Brave Warriors

 

            When the Japanese military occupied the Philippines in 1942, they declared the end of suffering and the beginning of a new era of prosperity to the Filipino people. As the Filipinos continued to witness and experience the Japanese military's atrocities, such promises could not be taken seriously. Filipinos watched the captured Filipino and American soldiers during the so-called Bataan Death March during the early years of the Japanese occupation. For the Filipinos, seeing exhausted and sick soldiers was an experience that triggered a collective emotion that the Japanese dismissed. The Japanese continued to assert power by attempting to control Filipino society, despite the fact that there were pressing issues to be concerned about.

 

The Japanese military took a number of steps to address the apparent challenges in the Philippines. Despite the restoration of these outlets for expression, they were still subject to Japanese censorship. The primary goal of the cultural campaigns was to divert attention away from the Japanese occupation's apparent hardships and suffering. It mandated the nation to participate in Filipino and Japanese customs and holidays. These programs, loathed by the Filipinos, were implemented through the help of mass censorship and close surveillance. Overall, the Japanese control mechanisms were necessary tools for dealing with the challenges the Japanese faced in the Philippines.

Despite the Japanese authoritarian nature, Filipino creativity flourished, strengthening national unity. During the occupation, such solidarity helped Filipinos find their voice. The people's unwavering desire for independence is reflected in their determination to oppose a new ruler. As a new occupier in the Philippines, the Japanese faced the task of decolonizing the country by eradicating Anglo-American influence, as well as reorienting the people to Asiatic ideas and customs by uprooting a pre-western identity or regional association.

Filipinos opposed the Japanese occupation by empathizing with the soldiers from the United States. Filipinos demonstrated their empathy for the captured soldiers by providing emotional support, food, and assistance in escaping captivity. Overall, the majority of anti-Japanese protests had to be carried out quietly and covertly, especially in areas where the Japanese were present. Otherwise, the Japanese would have punished the Filipinos who carried out these acts of resistance.

 

Filipinos are depicted as brave, kind, and creative in their expressions of resistance to the Japanese occupation, a time of censorship, uncertainty, and hardship, emulating a variety of human reactions. Filipinos demonstrated their bravery by risking their lives, their kindness by giving what little they had and their creativity by going beyond the traditional definitions of communication. Finally, while the Japanese occupation of the Philippines left a scar on many Filipinos, I believe that these scars will serve as a reminder that Filipinos' collective efforts to rise up against the oppressive, authoritarian Japanese was a historic moment in which the people aspired to take control of their nation's destiny.