‘We salute the Filipino military veterans of WW2 who liberated the Capital from ‘tennōsei fashizumu’ and rebuke the opportunists and bureaucrats who peddle the collaborationist narrative.’
MANILA destroyed! “During World War II, Manila faced significant destruction and loss. It was one of the most devastated cities of the war, alongside Berlin and Warsaw…The city’s architectural heritage was reduced to rubble, and countless lives were impacted and forever changed by the war’s devastating effects.” [https://www.ncesc.com/geographic-faq/why-is-manila-so-important-to-world-history/]
The Mikado himself (Hirohito) imposed his “sacred” war on the unwitting nations of Southeast Asia and it was his drum-beat that damaged the Pearl of the Orient: “On the 8th of every month, which is set aside all over Japan to commemorate the imperial rescript declaring war, Vargas pays his respects at the Yasukuni shrine, where the spirits of Japan’s war-dead are enshrined. Today, after the customary ceremony, he was taken to a new six-foot drum. ‘Will His Excellency be so kind as to beat this drum?’ His Excellency did. ‘No, no,’ the chief priest exhorted. ‘Harder, beat it harder, hard enough so it can be heard in the Philippines’.” [Diary of Leon Ma. Guerrero, Tokyo, 08 March 1945]
The Mikado himself (Akihito) in 2016: “During World War II, countless Filipino, American, and Japanese lives were lost in the Philippines. A great many innocent Filipino civilians became casualties of the fierce battles fought in the city of Manila.” [https://www.kunaicho.go.jp/page/okotoba/showEn/3]
Manila 1945 (Rape): “In the early part of February 1945, at about 7 p.m., a group of Japanese, most of them officers, came to the house of Miss Asuncion Marvas, 239 San Marcelino, Manila. Miss Marvas and the members of her family were taken to the German Club. There were an estimated five hundred people assembled there. When anyone attempted to leave the building, they were shot or hand grenades were thrown at them. Most of the people were killed because the place was burned. Miss Marvas wanted to go away, but the Japanese stabbed her in the buttocks. She was lying on her face or stomach at the time they stabbed her. Then, to be sure that she was dead, one of the Japanese again bayoneted her. The names of the others killed were not determined. About a week later, Americans took Miss Marvas to the Psychopathic Hospital, Manila. Her wounds were not attended to before that, as she hid in a dugout with others. Even though she was a nurse, she was unable to dress her wounds because of a lack of material. On 3 March, the inspector general conducting the investigation was informed that Miss Marvas was in a serious condition and was expected to die because tetanus (lockjaw) had set in. Miss Marvas saw a one-month-old baby killed.” [Headquarters XIV Corps. Office of the Inspector General. Report of Investigation of Alleged Atrocities by Members of the Japanese Imperial Forces in Manila and other parts of Luzon, Philippine Islands. 09 April 1945]
Manila 1945 (Massacre): “The German Club was turned into a brutal and cynical killing field with no one spared on account of age, sex, nationality.” [Peter C. Parsons. The Battle Of Manila-Myth And Fact]
Manila 2020: For Mina Watanabe, director, Women’s Active Museum on War and Peace (Avaco Bldg 2F, 2-3-18, Nishi-Waseda, Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-0051 Japan): “As a museum dedicated to passing on the memory and records of wartime sexual violence, especially of Japan’s military sexual slavery system, the Women’s Active Museum on War and Peace (WAM) expresses our deepest condolences once again to the people of the Philippines who deceased in the war, and our determination to pass on the history of Japan’s brutal invasion as well as the appalling crimes Japan committed during the occupation of the Philippines from December 1941 to August 1945…Although history textbooks used in Japan had no reference on the Battle of Manila nor the rape and sexual enslavement of girls and women in the Philippines, we believe it is imperative to hear and record their voices and pass on the history in order not to repeat the same crimes again. We are determined to remember and pass on to the future generations Japan’s past wrongdoing and to take action in solidarity with the people in the Philippines for peace in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Manila 2024: “In 2016, the former Emperor and Empress visited Manila, which was the setting of urban warfare during World War II, to pay their respects to thousands who have lost their lives. The Japanese did a lot of terrible things back then. They killed many civilians. The Japanese people must not forget this.” [https://rmaward.asia/rmawardees/hayao-miyazaki/]
Manila 1945 (Battle of Rizal Hall): “After a two-hour tank and tank destroyer bombardment, a Troop B platoon entered from the east about 1130 on 20 February. During the shelling, most of the Japanese had taken refuge in the basement but reoccupied defenses on the three upper floors before the cavalry could gain control of the stairways. Nevertheless, the platoon cleared the first floor and secured a foothold on the second after two hours of fighting… reached the top floor about 1700. Half an hour later the squadron commander’s fear of demolitions proved well founded, for Japanese hidden in the basement set off a terrific explosion that tore out the entire center of Rizal Hall, killing 1 cavalryman and wounding 4 others… (5th Cavalry) did not secure Rizal Hall, which it left in a shambles, until the 24th.” [Chapter XV: The Drive Toward Intramuros. Triumph in the Philippines by Robert Ross Smith]
Manila 1945 (Battle, 11-12 February): “We (Hunters-ROTC guerrillas) rushed into the city through Anakbayan Street and Taft Avenue…The Japanese could no longer form coherent lines of resistance so they resorted to strong points and snipers. And when they learn that all is lost, they go crazy (buang).” [Karganilla interview with Colonel Emmanuel V. De Ocampo (ret.). March 2, 2001. VFP Compound, Arroceros, Manila]
Manila 2025. We salute the Filipino military veterans of WW2 who liberated the Capital from “tennōsei fashizumu” and rebuke the opportunists and bureaucrats who peddle the collaborationist narrative.
