Chapter 4 – The Japanese -American War in Panay Came to an End

Life and Time of Pastor Rudy Bernal, his Glimpses on History & the People’s Struggle for Freedom

Chapter 4 – The Japanese -American War  in Panay  Came to  an End

After returning home in Dayhagan, Pilar, Capiz,   my father joined the guerrilla forces  in Northern Iloilo.  The commander of the guerrillas   was  his former officer, and he was again inducted in   military service. He was assigned to several places – first in Concepcion and later in Lemery, then in  a  town  in Capiz.  In Concepcion, the Japanese has built a  cemented  fortress near the shore which they used  as their surveillance center.

 Then   I heard   the United States  invasion forces  under  Gen. Douglas McArthur landed in Leyte clearing their way for the invasion of  Manila and northern Luzon.   The American forces  landed in Tigbauan town in southern  Iloilo. My father said,  his  battalion  was part of the forces that joined the American  forces in the liberation of Iloilo and Panay.  There  were  heavy fighting  in different places  in Panay  were thousand have fallen.

When the American forces proceeded to Manila, my father’s  battalion  joined  the forces of General MacArthur in the invasion of  Manila.  His battalion fought in the  liberation  of Manila. He  told  me  that  was a very hard and dangerous war. Thousands of civilians, Americans, Filipinos  and Japanese have fallen in the  Liberation of Manila and Luzon.

 During the Japanese-American War,  my father said, he  knew that one of the strong and committed   forces that joined and helped the  Americans in fighting the  Japanese Imperial Forces, were the Communists in  Central Luzon and communists fighters   in Manila, Panay and Negros.  The Communist have   organized themselves into  guerrilla  forces,  known that time as “ Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (HUKBALAHAP)”.  They fought hard with Filipino and American soldiers   fighting the Japanese.

The   HUKBALAHAP  were veterans communist fighters, who fought the  Japanese from 1942 until the liberation of the Philippines in 1945.   They were   formidable forces  fighting with Filipino guerrillas against the Japanese during the 4-years  Japanese occupation of  the Philippines.

After the surrender of  Gen.  Yamasita, the Commanding General of the   the Japanese Imperial Forces,  my father said,  their   battalion was immediately  prepared   for the American invasion of mainland  Japan.  They were further trained and  readied  for the  most  dangerous mission – figting the Japanese army   right in Japanese  soil, in    Japanese mainland.  My  father told me, he  took  the opportunity to be part of the invasion forces to  Japan,  hoping  to find some  American soldier  friends, who  can helped  him go to the United States, if he lived  after the war.  He  looked  forward   for a possible work in the United States  after  Japan  will be defeated.  And he looked forward to  bringing me and my mother to the United States.  But   his  dream was not realized.

 President  Franklin Delano Roosevelt  of the United States  ordered the  Atomic bombing  of  the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. The atomic bombing, the first in history of modern warfare, that  killed hundred thousands  Japanese in one day,  brought Japan on her knees. The Japanese   surrendered unconditionally.  The  Filipino forces  who were  readied for the Japan invasion was called off.   The hope and dream of my father to fight in Japan,  and   go to the  United States also  died.   But he was happy to continue his military career.  I think.  my  father loved  being a soldier.  But the unconditional surrender of Japan   changed   the course of   my   father’s  dream and future  life.

After the surrender of Japan, and the coming of peace in the Philippines, his  battalion was ordered by  the  military high command to proceed to Central Luzon to fight the communists and the HUKS.   I  heard it  was General Douglas MacArthur who  ordered  President Manuel Roxas,  to    immediately  eliminate the Communists and Hukbalahaps,  even if they  stood side by side with the Americans and  Filipino soldiers in fighting the Japanese for more than 4 years.  Many communists have fought with Americans and thousands of them died fighting the Japanese during the war.

 The  ideological  belief,  instilled  deep on the minds of American  officers and soldiers, that the communists were  bad  elements in society   must be  eliminated. For the   communists  have  made  it  their    mission destroy the  feudal system  of Philippine society.  The feudal system, the concentration of  much of the land and wealth of the country in the hands of few Spanish descendants and Filipino mestisos, was the cause of deep poverty of majority of Filipinos. This was  the  major reasons  for  the continued war between the Communists and the Philippine government until today.

To join his battalion to   Central Luzon, means my father will have to fight his former comrades -in -arms,  the communists   and  the HUKS.   My   father said,  he was ready to fight the Japanese  even in Japan.  But he was not ready and will   not   be  happy  fighting fellow Filipinos in Central Luzon,  even  if they were members of the HUKS and  Communist Party of the Philippines.

 With the order given them    to   proceed to Central Luzon and   fight  the HUKS and the  Communists,  my father decided to leave the army.  He resigned.  He told me that was one of  the  hardest  and  painful decisions   he made in life.   But   he   said,   he was not ready to fight and  kill  fellow Filipinos on political and  ideological  grounds.

 My father  told me,  the major reasons why many Filipinos joined  the Communist movement was poverty, inequality and injustice.  The   hard  and  abject poverty of many Filipinos whose lives were controlled  by the rich and powerful landlords and business  groups.  Majority  of  Filipinos lived in  poverty and will remain in poverty the rest of their lives, unless the vast lands of the country are  destributed to the  millions of landless poor farmers.   

 While the few people    who   owns  and control the lands and  resources of the country, those who owned   business  enterprises,  those who ran the government    were living in affluence and luxury.  Unless the problem of poverty   and  injustices   were  addressed,  many  poor Filipinos will continue to  join the rebel movements and  fight the government.   

After his resignation and release of his military papers,  my  father  went home to  Dayhagan, Pilar, Capiz.  Then we transferred to Cawayan, Carles, Iloilo, whose boundary was  was just a few  meters away from our home in Dayhagan, Pilar, Capiz.   There  he  start  life as a farmer, a fisherman and later, as   a carpenter. He served his people later, by  being the  Barangay Captain of Cawayan for 23 years, including the years under President  Marcos martial law regime.

He and my mother was  able to buy a 3 hectares  farm in Cawayan, Carles, Iloilo.  He told me, the paid the amount of  the 3 hectares farm for Three Hundred Fifty Pesos (P350) from his Back Pay  as a solider.  He bought the farm from his cousin.

Three years ago, in 2014,  our  father  was  laid     to his eternal rest at the Philippine American Cemetery Association, our own cemetery.  Here many Americans and Filipino  veterans of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), in Iloilo  were laid to rest. He died at more than 97 years of age, after Typhoon Yolanda, carried the roof of his home, forcing his transfer to another daughter’s home.  He was wet when transferred and got cold. He  suffered  pneumonia.  He died several months later. He was not able to follow his dreams to  go  to the United States.   He did not  also reach  his  centennial age.

But   several years ago, his  being  a soldier of the  USAFFE,  awarded him a US citizenship. He was asked by the US government to go to the US to claim his citizenship. He decided not to go. He was now old. And all his 9 children were of legal age.

Some of his children  could  have gone to the US for employment. But we all decided to stay, live, work and served our people here in the country thru our   different callings, skills and expertise.  We believed we are more needed   here  to serve our people.   We   went  abroad  to learn, study, and gain additional skills and experiences  to effectively  serve and  live with our people here in our country.  Some of us siblings  went to foreign countries to have some rests.  And to see  grandsons and granddaughters,  visit  the  US, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.   We feel,  we  are happy and lived  fulfilled  lives  living here and working with our people.