Short Abstract

This paper examines the Japanese occupation of Central Visayas and traces the shift from conciliation to systematic violence. Using civilian accounts, war crimes records, and Japanese sources, it situates local violence within the broader narrative of wartime atrocities in the Philippines.

Long Abstract

Japanese imperial forces in the Philippines, at the outset of the occupation, pursued a policy of attraction towards the Filipino people – one which they thought was going to work in convincing the latter of their altruistic intent of emancipating them from western colonialism. This policy, however, failed as most of the Filipinos remained zealously loyal to the Americans. Simultaneously, the Japanese started arresting the men and officers of the USAFFE and consequently, spurring them to organize a guerrilla movement that paved way for the start of a somewhat – not totally – unified resistance against the Japanese occupying forces. Thereafter, sporadic guerrilla ambushes against the Japanese throughout the archipelago commenced, thus resulting to several Japanese deaths. In retaliation, the Japanese forces conducted punitive missions not only against guerillas, but also towards local civilians. This inevitably became the starting point of the many egregious atrocities – murders, rapes, arson, and so on – committed by the Japanese forces throughout the Philippines. In this paper, I will look into the Japanese occupation of Central Visayas – which includes the islands of Cebu, Negros Oriental, Bohol, and Siquijor – and how the Japanese policy of attraction shifted in the latter years of the occupation to a more radical policy of unjust violence towards the civilian populace. I use primary sources taken from perspectives of the Filipino civilians and guerrillas, American intelligence reports and war crimes cases, and accounts of Japanese soldiers to create a narrative as to why the Japanese forces in Central Visayas became quite violent in the latter years of the war. This paper will put into context the experiences of the civilian populace from a micro-level, i.e., Central Visayas – a region that has not really received that much scholarly attention – to the macro-level narrative of Japanese atrocities during World War II.

Keywords: Japanese Atrocities, Guerrilla Warfare, Central Visayas, Philippines, World War II