
Scholarship on wartime prices documents hyperinflation and collapse of purchasing power, especially 1943–1945. (Use as a discussion point on wartime monetary policy and occupation finance.)
5) Resistance, collaboration, and civil conflict
Guerrilla resistance was widespread (tens of thousands by 1944). The most prominent peasant-based formation in Central Luzon was the Hukbalahap (Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon), organized in March 1942; it ran barrio governments, protected harvests, and targeted collaborators.
Not all collaboration was the same: some elites entered KALIBAPI/PEC; others practiced “accommodation” to shield communities. This complexity is a key historiographic theme you can foreground in discussion.
6) Atrocities and human rights violations
Bataan Death March (April 1942): ~66 miles; about 600 Americans and 5,000–10,000 Filipinos died during the forcible transfer to Camp O’Donnell
Sexual slavery (“comfort women”): Thousands of Filipinas were forced into “comfort stations.” Sites such as Bahay na Pula (Red House) in Bulacan are documented loci of mass rape and confinement. Survivors’ justice claims remain contested even in recent years (UN CEDAW findings, 2023).
Numerous massacres, torture, and scorched-earth actions against civilians occurred, especially during the 1944–45 battles and “anti-guerrilla” sweeps.
7) The liberation campaign (1944–1945)
MacArthur’s return began with the Leyte landings (Oct 1944); heavy fighting continued on Leyte and then Luzon (Jan–Aug 1945), including the recapture of Corregidor (Feb–Mar 1945) and the battle for Manila.
The campaign relied on coordination with Filipino guerrillas and Commonwealth forces, ultimately restoring the Commonwealth government.
8) Aftermath and legacies
Political/judicial reckoning: Post-war, the Philippines tried alleged collaborators in People’s Courts; debates over “collaboration vs. survival” became part of national memory and politics. (Good avenue for critical discussion using primary speeches/documents from Laurel collections.)
Memory and justice: The status of comfort women remains a live issue; monuments have been erected and removed, and international bodies have criticized inadequate redress. (Useful for civic education and ethics modules.)
Cultural effects: Wartime policies briefly boosted Tagalog in public life and reconfigured curricula; these shifts intersect with post-war language policy debates.