Allow me to share some important historical facts about the liberation of Dumaguete from the Japanese occupation forces.
April 26, 1945 is considered today as Liberation Day of Dumaguete. On this day, the guerrilla forces of the 7th Military District, headed by Col. Salvador Abcede from the south, and the American forces of the 164th Infantry Regiment (Company A and B) converged in Dumaguete to liberate its people.
The situation at that time is best described by a Chinese eyewitness who detailed in his diary what transpired on that day:
“On the morning of the liberation day, there was an air raid by the American planes. The whole city was affected because of the noise. But the Japanese soldiers had long silently evacuated to the mountains through earlier preparations. The only people left are the city dwellers… Then the guerrillas came to the city to terrify the people and tell them to evacuate. Their purpose was to raid the people’s property. While people were on their way to evacuate (reaching the part where the bridge stands), some guerrillas blocked their way and asked whatever items they can get like jackets, foods, etc.
Most of the Chinese didn’t evacuate because they received underground news that there is no danger to remain in the city and that it is much better to stay. While the guerrillas were terrorizing the civilians who prepared to evacuate, a spy from the northern line of the province reported that the Americans has [sic] landed. That the Americans ordered the people to stay put in the city and not be afraid because they are going to pacify the city when they arrive.
About noon time when the air raid stopped, Americans were seen coming from the north. All the people came out of their hiding places to welcome the Americans. The inhabitants were really overjoyed. A part of the people opened their doors to welcome them into their houses. Some Chinese women and children even prepared tea and whatever they have for them to eat. (As was seen by my father) a Chinese woman knelt before a soldier in the act of worshipping an image just so to express her gratitude and thanks.
Americans showed love and concern for the inhabitants, they gave out things like candies, cigarettes, etc. It was as if the world had suddenly been brightened from a period of darkness.
When the Americans were stationed in the city, they sent their soldiers to the mountains to look for the Japanese soldiers who were then hiding. They went by batch day and night. Some brave Chinese youth even accompanied the American soldiers help bring their supplies and guide them through the mountain trails. At first, the Japanese continued to retaliate and many were killed or injured. Some American soldiers were also injured.
Between 2-3 weeks, there could still be heard the noisy bombs from the mountains where American planes were flying over every day to act as supervisor for the soldiers on foot who were searching the Japs soldiers.
After 1 month, the remaining Japanese soldiers came down to the city to surrender formally. American ships then transport the Japanese troops to Manila where they may be sent back to Japan.
2-3 months later, the city was now in order; transportation and communication were revived; Chinese and other businessmen started to open stores; Americans established a free-of-charge service hospital to the general public (located at Hibbard Hall); many were sick then, so this was a great help.”
On hindsight, the American forces really did not expect the Japanese forces in Dumaguete to hold out in the hinterlands of Luzuriaga [now Valencia] and Zamboanguita until September 1945. As a result, there were quite a few American soldiers who were killed as they pursued the Japanese forces in unfamiliar and difficult terrain at Cuernos de Negros. They eventually stopped pursuing the Japanese by June 1945, and delegated the task to the guerrillas thereafter, as they focused on the next mission, which was the land invasion of Japan (which eventually did not push through as Japan surrendered after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).
Suffice to say, there are many stories about the liberation of Dumaguete from Japanese occupation on 26 April 1945, but not much is known about the details of the Japanese retreat from Dumaguete to the hinterlands of Luzuriaga and Zamboanguita. Thus, allow me to narrate what happened, and how the Japanese clandestinely retreated from Dumaguete to Luzuriaga.
There were two batches of Japanese forces who retreated to the hinterlands of Luzuriaga. The first batch of Japanese troops to retreat consisted of around 500 soldiers — including the CO of the 174th Independent Infantry Battalion, Colonel Satoshi Oie.
On 21 March 1945, they started to withdraw from the garrison in Daro, and proceeded across the Ocoy River. They then went up to Datag area, and on the next day, they went down to Pulangbato where they crossed the river into Ambacan, Buyog, Cantamse, Cambangcas, and the Odlumon areas.
The first 500 Japanese troops then stayed around there for more than a month — sending foraging patrols for food in the nearby barrios; twhich also led to the killing of many local civilians, not to mention the looting and burning of their houses as the Japanese went on a violent killing spree from barrio to barrio.
On the last days of March 1945, there were only approximately 700 Japanese troops who remained in Dumaguete area. Most of them [they would consist the second batch] would travel gradually to the secured area in the hinterlands of Luzuriaga, using the Dumaguete-Palimpinon Road.
These Japanese troops, according to Maj. Galicano Sibala, were able to break through the gap as a result of the withdrawal of the 2nd Battalion [of the 75th Infantry Regiment] under Capt. Demetrio Alviola on the western part of Dumaguete.
Consequently, Colonel Abcede, CO of the 7th Military District, relieved Maj. Ceferino Galvez, CO of the 73rd Provisional Division, under which the 75th Infantry Regiment belonged, due to the failure to block the movement of Japanese troops to Luzuriaga. He was immediately replaced by Maj.Galicano Sibala.
On 26 April 1945, the day Dumaguete was liberated by the American and guerrilla forces, the last group of Japanese troops, around 200 of them — together with BC members, collaborators, spies, informers, interpreters, and so on, retreated to the hinterlands of Luzuriaga. They started from the garrison just above Angatan, and went westward — passing through Batinguel and Candau-ay — until they reached the area where the previous group had secured.
With the arrival of the last group of Japanese troops, their strength in the secured area eventually reached around 1,200. Weeks of intense fighting followed after two American battalions from the 164th Infantry Regiment and the local guerrillas of the 7th Military District pursued the Japanese troops in the hinterlands of Luzuriaga.
By 24 May 1945, the Japanese forces broke through the guerrilla lines, passing through Colabtingon, then through Balasbalas, passing west of Cuernos de Negros, and eventually coming out in the mountains above Zamboanguita, known as the Tibanlan-Langob area. There, the Japanese troops under Colonel Oie dug defense positions, and held their ground from May 27 to Sept. 20, 1945.
The American troops of the 164th Infantry Regiment stopped pursuing the Japanese forces by mid-June 1945 as they were ordered to travel to Cebu in preparation for the possible invasion of Japan. The guerrillas then were left with the task of pursuing the remaining Japanese troops in the hinterlands of Zamboanguita.
Suffice it to say, the Japanese forces surrendered by 22 September 1945 not necessarily because of the pressures from the guerrilla forces, but more so because they had learned about the formal surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945. They requested no guerrilla forces to be present during the surrender ceremony as they were afraid of them; they thought it would be much safer to surrender to the American forces.
The instinct of the Japanese forces was right to some extent, as some of the guerrillas from Negros Oriental became quite hostile to spies, informers, and collaborators after the war.
Vendettas against fellow Filipinos who collaborated with the Japanese forces [especially the military collaborators] became a common occurrence after the war.
Consequently, a few American troops had to stay for a while in Dumaguete and other parts of Negros Oriental to maintain peace and order. But more importantly, they stayed in Dumaguete to help mollify the food supply problem that beset the Dumagueteños and other Oriental Negrenses during and more so, after the war.
More on the food supply problem in my next column.
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Author’s email: [email protected]
