2nd World War

Japanese troops in Bohol

After about 40 years of American occupation in Bohol, another invader threatened to enslave the province in the pursuit its aims in Southeast Asia. Imperial Japan had deployed its forces throughout the country, and they did not spare Bohol, even it seemed one of the least important provinces.

With Cebu's surrender and occupation by Japanese forces in the early part of 1942, the Japanese went to Bohol, arriving at the towns closest to Cebu, the towns of Getafe and Inabanga. Getafe was bombed before its occupation, while Inabanga became the refuge of prominent Cebuanos and Chinese businessmen. Inabanga at that time was forested in many areas.

In the first weeks of the war, the Japanese seemed to have lost interest in Inabanga. So the residents, who had evacuated to the interior barrios, went back to the town and lived their lives as if there was no war going on elsewhere. But this lull did not last long. The Japanese returned with a ferocity and viciousness never before experienced by the residents.

The Japanese called the town leaders to a surprise meeting and there tied them up and hanged them a meter from the floor of the school building they had occupied, without food or water, continually beating them with a baseball bat.  The Japanese wanted to know the whereabouts of Gov. Hilario Abellana of Cebu, Congressman Pedro Lopez and Dalaguete Mayor, Jose Almagro, who were suspected of hiding in Inabanga's forests.

Many of them were eventually killed, their wives raped. A heavy patrol of Japanese and Filipino undercover, with local guides, were sent to the hiding places of the suspected Cebu officials. Finding no trace of the hunted persons, they massacred all they saw, including one of their guides.

The Japanese often tied up their victims to their houses, bayoneted them then burned their houses down. The women were often raped then killed.

Such tales of atrocities became common wherever the Japanese went that the peace-loving Boholanos resolved to resist. A few of them organized armed guerrilla  groups to fight against the invaders.

In the town of Guindulman, Esteban Bernido organized his own unit which later became the Bohol Area Command. Bernido would become Bohol governor in the post war era.

In Talibon, the hometown of the late Philippine President Carlos P. Garcia, a senator at that time, the local government appeared to function like in normal times. On July 4, 1942, the Japanese tried to capture Garcia but he escaped with his family to Leyte. The irate Japanese burned his house and tortured volunteer guard Cesario Avergonzado for giving them the wrong direction.

In the town of Sikatuna, there were three mayors. The first was Lucio Maghuyop, who was elected in the 1941 elections. However, when the Japanese came towards the end of 1942, Maghuyop was arrested by the guerillas, thinking that he was a collaborator. In his stead, Vice-Mayor Galicano Jasmin was installed by the guerillas. But the Japanese did not like Jasmin. So they put up Ponciano Toledo, a three termer mayor of the town.

Apart from this incident, peace reigned in the town of Sikatuna, and it was considered a haven for evacuees not only from neighboring towns but from Cebu as well. A famous evacuee was Don Mariano Jesus Cuenco who, after the war, became Senator and later, Secretary of Public Works.

It was in the small town of Loon where the resistance against the Japanese showed the Boholanos' courage and grit in the face of a better-armed force. The resistance was led by Vicente Cubero who called himself 'Capt. Francisco Salazar' and introduced himself to Lt. Juan "Aning" Relampagos, an officer of the USAFFE who did not surrender to the Japanese. The two met in a small boat going from Surigao to Bohol,  its final destination.

Salazar started his work as secret agent of the USAFFE, going to various places using other aliases and meeting with different individuals to discuss the resistance movement. At one time he met with Genaro Visarra, then a congressman in the 1st district, and Ismael Ingeniero, a lieutenant who organized a guerrilla unit with temporary headquarters at Maitum, Balilihan. Ingeniero would later on be recognized by MacArthur as the leader of the Bohol Area Command,

The celebrated ambush at Moalong, Loon happened on September 25, 1942 with Salazar, Lt. Vicente Nunag, Jr., Capt. Graciano Espinueva, Lt. Sales and Lt. Brigido Senano leading the group of guerrillas. They positioned themselves on an elevated area overlooking the road bend going up northwest at an intersection leading to Sandingan Island barrio where a bridge used to be. This was their first ambush, and the guerrillas were at an advantage.

In the aftermath of the skirmish, one of the two busloads of Japanese soldiers fell into the sea. By four o'clock in the afternoon, firing ceased on both sides. The enemy lost about 60 men in the nine-hour encounter, their two buses completely demolished, 27 guns captured, and several thousands of munitions, steel helmets and other war paraphernalia confiscated..

The ambush spurred the growth of the guerrilla organization. Within a remarkably short time, the organization had more than 1,000 soldiers and volunteers under Salazar's command.

Captain Salazar did not live to see the fruit of his struggles. He died during an encounter with Japanese forces in Ubujan, Tagbilaran on October 22, 1942.

American liberators pose for a souvenir shot after the Japs surrendered

The Japanese occupation of Bohol ended in 1945 after the Allied troops led by the American forces landed in Leyte in October 1945. With the liberation of L:eyte, Cebu and Bohol followed. The Japanese garrison in Tagbilaran,  more than 200 enemy became the target of American bombs, until they were forced to retreat to the heavily forested mountains of Valencia, Sierra-Bullones and Jagna.

A special unit of the Bohol Area Command  led by Major Nunag was formed to pursue them, together with the American troops. A few Americans died here, while most of the fleeing Japanese were either killed or captured. The war in Bohol officially ended on May 25, 1945.

References:
http://www.bohol.ph/mun44.html
http://www.bohol-philippines.com/inabanga-during-world-war-II.html
http://www.bohol-philippines.com/history-of-guindulman.html
http://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?action=printpage;topic=1112.0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikatuna,_Bohol
http://www.bohol-philippines.com/captain-francisco-salazar.html