Philippines Redux 2: Corregidor

Map of Manila Bay

On the same day I visited Fort Santiago, I also took a boat out to Corregidor, an island in Manila Bay and site of a critical fortress guarding the approach to Manila.

'Bataan Death March,' 1994 painting by Lideo Mariano, in the
museum on Corregidor.

Corregidor was the last bastion of U.S.-Philippine (or, as it was known at the time, Filamerican) resistance to the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1941-2. The Japanese attack on the Philippines began simultaneously with the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor (and since the Philippines is on the other side of the international date line, this was technically December 8 rather than December 7). Japanese forces had expected the Philippines to fall as quickly as British and Dutch forces did in Hong Kong, Malaya, Singapore, and modern Indonesia, but thanks primarily to the sacrificial and committed service of Philippine soldiers (around 120,000), along with a smaller force of U.S. soldiers (around 30,000). With their air force destroyed in the initial attack, and no reinforcements coming from the United States due to the losses at Pearl Harbor, this force fought a rearguard action against the Japanese which tied them down on the Bataan Peninsula for five months. The invading Japanese forces punished the nearly 100,000 Filamerican captured soldiers on the brutal Bataan Death March.

The Bataan campaign had been coordinated from Corregidor by General Douglas MacArthur. After the fall of Bataan on April 12, 1942, Corregidor became the last bastion of Filamerican forces, and was subjected to merciless bombing. The small force remaining on Corregidor took refuge in the Malinta Tunnel under the island's central mountain, a smoke-filled space crowded with generals, Philippine politicians, and the dead and wounded.

Effects of Japanese bombing, inside Malinta Tunnel

Romulo (standing) with Philippine Commonwealth
president Manuel Quezon in Malinta Tunnel.

The Philippine politician I study, Carlos P. Romulo, served as General MacArthur's press officer during this period, and writes memorably in his book, I Saw the Fall of the Philippines, about the difficulties of this experience--as well as the eccentricities of MacArthur, who would stand outside during Japanese bombing raids, smoking his corncob pipe, firm in his belief that he was divinely ordained to survive and lead a Filamerican victory. MacArthur had been furious with FDR for choosing not to send reinforcements to the Philippines--though MacArthur also deserves blame for leaving the entire U.S. air defense on their runways after reports of the Pearl Harbor attack came in, allowing the Japanese to destroy nearly every U.S. plane without a fight. MacArthur did lead a victory, of a sort; when he evacuated to Australia (against his will), he promised, "I will return." He did return, with Filamerican forces, in 1944, but only after thousands and thousands of casualties, a brutal Japanese occupation, and the near total destruction of Manila.

Pacific War Memorial

Altar within the rotunda

Corregidor finally fell to the Japanese on May 5, 1942. Not surprisingly, the story of Corregidor has not been forgotten in the Philippines, though most Americans likely have never heard of Bataan or Corregidor. The U.S. government funded a Pacific War Memorial on the island, with a rotunda where the sun shines down onto the central altar at noon on May 5 to commemorate the surrender.

I am glad that the U.S. government funded this structure, but I wish that more Americans knew about and remembered Bataan and Corregidor. It reminds us of the immense debt we owe, not only to U.S. servicemen, but to Philippine forces as well. Without their sacrifices on Bataan and Corregidor, the fight to retake the Pacific from the Japanese would have been much more difficult--and Australia might have fallen to Japan. In a time when 'America First' returns to the U.S. vocabulary, it is critically important to remember and honor the Americans and Filipinos who gave the last full measure of devotion--but to my mind, especially the Filipinos, who defended a United States they considered their occupier, and which had abandoned their country to the enemy in the interest of 'Europe First.'

Corregidor is the final resting place not only of Filipinos and Americans, but of Japanese as well. In the 1990s, the unmarked graves of Corregidor's Japanese casualties were finally identified, and a small memorial set up by the Japanese government. Also found was a flag used by the Japanese force defending the island when Filamerican forces retook it in February 1945. Rather than villains, I hope we can remember and mourn these Japanese soldiers, too, as the victims of a war machine which engulfed the entire world from 1914 until 1945.

Today, Corregidor is a beautiful island, quiet and still. As tensions return to Southeast Asia, with another rising power challenging U.S. power and its allies, I pray that Corregidor remains quiet and still.

The island's characteristic eastern 'tail'

Looking up the mountain ridge which dominates Corregidor

If you ever visit the Philippines, I would encourage you to take the day trip from Manila, which takes you by ferry to the island for a walking and bus tour, lunch, and then gets you back by the afternoon. You won't regret it.

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The video is a bit somber today, but I think this is appropriate.