Chapter 6 Part 2 – Luz Banzon Magsaysay

Part 2

Atrocities in Manila

In between air raids, the Japanese concentrated in Manila, the Japanese Naval Defense Force under the command of Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi, started a series of atrocities against the thousands of the city residents on January 11, Thursday. Men found in the streets were forcibly taken and compelled to work in undermanned Japanese installations. Horses, carts, trucks and cars were confiscated and used in transporting Japanese soldiers and materials from one place to another.

One hospital, the Quezon Institute, was ransacked by the Japanese and its patients and doctors massacred in cold blood. Several houses and buildings were set on fire and their occupants shot dead. Manila was turned into a city of conflagration. The same atrocities were perpetrated in the provinces as a form of vengeance to Filipinos for not collaborating with them.

Guerrilla’s reprisal

To avenge the senseless killing of 20 residents of Barrio San Jose, Dinalupihan, guerrillas of the 1st Infantry Regiment-Dinalupihan area  under Lt. Col. Ceferino Regala, and the 2nd Infantry Regiment of Lt. Col. Victor Abad (covering the bayside area) launched on January 11 a joint mission called “Kill Captain Tamora” who was based alternately in Orani and Dinalupihan.

Just before dusk, they seized “Besing” (no family name), Captain Tamora’s common-law wife, and her soldier-bodyguard while doing marketing at the Orani town market. The two were killed in a ricefield in Barrio Kaparangan, located midway between Poblacion, Orani, and Barrio Lalawigan in Samal.

Manila defense

As the American troops  were poised to enter Manila, the Japanese Naval Defense Force composed of about 16,000 soldiers under Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi used Intramuros as the center of defense starting on January 12, 1945. They started demolishing facilities inside the city. They also blew up piers, key buildings and storage facilities. The admiral had decided to defend the city to the death.

Unfortunately, Admiral Iwabuchi was left alone in this fight. The Japanese 14^th Army had already left the city in two separate groups two days earlier. One small group (from the combined Shobu and Kembu Groups) proceeded to Balara in Quezon City. The second group, Shimbu Group, motored towards the boundary of Rizal and Laguna.

Yamashita’s maneuver, somehow were closely monitored by Manila-based guerrillas led by Colonel Eduardo Vargas and Major Napoleon Valeriano. They immediately relayed the information to the Americans advancinng from the south.

US advance post

On January 13, elements of the US 11^th Airborne Division successfully occupied the small airfield in Canlubang, Laguna. In no time, they were already using the base as an advance command post. They flew over the skies of Laguna and Manila unchallenged.

The American raiders also started bombarding the positions of Japanese forces concentrated in Alabang and in Balara (now part of Quezon City). The Balara air raids resulted to the Japanese withdrawal from the area and headed towards San Mateo, Rizal.

All the while, General Douglas MacArthur had hoped for a peaceful capture of Manila. If the Japanese would declare Manila an “open city,” as he had done in December 1941, Manila could be saved intact.

Killing Jap spies

The guerrillas of  the 4th Infantry Regiment-Balanga area started its retaliatory program against local spies used by the Japanese during the zoning of Barrios Tuyo, Sibacan, and Puerto Rivas in Balanga, as well as Barrio Sta. Rosa in Pilar.

They snatched two local “spies” from Barrio Cupang and executed them thereafter. The dead bodies were discovered the following day near a creek in Barrio Central (in the vicinity of the present Garden of Olives Memorial Park).

Quezon’s guerrillas

President Quezon’s Own Guerrillas (PQOG) based in Batangas, central Laguna and central Tayabas  under the command of General (guerrilla rank) Vicente Umali, former mayor of Tiaong, Tayabas, was successful in rescuing a number of downed American fliers after conducting raids in various military installations in Manila. The rescued Americans were eventually returned to their U.S. Navy carriers alive.

Shobu group

On January 14, theJapanese 14^th Army, upon reaching San Mateo, Rizal split into two groups. The first group, the Shobu, planned to proceed to Capas, Tarlac, about 70 kilometers to the north via Norzagaray. Part of their mission was, should the need arises, to use the Camp O’Donnell concentration camp as base of operation and the USAFFE prisoners there as hostages. They were to fight it out until the end rather than surrender. Worst comes to worst, they could proceed to Baguio City and join forces with General Yamashita’s troops who had already built fortifications and stockpiled food and supplies in the mountain area.

The second group, the Kembu Group, stayed with the Shobu Group as they motored toward Bulacan. A faction of this Japanese combined unit, however stayed and used the hills of Marikina as their last-ditch stand.

Liberated Tarlac

On the same day, January 14, the American First Cavalry Division and other guerilla units led by Colonel Edwin Ramsey had liberated much of Tarlac, to include the towns of Paniqui, Camiling, Mayantoc, Sta. Ignacia and Gerona. By noon, they were able to encircle the provincial capital of Tarlac (City) where a big Japanese force was concentrated.

All the while, the Huks of Tarlac had already surrounded the capital town. To surprise the Liberation forces, they initiated the attack on the Japanese camped in the capitol building. Unfortunately, the mission failed and one Huk guerilla was killed.

Liberation of Abucay

The local guerrillas of Abucay led by former acting Mayor Jose Ganzon (1942-1943) and Major Anastacio Valencia, also attacked the municipal building. The outnumbered Japanese readily abandoned their post and run towards the mountains of Natib with the guerillas chasing them. On this same day, Abucay was liberated. Revelry was everywhere. Civilians came down from the mountains immediately after learning of the victory. They trooped to the town plaza and joined in the merriment.

Thereafter, guerrilla leader Anastacio Valencia relayed the information to Colonel John P. Boone of the Bataan Military District who, in turn ordered Valencia to prevent other Japanese troops coming from the southern towns (Balanga, Pilar and Orion) from sending support troops to Orani or Dinalupihan.

The order was followed to the letter. Two guerrilla blockades were immediately set up in Barrio Capitangan and Gabon. A third blockade was put up in Barrio Mabatang to prevent Japanese stationed in Orani and Samal from escaping southward.

The hunt for Japanese stragglers and Filipino makapilis in Abucay continued for days. Guerrillas and adventurous civilians were involved in the said hunt. The chase went on everywhere. It spread to the mangrove trees, past the fishponds, through the ricefields and forested mountains. Seven Japanese were found near the Penales fishpond. All of them were killed by the guerrillas. Another Japanese soldier was seen near the Paroba River. The people gave chase. The chase stopped after the soldier surrendered.

Kembu group

From Pampanga, the Japanese Kembu Group, already detached from the 14^th Army, had already reached Highway 7, near the boundary of Bataan and Zambales on January 14 as ordered by General Tomoyuki Yamashita.

However, the guerrillas of Hermosa under the command of Colonel (guerrilla rank) John Boone had blasted the wooden Pampanga-Bataan boundary bridge in Balsik and the nearby Daanbago Bridge a day earlier. It was done to deprive the retreating Japanese soldiers from Zambales and Olongapo City from using it. The Layac bridge was also destroyed to cut off the Bataan Peninsula from Pampanga.

As a result, the Japanese Kembu Group who came from Pampanga had to cross the Balsik, Daanbago and Layac rivers minus their tanks and trucks. Still, they arrived at the foot of Mount Malasimbu. But instead of continung their march to Subic Naval Base to join forces with the troops inside the base in Olongapo City, without knowing it was already abandoned, they took positions in the mountainous areas of Dinalupihan and Hermosa, a perfect  place to guard Highway 7. There, they painstakingly transformed the so-called Zigzag Pass into a citadel.

Shobu group

The Shobu Group, on the other hand, proceeded from San Mateo, Rizal to Baliuag, Bulacan on their way to Arayat, Pampanga. Their next destination and mission was to proceed to Capas, Tarlac and reinforce the Japanese troops inside Camp O’Donnell.

Mindanao guerrillas

While General MacArthur was busy retaking Luzon, the guerrillas of Mindanao under Colonel Wendell Fertig of the Mindanao Military District were already in a position to contribute substantially to the on-going military operations. In fact, they began striking openly against the Japanese forces occupying the island. On January15, they seized the airfield at Dipolog, Zamboanga del Norte and held it until elements of the US 21st Infantry landed and helped them defend it against strong Japanese counter-attacks.

Cabanatuan prison camp

In Nueva Ecija, a large group of Japanese troops returned to the Cabanatuan prison camp and at gunpoint returned the American prisoners to their side of the camp. The prisoners, already fueled by rumors, speculated that the Japanese had returned to execute them one of these days.

Tarlac assault

While the American troops were preparing for the early morning assault on the provincial capitol of Tarlac, the Japanese, already prepared to meet the Liberation forces, suddenly changed their mind and secretly withdrew from the Capitol building and ran toward the sugarfields to the east.

            The Huks saw the Japanese withdrawal but instead of chasing the enemy, they occupied the Capitol building and hoisted the Filipino and American flags. There, they simply waited for the arrival of the American contingent and the guerrillas. The newly-arrived guerrillas ultimately chased the retreating Japanese troops.

General Walter Krueger did not stay long in Tarlac,Tarlac. He and his soldiers proceeded to the town of Bamban, Tarlac where they came in contact with the Japanese Kembu Group.

Orgy of killing

The Japanese Shobu Group completed its slow journey to Arayat, Pampanga on their way to Capas, Tarlac. Early in the morning of January 16, they went on an orgy of killing civilians in San Luis and Candaba. Thereafter they also left Arayat in flame.

Weapon drop

Colonel Gyles Merrill also made contact with the American 6th Army that landed in the San Marcelino-Castillejos area in Zambales. He immediately requested for additional arms for his men in Zambales. His request was immediately granted.

Meanwhile, Captain Ramon Magsaysay was still with the leading American troops approaching the Subic-Olongapo boundary where Japanese were eagerly waiting for them.

No weapon drop

Colonel John P. Boone also requested for arm supplies from the Americans for his Bataan Military District. He received none and his problem got worse after more Japanese troops arrived in Dinalupihan from Clark Field, Pampanga and started to concentrate in the Olongapo-Dinalupihan Zigzag Pass, where a major engagement that should not have happened actually happened starting on January 23.

Race to Capas

General Tomoyuki Yamashita’s Shobu Group reached Magalang, Pampanga on January 17 after a day of grueling journey through the sugarfields of San Pedro and Angeles City. But after establishing contact with the Japanese troops formerly assigned in Tarlac (City), Yamashita’s men decided to skip the national highway and motored eastward, via Concepcion town (three kilometers from the highway), to evade the advancing American troops already leaving Tarlac’s capital town. They decided to join forces with the Japanese gathered somewhere in La Paz town. From there, they decided to move in towards Capas. To accomplish this, they have to move as fast as they could to retain jurisdiction over the Capas concentration camps.

Fortunately, Colonel Edwin Price Ramsey of the Central Luzon Guerillas based in Bamban learned of the Shobu’s movements and were quick to relay the information to General Walter Krueger’s 6th Army. Because of this, the race to Capas between the Japanese Shobu Group and the American troops began.

General Tomoyuki Yamashitas’s Shobu Group merely passed by Concepcion town in Tarlac after  learning from the Tarlac-based troopers that the Americans were already attacking the guards of the Capas concentration camps. Instead of waiting for the outcome of the on-going fightings in Capas, the Japanese group proceeded to Zaragosa on their way to Cabanatuan (Nueva Ecija), about 18 kilometers away to the east.

Meanwhile, the Shimbu Group, after reaching the boundary of Rizal and Laguna, started committing massacres and various atrocities on the hapless residents. The people, with the support of local guerrillas, fought back and exacted revenge wherever they could.

Bataan bound

More Japanese Kembu Group, originally gathered at Clark Airfield in Pampanga arrived late in nthe afternoon of January 17 in Dinalupihan via Porac and Floridablanca. They rested at the foot of Mount Malasimbu where they received words from General Tomoyuki Yamashita’s headquarters to stay in the area and defend the Zambales Mountain to stop the American advance to Manila via Route 7.

Civilian evacuation

The arrival of the Japanese Kembu Group in Dinalupihan was enough indication for the civilians to leave the town immediately for the second time and by whatever means necessary. They already knew where to go: the coastal barrios of Daan Bago, San Rafael de Baruya. Bangcal Pugad, San Jose Gumi, Gastuli (all in Pampanga); Hagonoy and Masukol (in Bulacan) but definitely not in the Zambales Mountains or Mount Malasimbu where the Japanese had already concentrated.

Orgy of rape and murder

The Japanese, seeing a spy and an enemy in every Filipino, committed a series of murder and rape almost everywhere. Massacres were reported in several towns in Balanga, Abucay, Orani, Hermosa and Dinalupihan, in Bataan on January 18.

Cases of rape were also reported in Lipa, Taal, Bauan, Tanauan and Calauan (all  in Batangas); Bay and Calamba (in Laguna); Tiaong and Mauban (in Tayabas, now Quezon Province).

In Batanes, the Japanese also massacred many Ivatans because of strong guerrilla operations on the island.  Houses and towns were burned by Japanese troops assigned in the area. Civilians were bayoneted or machine-gunned, and women raped. More massacres were committed on the island during the months of February and March.

Shobu ambush

Guerillas of Nueva Ecija were tipped off on January 19, of the presence of General Tomoyuki Yamashita’s Shobu Army marching towards Cabanatuan. They set up ambush sites in the towns of Aliaga and Sta. Rosa. American warplanes also appeared in the sky over Aliaga on the same afternoon and began a series of bombings and machinegun firings at the long lines of Japanese troops stradled in the middle of open ricefields of Zaragosa. The Japanese advance to central Nueva Ecija was stopped.

The Japanese merely waited for nighttime. Then, under the cover of darkness, the Shobu Group left Zaragosa and proceeded to Pura and then to Cuyapo, Tarlac. From there, the Japanese drew plan to advance to Tayug, Pangasinan.

The Kembu  Group

The Japanese Kembu Group, meanwhile, continued to strengthen their Zigzag Pass defense line today. They were resolved to make the whole vicinity of the mountainous areas of “Zigzag Pass”(the present Roosevelt Park) as their last defense line.

The Japanese defense line started from the vicinity of Bamban-Maite (Hermosa) and up to Mount Malasimbo (Dinalupihan). The Kembus had started fortifying the area with dugouts connected with a network of electric wires and covered with thick piles of first class logs. They equipped their battle stations with machinegun, grenades, dynamites and abundant food supply.

Liberators in Bataan

The American Liberation Forces in Pampanga, after receiving information from local guerrillas of the presence of Japanese troops scattered along of mountainous boundary of Bataan and Zambales,arrived in Dinalupihan and liberated the town at past noon of January 19, 1945. Thereafter, the Americans immediately initiated a careful study of the so-called “Zigzag Pass.”

On the same day, the American Sixth Army committed the 149^th, 151^st, 152^nd Infantries, 113^th Engineering Combat Battalion, 38^th Cavalry Reconaissance Troops, 38^th, 138th, 139th Field Artillery Battalions, 113^th Medical Battalion and the 38^th Division’s Special Troops to the task of destroying the Japanese stronghold.

On the other side, the Japanese Kembu Group led by Colonel Sanenbou Nagayoshi, formed two fronts: the Western and Eastern sectors. The Western Sector regiment lined up along the Bangal-Tipo area to confront the Liberation forces coming from Olongapo City. The Eastern Sector covered the Happy Valley-Bamban area to defend against any attacks coming from Dinalupihan and Hermosa.

The actual “Battle of Zigzag Pass” started today, January 19, 1945, and lasted until February 25. a total of 23 bloody day struggle. The Americans won. Some 2,000 American and Filipino lives were lost in numerous battles in Dinalupihan. On the part of the Japanese Kembu Group, some 16,000 soldiers were killed.

Liberation of Bicol region

The liberation of Bicol region also started on January19 and lasted until September 1945. It was made possible through the joint efforts of the American and the 5th Infantry Division of the newly-organized Philippine Commonwealth Army. The division was composed mostly of Bicolano guerrillas from the provinces of Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Sorsogon and the two major island provinces of Masbate and Catanduanes.

Battle of Olongapo

On January 20, some American troops of the 38th Division and 34th Regimental Combat Team, after landing ashore without resistance at San Antonio, Zambales (by the site of what became known as the San Miguel Naval Communications Station), also advanced toward Olongapo City. They joined forces with their comrades from Iba and Castillejos in Subic town, as well as the local guerrillas led by Ramon Magsaysay.

It was at the bridge spanning the Kalaklan River near the Olongapo Cemetery where the Japanese met the resistance. They fought the Liberators, but only briefly. After assessing  that they would imminently lose their defense line in Kalaklan against the advancing Americans, they hurriedly returned to Olongapo City and prepared another line of defense.

Huk contribution

On the same day, several Hukbalahap units attacked the capital town of Pampanga, San Fernando. The remaining contingent of Japanese soldiers guarding the Capitol were immediately clobbered. The Huks immedately placed the capital town under their administration.

Huk squadrons also attacked other towns in the province and immediately placed them under their control. New municipal officials were  picked and functioned under the Huk auspices.

Joint Japanese forces

In Bataan, the fortification of the Zigzag Pass by the Japanese Army’s Kembu Group  continued. On January 21, they constructed more dugouts all connected with a network of electric wire therein. The Japanese also equipped these new dugouts with all available weaponry. They also stored additional food supply from the wild (deer and fowls) that were abundant in the forests.

By noon, the retreating contingent of Japanese troops from Olongapo City and the US Naval Base arrived in Tipo, Dinalupihan (part of the Zigzag Pass). They joined forces with the Japanese Kembu Group.

Japanese at Clark field

The American forces from Tarlac, meanwhile came in contact with the remaining faction of the Kembu Group assigned to defend Clark Field in Pampanga and its adjoining areas. The Japanese immediately rained artillery and gunfire on the Americans.

But the advance of the Liberators to Manila cannot be delayed anymore. At past noon, the remaining soldiers of the Kembu Group gathered in Clark Field and Angeles City were annihilated by the same Liberation forces.

The American First Cavalry Division breezed past the already liberated towns of Angeles and San Pedro. They also decided to secure the capital town of San Fernando. After the jubilant Huks offered no resistance, the Americans left a sizeable unit in the capital town before proceeding towards Manila.

Several Army units, to include the 38^th Cavalry Regiment, were detached from the First Cavalry Division. The detached units went straight to Dinalupihan, Bataan enroute to the Zigzag Pass, as ordered by General Walter Krueger.

Second  Liberators group

Another group of American Liberators from Pangasinan got bogged down in San Jose,  Nueva Ecija where a strong Japanese force, complete with tanks and small artilleries was determined to hold on.

Rendezvous in Dinalupihan

On January 22, more American Army units from San Fernando, Floridablanca and Lubao, all in Pampanga, arrived in Dinalupihan, Bataan. The new arrivals joined the US 38^th Cavalry Regiment and other units who arrived there earlier. They established additional Army camps near the Layac Junction while reconnaissance patrols continued pinpointing the already established Japanese positions in the  Zigzag Pass.

The Liberators did not launch any attack on the Japanese mountain citadel. They simply waited for more troops coming from Pampanga, to include the US 38^th Cavalry Reconnaisance Troop, 38^th Field Artillery Battalion, 113^th Engineer Combat Battalion and the 138^th Field Artillery Battalion.They also coordinated with their Air Force couunterparts, part of the approved plan for the on-going “Battle of Zigzag Psss.”

To be continued….