Philippine Invasion

         

        War came unexpectedly to the Philippines. Japan opened a surprise attack on the Philippines on December 8, 1941, when Japan attacked without warning, just ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japanese troops attacked the islands in many places on Manila. Most of the 80,000 prisoners of war captured by the Japanese at Bataan were forced to undertake the notorious Bataan Death March to a prison camp 105 kilometers to the north. It is estimated that as many as 10,000 men died before reaching their destination.

       

       Japanese occupation of the Philippines was opposed by large-scale underground and guerrilla activity. The Philippine Army continued to fight the Japanese in a guerrilla war and was considered a back up unit of the United States Army. Their effectiveness was such that by the end of the war, Japan controlled only twelve of the forty-eight provinces. The major element of resistance in the Central Luzon area was furnished by the Hukbalahap, an arm who went against the Japanese, which armed some 30,000 people and extended their control over much of Luzon.