Yamashita surrender yarn refuted

BAGUIO CITY — Did the controversial General Tomoyuki Yamashita of the Japanese Imperial Army really surrender to the Americans or was he cornered by indigenous people and lowlanders of the North in his mountain hideaway in Ifugao?

According to Retired Brigadier General Restituto Aguilar of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) Memorial and Historical division, young Filipinos especially the students do not know what really happened leading to the surrender of the controversial Yamashita on 2 September 1945 near the end of World War II.

“The Americans wanted it known that they were the ones responsible for Yamashita’s surrender by making him sign surrender documents at Camp John Hay on 3 September 1945,” Aguilar said.

This, he pointed out, is far from the truth “and the young Filipinos of today do not know about the heroic deeds of Filipinos fighting the Japanese invaders.”

“It is unfortunate that even college students do not know that it was the Filipino guerillas composed of indigenous peoples and the lowlanders of the North who cornered the mountain in Kiangan, Ifugao where Yamashita was hiding,” he said.

Had the Japanese general famous as the “Tiger of Malaya” chose to stay in his cave and refuse to surrender, his men would have been slaughtered as their hideout was surrounded by the Filipino guerillas.

Aguilar said there is a big role that Filipino writers could play to correct history. He said the surrender of Yamashita was written by the Americans. Philippine 1st Vice President Michael Villarreal said that during the war, the media is with American General Douglas McArthur and the American soldiers so it is unfortunate that most of the documented historical events depict them as heroes.

Aguilar said they are thinking to partner with the Department of Education to correct history.

Aguilar revealed that the American government only recognized 270 thousand Filipino WWII veterans. He said there are around 200 thousand that are not being recognized. He added they are making steps to give due to them. He said at present, there are four thousand WWII veterans from the 100 thousand Filipino veterans.