Effects of Japanese Occupation

Transcript of Japanese Occupation and its after-effects
The Invasion Japanese Occupation and its After-Effects The Japanese occupation of the
Philippines was the period in the history of the Philippines between 1942 and 1945, when the
Empire of Japan occupied the previously American-controlled Philippines during World War II.
The invasion of the Philippines started on December 8, 1941, ten hours after the attack on Pearl
Harbor. As at Pearl Harbor, the American aircraft were severely damaged in the initial Japanese
attack. The aircraft of his command were destroyed; the naval forces were ordered to leave; and
because of the circumstances in the Pacific region, reinforcement and resupply of his ground
forces were impossible. The defending Philippine and United States troops were under the
command of General Douglas MacArthur, who had been recalled to active duty in the United
States Army earlier in the year and was designated commander of the United States Armed
Forces in the Asia-Pacific region. Under the pressure of superior numbers, the defending forces
withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula and to the island of Corregidor at the entrance to Manila Bay.
Manila, declared an open city to prevent its destruction, was occupied by the Japanese on
January 2, 1942. The Philippine defense continued until the final surrender of United States-
Philippine forces on the Bataan Peninsula in April 1942 and on Corregidor in May. Most of the
80,000 prisoners of war captured by the Japanese at Bataan were forced to undertake the
infamous "Bataan Death March" to a prison camp 105 kilometers to the north. It is estimated that
as many as 10,000 men, weakened by disease and malnutrition and treated harshly by their
captors, died before reaching their destination. Quezon and Osmeña had accompanied the troops
to Corregidor and later left for the United States, where they set up a government-in-exile.
MacArthur was ordered to Australia, where he started to plan for a return to the Philippines. The
Japanese military authorities immediately began organizing a new government structure in the
Philippines.
During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II, the Japanese influenced
the government in the Philippines by enforcing a strict curfew, adding Japanese currency,
instituting a military government and reducing neighborhood government systems by half.
According to About.com, the occupation also cost the lives of over a million people in the
Philippines.
As soon as the Japanese left, these restrictions went away. The period of Japanese occupation of
the Philippines occurred between the time when MacArthur was driven out in 1942 and when he
regained the island in 1945. Even long before this time in the 16th century, the Philippines traded
with Japan. More recently, Japan has influenced the Philippines by bringing similar cultural
additions to the country, similar to its influence on the rest of the world. Karaoke is a pastime
practiced in parts of the Philippines, and many Filipino children watch Anime shows on
television just as they do elsewhere. The long-term Japanese influence on the Philippines due to
the occupation is minimal compared to its short-term implications.
Few studies have analyzed the Philippine economic experience during the Japanese occupation.
Although such studies are in the nature of history and commentaries, they have not focused on the
economic analysis of the war experience. The present study hopes to close this gap if only partially by
recounting what was known about the course of the economy. A recently discovered intelligence
document written late in wartime by American sources on economic changes during the occupation
period provided the initial impetus for the review. Relying on limited relevant work to make an
assessment of this intelligence report, the author carries the discussion to modern day interpretation
covering the various sectors of the economy. In the final part of the paper (Part IV), the Philippine
economy is compared before and after the end of the war, investigating the extent of the fall in national
output by the war’s end, quantifying the extent of the hyper inflation that was experienced in the course
of the war, and approximating the relative value of the economic damage (mainly to capital stock)
caused by the war in terms of the level of national output. Using intuitive knowledge based on the
review of these sectors and employing conservative assumptions about the Philippine economy, the
author suggests that at the end of the war, national output was at least 30 percent of the level of the
prewar output. In effect, total output in 1945 was 70 percent lower than that of 1940. Going to the
estimate of the war damage in today’s current terms (2003), the economic loss (not including human, of
course) suffered during the war was equivalent to 13 percent of the current GDP of 2003. Translating
this to the output of 1940 on the very conservative assumption that there was no growth of per capita
output over the years, the economic loss from the war was 62 percent of the GDP of 1940. Since the
economic damage to capital happened over time and furthering the output loss as the war went on,
these estimates conform to the assessment that Philippine GDP in 1945 – at the end of the war – was
close to 30 percent of the output of 1940.

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Transcript of Japanese Occupation and its after-effects

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