Japanese Occupation & WWII (1941–1945)

Dec 8, 1941

Japan bombs PH (after Pearl Harbor)

Apr 9, 1942

Fall of Bataan; start of Bataan Death March (65 miles)

José P. Laurel

Puppet president under Japanese rule

Comfort Women

Women forced into sexual slavery by Japanese soldiers

Hukbalahap

Communist-led guerrilla group fighting Japanese

Oct 1944

Battle of Leyte Gulf; MacArthur returns; kamikaze pilots used

Feb 1945

Liberation of Manila; 100,000 civilians killed; city destroyed

Sep 2, 1945

Japan surrenders after Hiroshima & Nagasaki

Human Cost

1 million Filipinos killed (combat, massacres, disease, famine)

Economic Devastation

Mickey Mouse money, collapse of trade and agriculture

Political Changes

Puppet gov’t under Laurel, guerrilla groups gain influence