The American way

Man at the Market

Jesse E.L. Bacon II

02/27/2009

Would Imperial Japan have invaded the Philippines during the Second World War if we were not colonized by America?

I find this question intriguing in light of the so-called bounty America had finally ordered released after 63 years of waiting to our countrymen who unselfishly fought for the cause of that country in that war. If Japan had invaded the country because of our being a colony then of America, then that war was basically America’s war that was unfortunately fought in our territory.

Worth noting in this saga was America having abandoned us at the height of the war to protect a more significant country than ours through that order given to Gen. Douglas MacArthur to leave the Philippines to protect Australia. This order clearly showed the insignificance of our country to America’s military intentions. We were not one of those territories that the US soldiers have to die for. This is the naked truth.

But our countrymen continued with their guerilla war against the superior Japanese forces in the name of America despite being abandoned by Uncle Sam. And when the strength of the Japanese imperial forces was waning with America’s bombardment of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the atomic bombs and with Australia already safe from being invaded by enemy forces, MacArthur came back and heroically claimed having liberated the Philippines from Japan’s stranglehold.

Historical accounts, however, clearly show that when MacArthur returned during that much-heralded landing in Leyte, the Japanese already lost steam fighting for a losing cause and were about to be toppled by the Filipino guerillas even without MacArthur. In fact, what MacArthur did, some historians say, was to rob our own guerillas the sweet victory against the Japanese.

With this objective historical account penned by nationalist historians, it goes without saying that America owes a lot to the local guerillas who sustained the war that it abandoned in favor of Australia. And if America was grateful, it should have attended to the concerns of Filipino guerillas who fought the American war that the US abandoned. Instead of immediately compensating these guerillas who laid down their lives in the name of America, what that country did was to rehabilitate Japan and greatly helped that country, their enemy in WW II, to rise.

Imagine, it took America 63 years to give a pittance to the gallant and courageous Filipino guerillas, who despite their being abandoned in a war that was not theirs, continued the fight in the name of America. Take note that which America is releasing to our soldiers is just a token, compared to the amount they poured in to rehabilitate Japan, America’s enemy in WW II.

We are writing about this as our expression of rage looking at the dying soldiers lining up to avail of the monetary benefit they rightly deserved to have received a long time ago. Looking at our pitiable ageing countrymen recall with a smile and great pride their gallantry during the war should make every Filipino of the succeeding generations re-examine the arrogance with which America had been treating us, especially in light of the highhanded manner it is treating us now on the custody issue of rape convict Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith vis-à-vis the admittedly lopsided and onerous Visiting Forces Agreement.

While many would like to still consider America a friend, perhaps it is high time every Filipino should consider the true nature of America as a blood sucker.

Surprising attitude

Not until I recently involved myself in numerous church activities did I realize the depth of anger harbored by those whom I mingled with in these activities against the unabated corruption in the Arroyo administration. We erroneously thought that our church mates simply didn’t care about the evils happening in the Arroyo administration. We were greatly surprised with the way church people denounced the corrupt ways of the Arroyo administration. God indeed works in very mysterious ways.

(Reactions to jelbacon@yahoo.com)

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