World War 2 in Zambales, Philippines De Jesus Book



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In Ramon de Jesus book he said "In January 1942, Gen. MacArthur ordered Lt. Col. Claude A. Thorpe to sneak out of beleaguered Bataan with some USAFFE officers and proceed to Mt. Pinatubo, the birthplace of the guerilla movement in Luzon. As observed by Maj. Henry Clay Cannor Jr., one of the American officers who escaped from Bataan, the stage was set for guerrilla warfare. All that was required was organization. Thorpe sent word that he was accepting recruits for underground warfare and that they would be officially recognized as members of the USAFFE. From all over the lowlands, men flocked to Thorpe’s headquarters seeking credentials as USAFFE guerrillas.

When Bataan fell, Thorpe had already formed several commando units in Luzon. The umbrella organization under Thorpe’s direction was called the USAFFE Luzon Guerrilla Army Forces, part of which was Western Luzon Guerrilla Forces (WLGF) under the command of Capt. Ralph McGuire, an explosives expert of the U.S. 26th Cavalry. The WLGF’s principal area of operation was Zambales.

Mt. Pinatubo stands 5,248 feet above sea level in the town of Botolan, Zambales near the border of Pampanga and Tarlac. In its shadow are the sitios of Sawang and Aglao, both in the municipality of San Marcelino. The two sitios became the evacuation area of the townsfolk of San Marcelino and Castillejos when the Japanese overran their poblaciones. Sawang rested on a plateau and could be reached only through a narrow trail.

The two "sitios" would figure prominently in the guerrilla movement. In January 1942, a local businessman, Euniciano Rodriguez, intercepted a message signed by Thorpe inviting "every loyal Filipino" to join the guerrilla movement.

Rodriguez led a group of Zambaleños to Mt. Pinatubo where they met Thorpe and McGuire. Thorpe informed Rodriguez of his plan to train civilians to do sabotage work and rear-guard action against the Japanese. Rodriguez was inducted into the WLGF with the rank of captain and was assigned to recruit men.

Thorpe divided Luzon into guerrilla area commands. After organizing the WLGF, he decided to leave for the Tarlac-Pampanga border. Some two months after the fall of Bataan, he was captured by the Japanese and executed. McGuire was able to escape the Japanese dragnet and continued recruiting men for the WLGF. The ragtag Zambales guerrillas brought substantial damage to Japanese convoys and radio installations. Soon the underground resistance spread to the northern towns; augmenting the original forces under the Rodriguez and Magsaysay brothers (Ramon and Jesus).

After taking oath as guerrillas, the men sneaked back to town to do sabotage work, conduct intelligence activities, and procure supplies for those left in the mountains. Once in a while, they ambushed Japanese patrols and fought back when attacked by Japanese troops. Lack of arms and ammunition prevented them from launching extensive attacks against the enemy.

In September 1942, the Japanese military authorities, angered by the elusive force that was doing great damage on Japanese military installations, mounted a large operation against the Zambales guerrillas. One large Japanese contingent started from Botolan; another group started from San Marcelino; and a third unit climbed the mountains from Pampanga and followed the Capas-Botolan trail. Alerted by an intelligence report from Fredisvinda Ammay and Fernanda Monje, women guerrillas from Botolan, McGuire and his men waited and ambushed the Japanese troops as they were crossing the Pastak River. Only seven Japanese soldiers escaped from the attack. A few days after the massacre, a Japanese punitive force was sent to avenge the death of their comrades. When the Japanese force was passing through Poonbato on its way to Sitio Villar, Negrito guerrillas killed 30 of the Japanese solders with their bows and arrows. On October 28, another Japanese avenging force set out for Villar and burned the entire "sitio".

Infuriated by the reverses they suffered from the guerrillas, the Japanese military authorities increased pressure on the civilian population. A price was offered for the head of McGuire, dead or alive. Filipino spies set a trap for him. He was captured, decapitated, and his head delivered to the Japanese.

Bedraggled Filipino and American soldiers who were able to escape from Bataan and the Death March joined the guerrillas. Among them was Col. Gyles Merrill of the U.S. 26th Cavalry, who took over the command of WLGF after the death of McGuire.

Among the first acts of Merrill as commander was changing the name of the guerrilla forces in Zambales from WLGF to Zambales Military District, Luzon Guerrilla Forces or ZMD, and appointing Ramon Magsaysay as headquarters commandant. Later, Merrill appointed Magsaysay head of Manila Branch of the ZMD and ordered him to set up an intelligence unit in Manila and to procure food and medical supplies. In this operation, Capt. Magsaysay sought the help of American and Filipino patriots, particularly Zambaleños working at the Philippine General Hospital and private hospitals. The collected money and medicines were delivered to the guerrillas in Zambales and the prisoners confined at the University of Santo Tomas.

Capt. Benjamin Santillan, Provincial Commander of Zambales, organized his soldiers into the Zambales USAFFE Forces and led them in continued resistance against Japanese troops in Zambales and Pangasinan. Santillan’s group harassed Japanese military units during the months immediately after the fall of Bataan and Corregidor. They engaged the enemy’s patrol units in Subic, Del Carmen, and San Felipe and their enemy landing forces in Santa Cruz, Dasul and Sual in Pangasinan. Santillan’s forces dealt a heavy blow on the Japanese that the Japanese Navy commander at Olongapo demanded their surrender from Zambales officials Valentin Afable and Francisco Dantes, the Japanese appointed representative and governor, respectively, were directed by the Japanese to make Santillan and his men surrender or else sever reprisals would be made on the civilian population. Santillan’s group refused; instead, it joined the WLGF in June 1942.

It was in Sawang where the meetings were held between the organizers of the guerrilla movement, Thorpe, McGuire and Santillan’s group. Thorpe and McGuire also met with Rodriguez brothers, Euniciano, Venancio and Dalmacio; and the Magsaysay brothers, Jesus and Ramon. Others who joined the WLGF during its early stage were Sixto Cacho of Castillejos, Capt. Francisco Ramos, Lazaro Cawagas of San Narciso, Antonio Garcia and Capt. Alfredo Piga. Negrito bowmen led by Pam Melicia provided security during these delicate meetings.

For the purpose of unifying the guerrilla units in Central Luzon, Merrill ordered Santillan to make contacts with the guerrilla units in Pampanga. Merrill hoped to bring the units under the tactical control of the Luzon guerrilla forces to avert the strife between the Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon (Huks) and the other guerrilla units in Central Luzon. However, the intense rivalry and jealousy among the guerrillas prevented Santillan from accomplishing his mission.

The guerrilla movement in Zambales decided that it could expand further and intensify its activities if guerrillas accepted positions in the Japanese-controlled government. Hence, Maj. Jose A. V. Corpus, the commanding office of ZMD accepted the post of governor. Others took the positions of town mayors and Philippine Constabulary men.

In the first months of 1943, Japanese military forces intensified their anti-guerrilla campaign in Zambales. They doubled propaganda efforts and used more men and armor to attack guerrilla mountain hideouts. Among the guerrillas caught in the Japanese dragnets was the youthful Capt. Herminiano Peregrino of Cabangan. Peregrino was forced to appear at the Botolan public plaza and was instructed to exhort the guerrillas to surrender and support the Japanese Co-prosperity Program. Instead, he urged his comrades to continue their fight for freedom. Immediately, a Japanese officer jumped from his seat and pummeled Peregrino with bullets.

In mid 1943, MacArthur’s headquarters in Australia picked up by chance a message from Walter Cushing’s guerrilla units in Northern Luzon. The message said: "Your victorious return is the nightly subject of prayer in every Filipino home." In reply, MacArthur gave the following directive through Lt. Col. Macario Peralta, Jr. in Panay:

"Guerrilla activities should be postponed until ordered from here. Premature action of this kind will only bring heavy retaliation upon innocent people. Your intelligence by covering maximum territory can perform greater service. The enemy is now under heavy pressure and victory will still come. I cannot predict the date of return to the Philippines but I am coming.

MacArthur was already aware of the existence of a nationwide underground resistance network against the Japanese occupation forces in the Philippines. In June 1942, Thorpe decided to send someone to Australia to report to MacArthur on the organization of the USAFFE Luzon Guerrilla Army Forces. Lt. Frank Young volunteered to undertake the dangerous mission. After hopping from island to island and dodging enemy patrols for six months, Young reached Australia in December 1942 and reported to MacArthur. Until mid-1944, MacArthur’s order to the guerrillas in the Philippines was: "No combat operations except for defense until otherwise ordered by GHQ, SWPA."