Courage and freedom

“Courage and freedom” will be the theme of  Mayor
Alfredo Lim’s commemoration of the 63rd anniversary of
the Battle for Manila which took place in February
1945. For many decades, we Filipinos have  referred to
that month-long battle as the “Liberation of Manila”,
celebrating  the return of General Douglas McArthur.
However, as post-war research deepened, some
historians discovered that no mention was made in
American war records of February 1945, call it
liberation or battle.

     As a result, many Filipinos  started  putting
liberation between  quotation marks-- “Liberation” of
Manila-- and  about five  years ago,   after
validating new studies and military documents, and to
the consternation of certain sectors, the National
Historical Institute (NHI)  officially  declared  that
what occurred in February 1945 was the “ Battle for
Manila”.  The word “liberation” when  referring to
February 1945  was scrapped totally from all NHI
communications. Please take note that the  preposition
is not “of” but “FOR” which  implies  that US
advancing armed forces and defending Japanese imperial
forces were fiercely fighting over Manila,   during
the strategic island-hopping campaign of the USA,
aimed at Tokyo.

     Japanese and American casualties were minimal
compared to the one hundred thousand (100,000)
non-combatant Manila  civilians who were burnt and
tortured to death and who perished in the carpet
bombings. Moreover, the destruction of  Manila is
considered the worst in the WW II Pacific Theater.
Gone was the ‘Pearl of the Orient’, a uniquely
beautiful city that boasted of cultural influences
from four continents.

     Like other turning points in our history, the
commemoration of the  Second World War specially   the
“Battle for Manila” is  in danger of being distorted,
if not forgotten. Because Japan has become an
indispensable economic force in the Philippines, it
has made deliberate efforts to obliterate residual
anti-Japanese feelings by  promoting ostensibly
cultural activities precisely in February , our month
of national bereavement. 

     When Mrs. Bing Roxas ( may she rest in peace)
was the head of the Cultural Center of the Philippines
(CCP) , she was so incensed when the Japanese Embassy
wanted to hold a kind of flower and kimono festival
at the  CCP,  precisely in the month of February.
Senator Richard Gordon, when he was secretary of
tourism,  was insensitive enough to hold a saki
festival in February, in Intramuros,  close to Fort
Santiago where hundreds of Filipinos were
incarcerated, tortured and killed by  Japanese forces.
During commemorative rites at San Fernando, Pampanga
many attendees (myself included)  were so furious at
the sight of Japanese flags brandished mindlessly by
Filipino participants of the re-enacted Death March.
The mayor had to intervene and  the Japanese flags
were taken away. What about that scandalous monument
to a kamikaze  in Mabalacat, Pampanga?

     That is why Mayor A. Lim  will lead the
commemoration of “Courage and freedom”  to remember
that Filipinos fought bravely to end Japanese
occupation and those who survived miraculously  went
on to rebuild their lives and this country. However,
in his opus CONTINUING PAST, historian Renato
Constantino wrote  that during the Second World War,
most Filipinos were  fighting the Japanese  not to
free themselves and this country from any type of
foreign domination, but because they were longing to
return  to  America’s  smothering embrace. I
remembered  Dr. Constantino’s unflattering  yet
telling conclusion when I happened upon a  family
friend in California,  some years ago.  Now a US
citizen,  former Manilena Mrs. Benjie J.  Kosloff 
told me  that  during the “Battle for Manila” a cousin
tearfully reported that an aunt of theirs had died.
“But, at least…,” sobbed the grieving  relative  “…
tita  was killed by an American bomb!” (The public is
invited to the Freedom Triangle of Manila City Hall on
3 Feb, Sunday, at 8 a.m.)