The Blood and Mud in the Philippines: Anti-Guerrilla Warfare on Panay Island
Continuation of Chapter Five
5.3 In Search of Wireless Radios (Continuation)
The Tozuka unit imposed a strict military discipline on its soldiers and, thus, we had a good reputation among the citizens. From his long years of experience, Captain Watanabe knew that once solders became addicted to raping, it would cause misunderstandings in the chain of command. Soldiers would pursue women rather than the guerrillas and, thus, produce few war results. Therefore, he strictly prohibited sexual assaults, warning that if any of the men committed these crimes, they would be subject to court martial. As far as I can remember, there was only one rape case in Panay.
By mid-November 1943, our unit had expected to return to Iloilo City to rest after the long punitive operation; but staff officer Hidemi Watanabe ordered us to look for guerrillas who had reportedly escaped to the northern islands of Tablas, Romblon, and Sibuyan. On receiving the order, Captain Kengo Watanabe instantly wore a bitter expression on his face and was angry. Pains caused by his venereal disease must have made matters worse for him than others in the harsh conditions of the punitive expedition. All the officers complained; but unit commander Tozuka was silent as usual, looking as though there was nothing he could do.
Throughout the tough punitive expedition, the Panay Garrison Commander General Takeshi Kôno was fishing in the beaches of Iloilo. Colonel Hidemi Watanabe was hanging around in white suits in Iloilo City–often at the residence of Fernando Lopez to see his lovely daughter Bobbie–with little awareness of the realities of the punitive maneuvers and with scarcely any consideration for his men.
5.4 The Punitive Expedition at Tablas Island
Many guerrillas had purportedly escaped to Tablas Island. Here, the base of the main force was in Despojol while that of the Fujii Company was in Odiongan. Local people expressed allegiance, and offered accommodation and food. Everyday, Captain Watanabe dispatched many soldiers in search of guerrillas, but they could not get any information.
In the quest for guerrilla subjugation, I once visited the Fujii Company in Odiongan. They all looked relaxed with plenty of food offered by local residents. Compared with the gloomy Captain Watanabe, 1st Lieutenant Fujii was a cheerful and jovial man. This was probably the reason why both the soldiers and the local people were in a bright mood. They invited us to stay overnight for a welcome dance party. Around 40 men and women gathered that evening, and with wonderful music played by a band, the dancing lasted until midnight. Although it was a welcome dance party for the Japanese Army, I was the only one who could dance, the other Japanese soldiers were simply onlookers. In our worn and messy clothes after months of living in the mountains, we all looked like uncivilized barbarians who stepped into a party.
The main unit led by Captain Watanabe did not produce any results while the Fujii Company was able to bring in 30 POWs–including Sergeant Ramon Lopez, the Mayor of Odiongan who surrendered to 1st Lieutenant Fujii. Outraged by Fujii’s accomplishment, Captain Watanabe summoned Fujii into his room, yelled at him and beat him, for the reason that ‘Fujii should have been more obedient to orders.’ The battalion commander was in the next room but showed no concern for this incident.
We boarded a motorized sailboat at Looc and returned to the town of New Washington on Panay Island from where we had taken a boat to Tablas. We were surprised by the burnt and ruined settlement. While the Japanese Army was away, guerrillas had set fire to it in retaliation for the residents’ alleged cooperation with the Japanese Army. In the face of this disaster, the local people could only flee as soon as they saw the Japanese Army.
While the main force was in Tablas, Yoshioka’s 4th Company had subjugated guerrillas around the town of Alfonso Doce in Capiz. By mid-December, with barely enough food and amidst the heavy seasonal rains, the company crossed the mountain range between the provinces of Capiz and Antique and advanced towards the town of Pandan.
5.5 Dark Night Attacks
Staff officer Hidemi Watanabe arrived at New Washington to inspect the area. Learning of the unexpectedly poor results of the campaigns at Tablas and Romblon and witnessing the devastation of New Washington, he seemed determined to attack the guerrillas. He ordered the Tozuka Unit to the central mountainous areas of northern Antique and western Capiz. After five months of the punitive expeditions, members of the Tozuka unit including the commander and Captain Watanabe, felt aggravated at being sent to the most dangerous parts of the island. But it was an order and we could not do nothing about it. We went with heavy hearts. The task was to destroy guerrilla bases along the 150-kilometer route that ran diagonally across Panay. The actual length of the course was more than 300 kilometers. It took us at least 25 days to cross over mostly jungle and steep mountain areas in the midst of the rainy season.
Despite these conditions, the soldiers were in excellent health. Only a few fell ill throughout the months of the expedition. They ate coconut and drank coconut juice as well as ate papaya stems. While on the march, they acquired pigs, chickens, and vegetables; and as soon as they stopped, they cooked a nutritious casserole. Without complaining, they acted upon orders, capturing and executing guerrillas with ease. Just a year before, while first watching water torture administered by a kempei on a guerrilla suspect, they had shouted, ‘Stop it! Stop!’ Now they were changed beings and had become experts at guerrilla subjugation.
Going up the Aklan River and into the mountains near Banga and Libacao in Capiz, we got more information on the guerrillas. One night my subordinates and I came across a few thatch (nipa)-built houses on a plateau. As we silently moved closer, we saw around 10 young men cleaning rice. Instinctively, I knew they were guerrillas; so I ordered my men to surround the house as we climbed up. However, when we were just about 60 meters away, the guerrillas noticed us and fled.
This experience led us to believe that there were indeed guerrillas hiding in the area so we detained local people to get even more information on them. We soon learned there was a company of guerrilla soldiers stationed nearby, which meant that there were at least 100 guerrillas around. My force consisted of only around 30 soldiers. In these mountains, there was no way to contact the unit’s field headquarters. Therefore, I decided to perform a night attack on our own since there was no moon and it was completely dark. I could see that the man guiding us looked so pale and his face was twisted with fear, indicating that he had told us the truth. Suddenly he stopped and pointed to a nipa house that looked like a guerrilla sentry post. I gave orders to the Filipino spy Vicente Morata: ‘Surround the house with the Filipino spies and we Japanese soldiers will encircle you. Call out to them like a friend, and as soon as the door opens, jump in and capture the guerrillas. Do not fire the pistol.’
Morata and three or four Filipino spies approached the hut. Morata said something and the door opened. Morata and the others jumped in with pointed pistols and captured three or four men. The captives had a few rifles and were obviously sentries of the guerrilla forces. An NCO instantly beheaded the captives, except one whom I immediately interrogated: ‘The area is full of Japanese soldiers. If you give me information, I will save your life.’ The frightened guerrilla replied, ‘I am a guard. The main camp of the company is in a few large houses about two kilometers from here. There are three more look-outs along the way.’
With his hands tied behind him, the guard was put in the lead to guide us. About 300 meters down the road, we came across a sinister house. I ordered the guerrilla to identify himself to the house’s occupants. As soon as the door opened, our soldiers captured the few men who were inside. The same NCO again beheaded them right away, except for one.
We thanked him. “We know all about you. Lead us to the next bantay (guard or sentry) house. Identify yourself and we will soon release you.” The terrified guerrilla again was placed in the lead and we proceeded to the next sentry post. Morata and the other Filipino spies repeated the same process and caught the guerrillas.
As we approached the guerrilla base, the soldiers became tense and the guerrilla guide was frightened and shaking. He stopped. Threatening and coaxing him, we advanced through the mud in the dark night until we saw three or four large nipa houses. As the soldiers ran into nearby groves, we heard around a dozen shots and a tracer bullet flashed. We dashed towards the sound of the gunshots and surrounded two big houses. When we jumped in, however, the obvious barracks of the guerrillas was already empty. I judged that it was dangerous to pursue them in the night’s darkness and so we withdrew. Although we overcame the sentry posts, we failed in our attack on the base.
When I reported to Captain Watanabe at the field headquarters, I was furiously reprimanded, ‘Why have you seized only this much weaponry? How dare you report your failure to capture the guerrillas?’
Each unit was engaged in night attacks but the guerrillas were firmly on guard. Acting on information obtained, the Japanese often dashed in only after the guerrillas had fled.*(Next, Chapter 6)
