 The National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated stations present the Pacific story. This is the story of the Pacific. The drama of the millions of people who live around this greatest sea, where the United States is now committed to a long-term policy of securing the peace. This is the background story of the events in the Pacific. And they're meaning to us and to the generations to come. Tonight's Pacific story comes to you as another public service. With drama of the past and present, and commentary by Bert Seiler. For 18 years, a resident of Manila, NBC representative in the Philippines, and a prisoner of the Japanese throughout the war. Fireworks in the Philippines. He was in the battered Malacanian palace in Manila. A bunch of other correspondents were there last February. President Sergio Osminer came in first. Looks like he is worried, Jesse. Yeah, well, I guess he's got reason to worry. Yeah. Then General Douglas MacArthur came in. Oh, he isn't losing any time. He's hardly clear the last Japanese soldier out of Manila, and here he is. MacArthur's going to speak. On behalf of my government, I now solemnly declare the full powers under the Philippine Constitution are restored to the Commonwealth. I wonder as I stood there, what's going to happen now? And Barton standing beside me seemed to have about the same idea. Osminer's really got his hands full, Jesse. And not only Osminer. Oh, the whole country. The question is, who's going to run the country? You got me. It would be the reactionaries or the liberals, the collaborators or those who didn't collaborate, the old gang or the new gang. Who runs a country when it's in political and economic and social chaos? The Philippines were prostrate. The roads were destroyed. The bridges over the rivers were destroyed. The railroads were destroyed. The communications were destroyed. Yeah. And what about the Macapeles and the Hukbalahops? Back in the hills beyond the desolation of Manila were tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of Filipinos who, during the course of the war and some of them before, had organized into groups. Groups like the Macapeles. The Macapeles are traitors, all 20,000 of them. Many of them are veterans, so they're fighting on baton. Yes. But after they were captured, they went over to the Japanese side. They took up the Japanese propaganda about the Great East Asia and they even wore Japanese uniforms. What could they do? I didn't listen to the Japanese. I was a guerrilla. There were many kinds of guerrillas too. Those who helped the Japanese like the Macapeles are traitors. There can never be unity until the traitors are exterminated. This bitterness seeds. And there are the Hukbalahops or hooks as they are called. We are the true patriots. That is why we call ourselves the Hukbalahops. Hukbalahop means people's anti-Japanese army. Only 150,000 of us resisted the Japanese all through the war. We were so strong that the Japanese sent an expedition into Lausanne to destroy us. But they did not destroy us. No, because we had good leaders. Oh, yes, the Hukbalahop leaders. Avasantos, a socialist, was one of the organizers. The Japanese killed Avasantos. Then Luis Taruk became our leader. Luis Taruk was a labor leader. Taruk was put into prison. Then there was Dr. Vicente Lava. Dr. Lava was our political advisor. Dr. Lava was a professor of political science at the University of Manila. He saw we were right. That is why he joined us. The Hukbalahop was launched after the fall of Batan. People in the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Talak, Bulacan, and Laguna and in a few other provinces organized to resist in their own way the occupation of the Japanese. They became a military as well as political factor wherever they operated. We recognize that we cannot set up a government against the government of the Philippines. But now there is no government. But the puppet government in Manila. This is what the Huk leaders said while the war was still on. And when the war had ended, they still resisted. It is not that we are unwilling to give up our military organization. But why should we, who never start fighting the Japanese, have to give in to the arbitrary orders of the Philippine Army which did give up to the Japanese? Yes, and why have so many of our leaders been arrested? What is the charge against them? Why are they not brought to trial? The Huk Balahaps and the Makapeles blood enemies are just two of the groups. There are others. And still more important, there are the collaborators. The passing days have made the issue between the guerrillas and the collaborators no clearer. It must be remembered, there were good collaborators and bad collaborators. There is only one kind of collaborator, as far as I am concerned. The kind that collaborated with the Japanese. Some of those who collaborated did more for the Philippines than the guerrillas who did not collaborate. Yes. Yes. Some of those who collaborated for the good of the Philippines were in greater danger among the Japanese than the guerrillas who were out in the mountains. It has become a question of how a collaborator collaborated and how much he collaborated. Those who did not collaborate, remember the wartime statements of many of those who did collaborate. I shall do all in my power to cooperate with Japan. I am filled with regret when I think how I opposed Japan for so many years. I hope that the time will come when the planes in the sky will be piloted by young Filipinos, fighting side-by-side with the Japanese against the Americans. These statements rankle in the Filipinos who did not collaborate and they itch to take measures against those who did collaborate. Martin and I stood there in the Malacanian and watched MacArthur and Asminya shake hands. Well, Asminya will hold office at least until a new election is called. But there's likely to be some fire wish before that. Yeah. A lot of the nationalist party politicos have scrammed and that's good to make some difference. Yeah. The way I see it, it's going to be a scramble to get on the bandwagon and then watch what happens with a matter of independence next July 4th. The matter of independence has been a political issue in one way or another ever since the United States moved into the Philippines at the turn of the century. Quezon and Asminya, in their various ways, made political capital of independence. But meantime, there's the problem of who did what in the Philippines during the occupation by the Japanese. Asminya and two others, Andres Soriano and Manuel Rojas, are top men in the nationalist party. Soriano is a fascist. Many Filipinos who were away from Manila, fighting in the hills all during the war, remember Soriano's record before the war. Soriano is a Spaniard, not a Filipino. He is one of the richest men in the Philippines. He ran breweries and mines and ice cream and soft drink companies. And he used his money where it would do the most good. Soriano was a man of wide influence. Yes, he was president of the Falangist Club in Manila. He was the leader of the Falangist movement in the Philippines. And he was proud to be called the honorary council of the Franco government in Manila. Just a minute. You never hear him speak of Franco or the Falangist today, do you? Well, Quezon made him secretary of finance in the refugee government, didn't he? Well, and he was commissioned in the United States Army, a colonel, wasn't he? And after MacArthur returned to Haiti, he was on MacArthur's staff, wasn't he? Let us judge him by his record. But more important in the national picture is Manuel Rojas, a master politician, a smooth talker, even a clever and inspiring talker. Rojas knows his way around in politics. He's been in it a quarter of a century. He knows how to talk to the common man, the pitifully poor peasant and the equally poor city worker. He's caught the imagination of the younger element of the nationalist party. But many of the gorillas point to his war record. Rojas surrendered in Mindanao even though he knew that other Filipino officers had said they would fight on. He could do nothing else. He helped draw up the constitution of the puppet government. He did that to prevent a dictatorial government which would give the Japanese even greater powers. Yes, that is what he said. But he became secretary without portfolio in the puppet government. He could not keep the Japanese from appointing him, but he did not attend the cabinet meetings. What about the declaration of war of the puppet government on the United States? Rojas did not attend the meeting of the cabinet and the council of state that made the declaration. But he did write a statement to the puppet president saying that if the Japanese asked for a declaration for war on the United States, to sign the declaration. He made this statement under duress. That's what a lot of Filipinos are saying about Rojas. Others remember other things. Rojas was really the leader of all the resistance of the Filipinos against the Japanese. He served where he could do most for his people. He tried to keep from serving by pretending to be sick, but Tojo sent his own personal doctor to see him. Also, Rojas never cast the 10,000 peso check which the Japanese sent to him and to all the other members of the commission as a gift. And after the Americans landed, he escaped from the custody of the Japanese and came over to the American side. So, Rojas has become a top leader in the Philippines. Strong enough to pull himself up out of the political chaos and challenge Osmania for the leadership of the nation. That's probably one of the reasons Osmania is so poker-faced. Osmania knows what he's facing in Rojas. Don't forget, Osmania has come up the hard way. Yeah. He did pretty well, even against the competition of Quezon. You know what that was. Quezon was brilliant and dynamic. He was a showman. Osmania is quiet and colorless. But he still was Quezon's strongest opponent. And Quezon was smart enough to join forces with him rather than oppose him. Osmania was the man who accused Quezon of trying to be a dictator. And he was the man who got an independence bill out of Washington, D.C. before Quezon did. Only Quezon knocked it out and then got his own independence bill. Quezon wanted the credit. Osmania never gives up. He took second place when he joined forces with Quezon and became vice president in 1935. Quezon himself knew the strength of Osmania. He is, by nature, an evolutionist. I am a revolutionist. He always built on the path. I always wanted to jump. Inspired by our rebellious spirit. I always moved in a hurry, never satisfied. I always wanted to go without looking back. Well, he always looked ahead but never forgot what was behind. It was only for this reason that we clashed. But there was never any fundamental difference in our aims. So it has always been possible for us to join hands again. Yes, Osmania took second place to Quezon. But at last he became president anyway. And he organized his government on the basis of full post-war cooperation with the United States. And that may be one of the things bothering him now. The old question of independence is still an issue. Osmania has for years talked about independence. But is he for independence on July 4th, 1946? The situation has changed. We have gone through a war. And now he may be for the same kind of arrangement that will continue our trade relations. We cannot have that. Independence is all we have to look forward to. We are common people. If we can continue with the same trade relations we have had with it. The only way we can be free of landlords and all they mean is to have independence. As long as the United States is in the Philippines, the landlords will still be in power. Yes, the old question of independence is still an issue. With no Filipino politician at this time daring to come out against it, but nearly all of them having reservations about it. Osmania with one point of view, Rojas with another. What would I tell you, Jessup? Rojas is not coming out flat-footed for independence on July 4th, 1946. Probably not. Not a chance. There'll be some waltzing around the Mulberry bush. And Rojas will turn out to be for some kind of interdependence with the United States, rather than out and out independence. The rank and file of Filipinos who are not Rojas' followers will have opinions about that. We must have independence. If we have any other kind of relations with the United States it will mean that the interest who today run the Philippines will continue to run the Philippines. These are the ones who have profited under the American rule ever since the Americans came. And they are the ones who profited while the Japanese were here. Their whole can only be broken by independence. Well, there's been some fancy footwork in the Philippines since MacArthur restored the powers of the Constitution to the Commonwealth in the Malacanian last spring. And a good deal of the plot calling the kettle black. The politically astute, those who look to the future and hope for some part in the running of the state went to some pains to clear their skirts. Those who were eager to appear not to have soil skirts. And the political pot boil. Our hope in this new democratic alliance is to unite all the liberals. A new political party with the hook Balahab says its nucleus began to take form. We resisted the Japanese from the beginning to the end. The Philippines should be run by those who resisted. It must be our objective to fight those who collaborated and never stop fighting them. What about the reactionaries? They are as bad as the collaborators. And we will oppose them too. The only way we can triumph over the reactionaries and the collaborators is to be strong. And this way will be. Let us make the democratic alliance the voice of the common people of the Philippines against the nationalist clique who have too long run the Philippines for their expressed benefit. Some call the democratic alliance communist. They pointed to those they said were communists. Is Vicente Lava a communist? No. He left the nationalist party because of the collaborationist policies of some of its leaders. Lava was the former professor of political science in the University of Manila. The man who was one of the leaders of the hook Balahabs and who fought for three years as a gorilla. We will support the men who are for the Philippines and oppose those who are self seekers. The democratic alliance kept a close watch as one after another the members of the puppet government were arrested. They kept tab of the arrest of Claro M. Recto, minister of foreign affairs. Rafael Alunan, minister of agriculture and commerce. Jose Yulo, chief justice of the Supreme Court. Antonio De Los Alas, minister of finance. Teofilo Cison, minister of the interior. And Quentin Paredes, minister of justice. They have been confined and will be turned over to the government of the Philippines for trial. Let us do all we can to see that we have a voice in the government when these men are tried. The war has awakened the interest of many who before the war were indifferent to politics. I talked to some members of the democratic alliance. Rojas is splitting with Osmania. There is more to this than appears on the surface. Things like this. Rojas thinks it is no longer to his advantage to support Osmania. Osmania has become a catchball for the reactionaries. Could it be that Rojas is trying to make capital of the belief that Osmania has lost some of his popularity? Osmania has slowed down. With the confusion in Philippine politics, he's afraid to make decisions. Rojas is not. Rojas may be climbing on the bandwagon because he has plans of his own. Rojas has the popular support of most of the Nationalist Party. You nationally should give some thought to splitting the Nationalist Party between Osmania and Rojas. There is no possibility of splitting the party if Rojas is its leader. So the season ones watch the political scene and make their decisions. Way of the democratic alliance will not have enough strength by the time the election comes to put up a candidate with any chance of winning against either Rojas or Osmania. No. In this election, we must support Vanessa Ebel. Yes. But isn't there a possibility that the Nationalist, to avoid splitting their party, might put up Osmania for a second term as president and run Rojas as vice president? There is. For the people of the Philippines, this would be bad. Yes. Then Way would have either Osmania for another time or he could resign soon after the inauguration. And Way would have Rojas for president. Well, on September 1st, the military participation in the civil administration of the Philippines ended. That meant that the Filipinos were, for all practical purposes, back running their own show. Paul McNutt came back, of course, as high commissioner, but the main job, not only of cleaning up the rubble, but straightening out the affairs of the Philippines, was in the hands of the Osmania government. And this was another headache, a matter of the members of the legislature against the administration. Why doesn't Osmania call the legislature together? The administration is supposed to be responsible to us as representatives of the people. Many members of the legislature have war records that are not good. We cannot permit these congressmen and senators to convene and pass laws favorable to themselves. We must wait for the election. When the legislature did meet, some hot words were thrown around. I say that the president himself has profited from the work of one of his sons. And this son has the cause of collaboration over him. The thing of pointing was still going on, but though some measures were taken against collaborators, the issues were too confused for any clear-cut action. So there was temporizing. That is, until a firm message came from Washington, D.C. It is from Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes. Yes? What does it say? It says that unless turner action is taken against collaborationists before the coming election, the United States might stop helping the Philippines. Might stop? How can we take action against a man when he has the support of some of the most influential politicians? It didn't take us many a long to reply to Ickes' warning. He promised quick, convictous prosecution of all Filipinos accused of collaboration. The guerrillas were willing to point them out, but so were the collaborators, one against the other, each to save himself. And out of it all came involved discussions about what constitutes collaboration and what is collaboration and what is not. In meantime, there were the pressing problems of relief and rehabilitation. See what Truman said in Washington, Joseph? What did he say? He says it would be neither just nor fair to the loyal people of the Philippines to proclaim their independence until a necessary program of rehabilitation has been worked out. He's got something there. Yeah. He says here that he will not even consider advancing the defense of the Philippines. Well, he shouldn't. That meant that first things would be handled first. The matter of feeding the people, getting some of their communications in working order, straightening out the currency mix-up and rooting out the black market. We are capable of taking care of ourselves. Roosevelt said that we would get our independence as soon as we were liberated. All were not willing to wait. We need help, yes. Our people need food. Our people need food. Our country needs to be rebuilt. But the longer the United States is here, the more entrenched the old interest will be. The old political ferment was boiling up again and with it all the issues that have been part of the Filipino political scene for the last half century. Independence, tariffs, trade relations and all the rest in a hundred more and the patience of the rank and file rubbed raw by the war. Well, in November, Washington asked the United States to hold a Philippine election before April 30th, 1946. Now it's a matter of the United States approving. That means that they'd elect a president and vice president and a flock of congressmen and senators, doesn't it? That's right. April 30th, eh? Yes. That would give the new administration just about two months before the inauguration on July 4th. That's right. Well, Jessup, that's going to be more cooking politically between now and election day than ever before. I've got an idea, all considered, that these are going to be the most important months in the history of the islands. I've got an idea. You're right. Torn by war and facing the difficult days of reconstruction, at the same time it emerges as a nation in its own right, troublesome times lie ahead for the Philippines. To tell the significance of what is today happening in the Philippines, the national broadcasting company presents Bert Silen for 18 years, a resident of Manila, a radio representative of NBC in the islands, and a prisoner of the Japanese from the fall of the Philippines. The next voice you hear will be that of Mr. Silen. We switch you now to San Francisco. Yes, we do have our problems in the Philippines. I was there when the Japanese invaders destroyed its cities and farms and was well on the way to destroying its people when the American forces of liberation swarmed over the islands. I saw 25 square miles of the beautiful city of Manila razed to the ground. Today the Philippine government is bankrupt. The bridges and highways of Luzon, Cebu and Panay are blasted to dust and bits of rusted steel. All of the inner island ships were commandeered by the American Army and Navy in the hectic days after Pearl Harbor and then were sunk by the Japs. There are no telephones, gas, electricity, automobiles, and a dozen other normal necessities of life. Before the war, American goods of all kinds were used by the Filipinos, much as we here in this country know and use them. Through American education, for instance, 16 million Filipinos were taught oral hygiene. Millions and millions of toothbrushes were on daily use. Since the war, though, I doubt if there are 100,000 toothbrushes left in the islands. The same holds true with hundreds of other items. Everything must be replaced. But there is another development, one that will affect the Filipinos future for generations to come. In accordance with law and the promise of the United States, the Philippines will become a free and independent nation on July the 4th, 1946. There is a political situation there that has all the attributes of a time bomb. Tremendous forces for good and evil are at work this very hour in those 7,000 aisles. Nearly a half million so-called guerrillas are bound and determined to have their say in any new government that may be set up there. They feel that they have earned the right to speak and speak loudly. And the pity of it is that some of these so-called guerrillas are not guerrillas at all. Call them opportunists just to be charitable. They are a bad lot, out for their own personal good, are armed to the teeth and virtually defy law and order. They must be handled carefully to avoid open hostilities, and their power in politics is very strong indeed. They do not approve any of the incumbent heads of the Commonwealth, and even doubt the acceptability of General Manuel Rojas as a potential president of the New Republic. General Rojas was in the field in Mindanao when the Japs came in, and it was he who surrendered the Filipino troops to the Japanese after General Wainwright ordered the surrender. He was then taken to Cabana Tawan and held there as a prisoner of war until about the time that the Japs were getting ready to give the Philippines their puppet independence. Because of his weakened condition, and no doubt his sincere desire to help his people, Rojas did collaborate in the drawing up of a constitution. He was the president of the convention when the Commonwealth constitution was created in 1935, so he knew something about what he was doing. For this act, he was branded a collaborator, but was later given a clean bill of health much to the disgust of some of the guerrilla element. The elections in April next year may decide the issue, although it appears now that a coalition may be formed between Rojas and President Ossmania to jointly take over the reins of government with the understanding that at due time, Ossmania will step aside and leave Rojas alone in the saddle. All of these conditions lead me to believe that unless we, the United States, take some drastic step before next July, independence for the Philippines will be a pretty empty gesture, more harmful than good, and might well lead to internal disruption bordering on civil war. I talked to hundreds of Filipinos last March while I was still in Manila, and hardly a one of them wanted independence now or in the near future. The first move, though, will have to come from the Filipinos themselves for any postponement of independence. The United States is too far committed to carry out the present plan for her to even suggest a change. The Philippines and the Philippines are pretty rough right now. Whether they get worse or better depends entirely on an open, friendly discussion of Philippine-American relations, and then some real constructive action on our part to take care of these people who were so loyal to the American cause during more than three years of terrible trial and hardship. Thank you, Mr. Bert Seilen. Presented by the National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated independent stations as a public service to clarify events in the Pacific and to make understandable across currents of life in the Pacific Basin. For a reprint of this Pacific Story program, send 10 cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. May I repeat? For a reprint of this Pacific Story program, send 10 cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. The Pacific Story is written and directed by Arnold Marcus. The original musical score was composed and conducted by Thomas Peluso. The principal voice was that of Arthur Gilmore. Programs in this series of particular interest to service men and women are broadcast overseas through the worldwide facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service. This program came to you from Hollywood. This is the National Broadcasting Company.