Authority 7

We wanted lasting peace, true democracy and justice. But after only a few months we had to realise that our hopes had not been fulfilled. Therefore we returned to the mountains to continue the struggle for the liberation of our country.

Rheinisches JournalistInnenbüro & Recherche International e.V. (2008): 100f.

Remedios Gomez-Paraiso (1919-2014) was a commander of the anti-Japanese Hukbalahap People's Liberation Army in the Philippines during World War II. Here about the "liberation" and reoccupation of the Philippines by the USA in 1944.

The Philippines was a Spanish colony from 1571 until, as an outcome of anti-colonial liberation struggle, it declared independence in 1898. However, its independence was not recognised, and in the ensuing Philippine-American War of 1899 to 1902, a fifth of the population lost their lives. The islands then became a US colony until 1942 when they were occupied by Japanese troops. The Anti-Japanese People's Liberation Army was the largest resistance movement in the Philippines and consisted of 30,000 fighters and 70,000 reservists. They collaborated with the US against the Japanese, but were a left-wing partisan group opposed to US colonial rule. According to writer Ricardo Trota Jose, 80% of Filipinos were either in the resistance or supported it ‘One million Filipinos fought in various guerrilla movements. The only problem was: there were not enough weapons. For twenty volunteers who went to the partisans, only one rifle came’ (rjb & ri 2008). The Philippines gained independence in 1946, but a US-friendly government was then installed. It was only in 1990, under President Corazon Aquino, that resistance fighters were finally recognised as such (Rheinisches Journalistenbüro & Recherche International 2008: 100f.).

*Rheinisches JournalistInnenbüro & Recherche International e.V. (2008): Die dritte Welt im zweiten Weltkrieg. Unterrichtsmaterialien zu einem vergessenen Kapitel der Geschichte.

1944