Chapter 6 – Luz Banzon Magsaysay

Chapter 6

(1st of 6 parts)

Liberation

January 1, 1945 was the beginning of a glorious year for the Filipinos. The news about the naval victory of American forces at Leyte Gulf, launched on October 26, 1944, and the successful landings of General Douglas MacArthur’s forces on the southwest coast of Mindoro in mid-December 1944 were reasons enough for the Filipinos, to include the Bataeños and Zambalenos, to rejoice. They knew liberation will come to Luzon in a matter of days or weeks.

Despite the series of atrocities, like arrests and zoning being committed by Japanese troops either in Manila or in the provinces, the people took the courage to celebrate, even in their small ways, the coming of the New Year. It was an occasion they have not celebrated for the past four years (1941, 1942, 1943 and 1944).

Volckmann’s guerrilla unit

At the start of 1945, the United States Forces in the Philippines – Northern Luzon (USFIP-NL), organized by Colonel Russell Volckmann, was acknowledged as one of the largest and best organized guerrilla units in Luzon, and also one of the most ruthless. The guerrilla unit took over the North Luzon Military District after its former leader, Captain Ralph Praeger, was captured in August 1943. In November 1943, Colonel Volckmann also took control over the remnants of Captain Guillermo Nakar’s 14th Infantry after Nakar was captured. In August 1944, Volckmann made radio contact with General MacArthur’s headquarters in Australia, and in the fall of 1944, started receiving military supplies brought in by US submarines.

Zambales guerrillas

On January 02, 1945 Tuesday, local guerilla units in Zambales were alerted on the forthcoming major attack of Manila by General Douglas MacArthur’s forces. During this time, Ramon Magsaysay had already rejoined the guerrillas in his home province. They were on their feet waiting for the scheduled landing of a big group of Liberation forces in the vicinity of San Narciso, Zambales. Other groups of local freedom fighters had positioned near the town of Subic to support the projected American attack on the former US Naval Base, as well as in Olongapo City.

Captain Ramon Magsaysay, at this time, was acting as supply officer and liaison between Colonel Gyles Merrill’s Western Luzon Guerrila Force and the west coast Filipino guerrillas. He was specifically ordered by Merrill to have the local guerrillas under his command to clear all Japanese positions in the western coast of Zambales. Magsaysay followed the order.

The US 38th Infantry Division of the Liberation forces commanded by Maj. Gen. Henry L. Jones, together with the 34th Infantry under Colonel Aubrey S. Newman, the 24th Infantry Division and the XI Corps were ordered to land on the Zambales coast on January 8, drive rapidly east, and then sweep south to liberate Bataan including its eastern coast.

Magsaysay was among those assigned in clearing the Zambales coast of the Japanese

prior to the scheduled landing of American forces and the newly-organized Philippine Commonwealth troops in Iba on January 29, 1945.

Dinalupihan guerrillas

The Bataeños also had their own guerrilla outfits during this time. The 1st Infantry Regiment, the local guerrilla unit based in Dinalupihan town under the command of Lt. Colonel (guerrilla rank) Ceferino Regala, started its retaliation program against the Japanese soldiers assigned in town. Their first victim was a drunk Japanese soldier whom they seized on the street at night and then choked him to death later on. His body was dumped in a shallow grave inside the Dinalupihan Elementary School.

Abucay guerrillas

In Abucay, Japanese soldiers and local constables led by Captain Tamora zoned Barrio Mabatang, at about 2 in the afternoon of January 4. They were again searching for guerillas who were reported to be gathering en masse in the barrio. After failing to locate what they were looking for, they burned down houses from Sitio Paralaya North and Paralaya South up to Cabatuan and Atbandalan. The house of Ismael Canlapan, a guerilla, was burned to the ground. His sister was tortured but not killed.

The guerillas of Mabatang, alerted by the coming of the Japanese to their barrio, scampered to the ricefields and retreated towards Mount Tala. They were up and wide awake during the night as fire continued to consume the barrio.

Japanese Luzon defense

As of January 8, General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the highest military officer in the Philippines at the time of the American liberation, already knew the value of Lingayen, in Pangasinan. He knew that the Americans would use it as a landing area in Luzon because it was extensive enough to assemble troops, and was near major highways that will give the Americam troops vital access to Luzon’s Central plains, and then to Manila.

But instead of deciding to put up a stiff fight in the water’s edge of Pangasinan, he pulled back his forces to the mountains of Luzon. By this time, he had neither the troops nor the weapons for a total defense of Luzon because most of his best units had been sent to Leyte where they eventually perished. His idea of a protracted defense was to tie down as many American troops as he could, and so delay the Liberators’ timetable.

Most importantly, General Yamashita had ordered his Kembu Group, gathered in the vicinity of Clark Airfield in Pampanga, to proceeed to Bataan and occupy the defensive mountain positions near Subic Bay. Their primary mission was to block Highway 7, or Route 7 (presently known as Gapan-Olongapo Road). He also ordered his group commander, Colonel Sanenbou Nagayoshi, to lead the “Highway 7” blockade. Lt. General Akira Muto, Yamashita’s chief of staff, had already left for Baguio to join the rest of the Japanese 14th Army.

Manila defense

In Manila, Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi of the Japanese Naval Defense Force and his men had been ordered to remaiin in the city to protect the piers, key buildings and storage facilities in the Port Area. Immediately, Iwabuchi issued warning to the Filipinos in the city against “offering resistance or committing hostile acts against the Japanese forces in any manner.” He said such act would lead to the destruction of Manila. He even threatened with death those who would “disturb the minds of the officials and the people.”

During this time, American warplanes had started raiding Japanese ships and military camps on the Manila Bay area. The air raids terrorized most residents of the city. At every opportune time, they fled to the provinces in droves.

Big mistake

Japanese soldiers stationed in Bataan, meanwhile, had the opportunity to fire at low-flying American warplanes cruising almost daily over the skies of the peninsula. The pilots retaliated by dropping several bombs at pinpointed targets. In one particular day, a few residents of Orani died when an American bomb exploded in the vicinity of Pantalan Luma. The townspeople had to evacuate to the nearby jungles for safety.

In another instance, American airplanes returning from a successful bombing mission in Central Luzon, also flew over Abucay before returning to the mother carrier cruising in the South China Sea.They fired their machine guns indiscriminately over the ricefields of Mabatang. Daniel de Leon, a farmer working in his ricefields in Sinandigan, was hit and died instantly of gun wounds.

The Japanese soldiers also zoned the barrio and, at gunpoint, ordered the people to go to the plaza. There, the men and women were separated.The men were lined up in front of a “makapili” named Conrado Gerella, whose face was covered with a bag made of reeds and provided with two holes for his eyes. Captain Tamora ordered Gerella to pinpoint the guerillas from the long line of men before him. The makapili followed the order and pinpointed 30 “guerillas.”

Despite the pleas of Abucay Mayor Lorenzo dela Fuente Jr., the 30 “pinpointed guerillas” were taken prisoners and transported initially to Orani. Before dusk, the 30 Mabatang “guerrillas” were brought to the old Dinalupihan public market (presently occupied by the Dinalupihan Civic Center and the Dinalupihan Central Elementary School) on board two charcoal-fed Japanese trucks.

The men were then ordered to dig a large rectangular pit, about six feet deep. After two hours of digging, one Alberto Garcia saw how his barriomates were stabbed and beheaded one at a time at the edge of the pit. He was also slashed on the neck. It was a shallow wound but he dropped to the bottom of the pit and pretended to be dead. After the soldiers left, he climbed out of the pit and ran with blood still oozing from his neck. He scampered towards the tall grass behind the market and hid.

Concerned citizens of Dinalupihan helped Alberto Garcia escape later on. Donato Oliveria, another “guerilla,” was also able to free himself before being taken to the pit. He climbed a market post and hid on top of the roof. After everyone left, he ran away as fast as he could.

In retaliation, Alfonso Manuel, a native of Laon, Abucay, and a known “collaborator,” was kidnapped and executed by local guerillas led by Anastacio Valencia. Manuel allegedly had admitted to having betrayed the people of Mabatang. He was meted the death sentence by a guerrilla jury.

Without delay

General Douglas MacArthur knew it was imperative that Manila be captured without delay. While his fighterpilots were conducting raids on Japanese positions along the Manila Bay area, he ordered several amphibious operations in the towns of Balayan, Lemery, Mabini and Balibago in Batangas. He also ordered separate landings in Nasugbu, Batangas, which was carried out by the 8^th Army under Lt. General Robert L. Eichelberger. The combined units comprised the US Batangas Force.

Only a fraction of Japanese troops stationed in Batangas City displayed a semblance of defense against the Liberation forces. Even the ensuing battles in the neighboring towns did not last very long.

“President Quezon’s Own Guerillas” operating in the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, Cavite and Quezon also performed their duties superbly in eliminating the enemy. By late afternoon, more American barges were already unloading transport vehicles that will be used in assaulting Manila.

San Narciso landing

Before proceeding to Lingayen Gulf in Pangasinan, the American convoy that participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf had succeeded in putting ashore an Army corps in the town of San Narciso, Zambales, some 30 kilometers north of Olongapo City in the morning of January 8. The corps, composed of 800 fully-armed American soldiers, immediately found the Zambales coast cleared of the Japanese. It turned out that the Zambales guerrillas, acting under Colonel Gyles Merrill’s orders, had forced the Japanese off the coastline and back to the Subic Bay area.

Captain Ramon Magsaysay and his men who were successful in clearing the western coast from the Japanese, was also in San Narciso to welcome the 800 American soldiers.

Also present in the area was Lt. Col. Eddie Wright (formerly of the 45th Infantry (PS) and his group called the “Provisional Regiment of Philippine Scouts.” They were also under Colonel Gyles Merrill’s command and were given the task of preventing Japanese troops from crossing the Zambales mountains from Central Luzon to the western coast.

The Americans immediately supplied Magsaysay and Wright’s guerrillas with modern guns and ammunitions to enable them to participate in the operations against the Japanese gathered in Zambales.

The three groups immediately joined forces and even announced their arrival in the area intentionally by firing their guns in the air. They were hoping that a large contingent of Japanese troopers securing the US Naval Base will be sent to San Narciso to prevent their advance to Olongapo City.

The Japanese took the bait. A contingent of about 600 Japanese troopers, part of the security of the naval base, was sent to the Castillejos-Subic boundary to block the advancing Americans and local guerrillas.

On the same day, January 8, Captain Ramon Magsaysay and Eddie Wright’s Scouts were already marching towards Olongapo with the Americans while the XI Corps continued landing more soldiers on the beaches of Zambales unopposed.

At noon, General Douglas MacArthur bestowed on Lieutenant General Walter Krueger‘s Sixth Army the task to seize Bataan, and later Corregidor. Krueger, in turn, ordered the US XI Corps, fresh from the Leyte Campaign, under Major General Charles P. Hall, to participate in the task and augment the Sixth Army.

The 38th Infantry Division commanded by Maj. Gen. Henry L. Jones and Colonel Aubrey S. Newman’s 34th Infantry, the 24th Infantry Division, and the XI Corps also landed on the Zambales coast.

Guerrillas blocking force

The Luzon Guerrilla Armed Forces (LGAF), also called the “Lapham’s Raiders,” was ready to meet and welcome the bigger American Liberation forces scheduled to land in Lingayen Gulf. First Lieutenant (guerrilla Major) Robert Lapham, a member of the late Lt. Colonel Claude Thorp’s original infiltration party, had already informed General MacArthur’s headquarters that they have 10,000 men to receive them in Pangasinan.

American troops land in Lingayen Gulf on January 9, 1945.

Lingayen Gulf landing

January 9, 1945, was the start of the American invasion of Lingayen Gulf. It was also called the “S-Day.” Allied battleships opened up with a pre-invasion bombardment even though guerrillas had already reported no Japanese were guarding in the vicinity. Some Filipinos had even formed a victory parade, complete with Philippine and American flags before the bombardment started. American planes flew over and dropped leaflets warning the people to take cover as bombardment would begin immediately.

Great destruction followed. Several commercial and residential structures near the beaches fronting Lingayen, Calasiao, Dagupan, Mangaldan and San Fabian were either blown off or set on fire. There was also a short list of civilians who perished during the bombardment. By this time, the main forces of the Japanese had already withdrawn to the mountains, away from the beach areas. Only a few of them fell victim to the bombardment.

Almost simultaneously, American troopers belonging to Lt. General Walter Krueger’s Sixth Army were unloaded in San Fabian, on the eastern shore of Lingayen Gulf. It was here where General Krueger waded ashore. As expected, Colonel Russell Volckmann’s USFIP-NL guerrillas and Major Robert Lapham’s “Raiders” were already in Pangasinan to welcome the Liberation forces.

South drive

From Lingayen, General Krueger’s First Cavalry Division, a major component of the Sixth Army fanned out almost without resistance inside Pangasinan. Before noon, they were ready to enter Central Luzon. Almost 175,000 men will follow General Krueger across the plains of Luzon. Their initial mission was the retaking of Clark Field, 40 miles (64 km) away from Lingayen. But their primary mission really was to retake Manila from the Japanese by the end of January.

A small portion of General Walter Krueger’s First Cavalry Division was also sent towards La Union and Baguio City. The American Liberation forces were no longer surprised when they were allowed by Colonel Russell Volckmann’s guerrillas to proceed to their destinations at a much quicker pace. At this point in time, the carrier-based US Army Air Force pilots started their carpet bombing missions in various Japanese targets inTarlac and Pampanga.

‘Victory Joe’

As in virtually all American landings in the Philippines, Filipinos rushed to the beaches of Zambales to greet the Americans. “Victory Joe!” they shouted. All Americans were “Joe” to Filipinos. Many civilians brought with them Philippine and American flags that had been hidden during the entire Japanese Occupation. Others brought coconuts, food and whatever they could offer. The Americans, in return, gave away chocolates, bread, chewing gum, butter, cheese, cigarettes, magazines and other items that had been denied Filipinos for more than three years.

Luz and her three children went out of their shack and clapped at the Americans as they passed by, alongside the guerrillss led by Colonel Gyles Merrill, Captain Ramon Magsaysay and the other guerrilla leaders in the province.

Magsaysay’s immediate guerrilla boss, Major Jose “Pepito” Corpuz was not in Zambales during the American landing. His whereabouts were totally unknown.

Friendly forces

The Huks of Pampanga also had the straggling Japanese concentrated in the towns of Santo Tomas and Manuel (near the Tarlac-Pangasinan boundary) in flight towards Tarlac, Tarlac.

Liberation of Hermosa

After four years of Japanese Occupation, the liberation of Hermosa finally came on January 9, 1945. Four days earlier, American warplanes started hovering over the skies of the town. People got excited and happy over the thought that the war was finally nearing its end. The planes flew over from the plains of Pampanga down to Dinalupihan to as far as Balanga. Americann pilots were continuously firing their machineguns over the plains as they saw Japanese military vehicles moving bothways, northward and southward.

During that time, the Japanese soldiers have started leaving their garrison in Hermosa and proceeded to the direction of Olongapo City where the main Japanese unit, Kembu Group,was scheduled to put up a citadel in the Zambales Mountains, in a spot that will enable them to check on the American advances into Clark Field, Bataan and Zambales.

Assault on Subic

In Olongapo City, the carrier-based U.S. Fifth Air Force dropped 175 tons of bombs on Grande Island on January 10, 1945 evoking only light fire from the skeletal Japanese force manning the anti-aircraft guns there.

Inside the US naval base, Japanese troopers who remained inside the perimeter of the former American facility made reckless preparations in dealing with the three American battleships that suddenly showed up in the waters of Subic Bay. Instead of using the big guns of their two cruisers anchored at the pier, they decided on dealing with the Americans on land. They waited for the landing of MacArthur’s ground forces. But the ground encounter did not materialize.

By noon, the remaining Japanese in base had all but abandoned Subic Bay naval base. They proceeded to Olongapo City and joined forces with the Japanese contingent that concentrated near the Subic-Olongapo boundary.

It was the most opportune time for the US Marines and Morong guerillas who had successfully penetrated the base two days earlier. They started their assigned mop-up operation on the abandoned naval station. The ensuing encounters inside the base against some Japanese stragglers lasted for several days. The enemy effectively used the jungles of Subic and Cubi as their battle-grounds.

Zambales encounter

In Zambales, only a few encounters transpired between the newly-arrived American 6^th Army and the Japanese troops stationed in the San Marcelino-Castillejos area. The Japanese fought back in their attempt to prevent the Americans from retaking the whole province as well as the naval base. Unfortunately, they came to fight without their big guns and artillery. They came unprepared in their haste to block the Americans and the local guerrillas advancing from the north.

In desperation, the Japanese launched their famous “Banzai” attacks many times but these only produced negative results. A few Japanese soldiers were able to scamper out of the battle scene but only to die in the hands of local guerillas in the area.

Tarlac encounter

In Tarlac, the Manila-bound American First Cavalry Division suffered light casualties in Moncada but were able to destroy the Japanese strongest point along the national highway. The Japanese retreated towards Gerona leaving the town of Paniqui unguarded. But they blew up the two bridges in Paniqui to stall the American advance.