Salvador S. Cayabyab

 A Diamond in His Hands By: Salvador S. Cayabyab C H A P T E R - T W O       Determined to pursue its ambition to rule over China and the South East Asian countries, Japan made an alliance with Germany and Italy to form the “ Axis Powers” in 1940. When Japan had captured Manchuria and started to beef up its naval presence near China and South East Asia, the US issued a stern warning to block the oil supply to the former, unless it would back out from its aggression. Threatened by the possibility to be paralyzed by the American warning to cut off the oil supply which was vital to its expansion plan, Japan reacted by planning to carry out precise, lightning attacks against the US military installations in the area. On December 7. 1941. Japanese warplanes treacherously attacked Pearl Harbor, destroyed several US battleships, 200 airplanes, killed 2,500 American soldiers and left 1,140 wounded. Immediately following the sudden and treacherous attack of Japanese warplanes against the US Naval Base in Pearl Harbor, the Japanese zeros bombed Clark Air Field and the Japanese Imperial Forces quickly invaded the Philippines almost unopposed by the surprised US and Philippine Armed Forces in 1941. On February 8, 1942, barely a year after the swift attack of the Japanese Zeros on the US military bases, Uncle Ely and Auntie Estrella “Liling” Rosario were joined in Holy Matrimony after a long engagement. The ensuing years of Japanese Occupation were too difficult for all Filipinos, what more for the newly weds to survive on a hand to mouth existence. Indescribable atrocities and inhuman abuses had been the preoccupation of the invaders. Despite the valiant and heroic stand of the combined US and Philippine Armed Forces, the cutting off of the vital water pipelines from Mariviles, Bataan up to the island bastion of Corregidor which was ironically built by Japanese engineers several years before the war erupted, coupled with the superior firepower of the invading forces had spelled doom to the defenders in Bataan, and Corregidor under the command of US General William Wainwright.   To ensure the safety of General Douglas MacArthur, he was quietly escorted to a waiting submarine which brought him safely to Australia, where he could recoup Allied Forces to fight back against the Japanese Imperial Forces. Filipinos had pinned their last hope on the promise of General Douglas MacArthur: “I shall return!”, before he escaped through a submarine towards Australia. After the fall of Bataan and Corregidor, as our countrymen had suffered and endured the cruelties and bestial treatment from the Japanese soldiers, majority of the able bodied Filipinos joined the United States Armed Forces of the Far East (USAFFE). Uncle Ely joined the USAFFE in 1943. He was enlisted as a Lieutenant in the guerilla forces under the command of General Miguel Acosta of the Philippine Army, Arrow Division attached to the USAFFE which fought against the Japanese in Northern Luzon. From sunrise to sunset, Lt. Sadorra had to stay in a dense jungle terrain in the mountainous areas leading to the Dalton Pass where they trained fresh recruits to become guerilla fighters. My Dad, who was the brother-in law of Uncle Ely fondly recollected their guerilla days when they had fought the Japanese in Northern Pangasinan. Dad recalled: “Ely had been a brave guerilla fighter. He had risked his life, many times, as he participated in dangerous missions to monitor enemy movements.” “He also had engaged in diversionary tactics to protect the training camps of the Agno Valley Regiment.” “Outnumbered and outgunned, the guerilla unit under Lt. Sadorra conducted continuous surveillance of the movements of enemy troops in San Manuel, Pangasinan where Japanese Zero warplanes were based near the Agno Valley,” Dad added. “Disguised as ordinary farmers, your Uncle Ely’s guerilla unit mixed with the town folks as they brought in rice, corn, and vegetables on carabao ( water buffalo) driven carts and sleds.” “In their clandestine operations, Lt. Sadorra and his guerilla unit had served as back up force for the USAFFE commando units that staged ambuscades in Northern Luzon.” “ However, they had to watch circumspectly the whereabouts of the “Makapilis” ( village traitors wearing buri bags as mask) who treacherously disclosed to the Japanese, any suspected guerilla member, in exchange for monetary reward,” Dad reminisced. Many guerillas and their families were tortured and decapitated with samurai swords by the Japanese soldiers as a result of the Makapilis’ disclosures. To prevent further harm against innocent civilians, the guerillas had begun capturing Makapilis and executed them after facing a trial.   There were times when a number of guerillas were repulsed and killed by the retaliating Japanese soldiers. Nevertheless, the remaining guerillas together with the back up force of Uncle Ely bravely faced the enemy, in hit and run encounters under the cover of darkness. “Under the hot pursuit of Japanese soldiers, the guerillas would crawl through muddy trails, ‘talahib’ (blade grass), and wade in creeks filled with leeches that could easily penetrate their thick canvass- like pants and attach themselves to their inner thighs to sip fresh blood from their tired bodies,” Dad recalled. The only advantage of the guerillas over their well-armed enemies, was their knowledge of the triple canopied forest: thorny thickets and blade grasses, on the first layer; ipil-ipil trees, and circuitous rattan vines, on the second layer; bulky trunks of narra, apitong, and pine trees, on the final layer which perfectly concealed the slimy caves and streams that had served as their escape routes. At times, they had outmaneuvered the superior forces of the enemy by employing surprise attacks and ambuscades on the foothills of San Nicolas, whenever the Japanese patrols pursued the retreating guerillas. With limited ammunitions and guns, composed mostly of rusty Garand rifles, carbines, 45 caliber handguns, “paltiks”(home-made guns), bolos, and a few pineapple type hand grenades, the surviving guerillas prayed for God’s protection in their protracted struggle against the invaders. Half-starving and dead- tired as they survived on root crops, and anything edible in the forest, the guerillas clung to dear life as they persisted to keep on fighting and re treating to their lairs. Somehow, they held on to the promise of Gen. Douglas McArthur: “I shall return! “ It was a long, long wait…Then, finally, the landing of the liberation forces led by General Douglas McArthur on the shores of Leyte on October 20, 1944, signaled the imminent defeat of the Japanese Imperial Army.