![]() ![]() In 2015, the government of the Philippines sent a team of archivists to the United States to digitize the collections due to time and financial constraints, they only digitized the guerrilla roster (about 270 boxes and 270,000 documents). for documents that would help veterans prove their eligibility for compensation. Retired Major General Antonio Taguba was key to the effort to release these records, pressing the Army and the V.A. ![]() ![]() It was only in 2009, after the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund was established, that the guerrilla roster was declassified. Further, it meant it was impossible for these veterans to claim benefits. This meant that the thousands of Filipino men and women who fought with the guerrillas had no documentation of their service. The Philippine Archives Collection, now housed at the U.S. More than 350,000 people, civilians and guerrillas, were interviewed by the RDP after the war. Documents produced during the war indicate the wartime paper shortage: records were often recorded on brown paper bags or on the backs of letters, sales receipts, court documents, and food labels. military records were much more organized, but the nature of the conflict in the Philippines, where most of the trained American military withdrew, leaving behind POWs and guerrilla fighters, meant that wartime records had to be assembled after-the-fact. The RDP records, especially those concerning guerrillas, are fascinating. They were also often the only records of Filipina women’s service in the war effort. The RDP’s records would be key to determining who had served in the war, and therefore who was owed pay, pensions and other benefits. The RDP was also tasked with gathering personal information on civilians employed by the Army during the war, guerrillas and POWs. and other Allied military and civilian personnel who had been captured by the Japanese. In June 1945, after the liberation of the Philippines, the Americans established the “Recovered Personnel Division” (RDP) to locate, recover and take care of U.S. Guerrillas depended on local civilians for food, shelter, and intelligence. Guerrillas sabotaged Japanese military equipment and infrastructure. They used the tools of guerrilla warfare: hit-and-run ambushes, sniper attacks, and kidnappings that targeted Japanese soldiers on patrol. ![]() Guerrillas collected intelligence and undermined the Japanese. The status of outlaw guerrilla groups was less clear. General MacArthur, from his command in Australia, declared that members of the organized guerrilla groups were part of the United States Armed Forces of the Far East (USAFFE). Some units allowed women to serve many women served as nurses and filled other crucial non-combatant roles, though Filipina women did serve in combat roles, and at a higher rate than in many other theaters of the war. Many sought revenge against Japanese occupiers for their atrocities against Filipino civilians. military, but they mobilized peasants’ discontent toward their landlords and drew on the long tradition of Filipino nationalism that dated back to the revolution of the 1890s. They had little experience and few connections to the U.S. Others built guerrilla movements from the grassroots. armed forces and American soldiers who stayed behind. Such units included Filipinos trained by the U.S. military’s temporary headquarters in Australia. Some served in large and well-organized forces that functioned like armies and stayed in close contact with U.S. Because it was classified for almost 75 years, the guerrilla roster is little known by most Americans, but it’s a key part of the story of the war in the Philippines and the fight for justice and equity for Filipino veterans.Īs many as 260,000 Filipinos served as guerrillas during World War II. Among the most important and fascinating historical documents from World War II is the roster of Filipino guerrillas. ![]()
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