Post
by John McKenna » Sun May 08, 2016 1:49 pm
I was impressed by the Guardian's willingness to rake over the old coals and show that under the cover of the hanging smoke, buried in the ashes, the embers of the Marcos regime still glow, and may soon burst back into flame.
The essential oil for political movements is, of course, money for the greasing of palms, so where the remaining bulk of the Marcos family fortune is hidden is of paramount importance. Yet, as the article explains, even after many years of dedicated effort by successive governments of the Philippines most of it remains unaccounted for and unrecovered.
There follows a second part of my chronology of the Philippines - one of the few places in the world not already organised into a state by the time European Imperialism and Colonialism reached it in the 16th c.
It may go some way towards helping to understand the actions of Ferdinand Marcos after he came to power postwar, since he would have been very aware of what happened in his country during WW II and had an Imperial Japanese model to copy -
In the late 1930s, Democratic Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt was only too glad to to get rid of Republican Gen. Douglas MacArthur - sending him to the American-controlled Philippines with responsibility for the readiness of American and Filipino troops.
On 22nd Dec. 1941, two weeks after attacking Pearl Harbor, the Empire of Japan invaded the Philippines. In Feb. Gen. MacArthur received a $500,000 award from Pres. Quezon for his "magnificent defence" of the Philippines. Gen. MacArthur violated US military regulations by accepting it. (Pres. Roosevelt knew of the award but did nothing about it.)
In March 1942, Gen. MacAthur and Pres. Quezon fled the Philippines, before the fall of Bataan in April and Corregidor in May, which resulted in the surrender of American and Filipino forces, by US Gen. J. Wainwright.
Historian Gavin Long, "MacArthur's leadership had fallen short of what might have been expected... "
Historian Ronald Spector, "MacArthur might have justifiably been relieved (of command)".
Instead MacArthur became a hero and a legend... lionised by the American press as "the Lion of Luzon", Roosevelt awarded him the Medal of Honor for "the heroic conduct of the defensive and offensive operations of the Bataan Peninsula", which he had visited only once, briefly, during the invasion.
In early May 1942, 5 months after Pearl Harbour, the Empire of Japan controlled most of East Asia. Despite this military tactical success the ensuing economic strategy was a disaster - unemployment, inflation, hoarding and hunger all rose dramatically. Rice became as precious as gold.
[The only way Japan could continue to finance its war effort was to loot and plunder the lands it had conquered. Banks were plundered, factories stripped, temples, churches and mosques looted of their priceless relics, museums and wealthy homes relieved of their treasures. Most of the items made of gold were melted down and turned into bars and ingots, except for some of the priceless objects such as the solid-gold Buddhas, which represented a 1,000 years worth of accumulated wealth for the leading sects.]
Until the end of 1942 the 'proceeds' from SE Asia were accumulated in Jakarta, Rangoon, Penang and Singapore then shipped to Manila en route to Japan. Merchant ships painted to resemble hospital ships were used to transport it.
In early 1943 a US submarine blockade of Japan became effective , which meant a huge quantity of looted treasure was unable to move from the Philippines to Japan. It was trucked from the warehouses of Manila Bay and hidden in the catacombs of the old Spanish forts on the eastern edge of Manila.
In April 1943 in the Indian Ocean, off the island of Madagascar, the Japanese I-29 and German U-180 submarines rendezvoused to effect an exchange of passengers and cargo. Several tons of gold were included, to cover the cost of German technology destined for Japan. Other Japanese bullion shipments were made by submarine to Europe and South America and deposited in overseas branches of Swiss banks.
In June 1944, a few weeks after the D-Day landings in Normandy, a large Japanese submarine, the I-52, was sunk by US aircraft in the Bay of Biscay as it made its way to the huge German submarine base at Lorient on the French coast. Included in its cargo, of roughly 100 tons, was 2 tons of gold to pay for a return shipment of German war materials and technology.
[In mid-May 1945 the German submarine U-234. en route to Japan, obeyed the general order to surrender and was escorted to naval base of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, by the US Navy. Included in her 240 tons of valuable cargo were a Me 262 jet fighter (crated in parts that were later assembled and then flown by the Americans), and 10 cases of uranium oxide - weighing a total of 560 kg. - consigned to the Imperial Japanese Army. It has been written that the radioactive material, if mixed with dust or ash and packaged with conventional explosives, could have been made into 'dirty' nuclear bombs for use in the defence of the Japanese home islands in the event of their invasion.]
By early 1945 the forces of the returning hero, Gen. MacArthur, secured control of the Philippines, which were to be the main base from where an army of 5 million troops would invade Japan in Nov.
On 10th Aug. 1945 after the two atomic attacks, on the cities of Hiroshima & Nagasaki and the declaration of war (at the behest of Roosevelt & Churchill) on Japan by Stalin's USSR - despite an existing neutrality treaty - the Empire of Japan announced it would cease fighting and surrender. The Emperor of Japan confirmed this in an unprecedented public radio broadcast to the nation on 15th Aug. 1945, officially ending WW II.
On July 4, 1946 the Commonwealth of the Philippines was given its independence by the USA and the Republic of the Philippines was born.
Ferdinand Marcos later claimed, when running for political office, that he had been active as an officer in the anti-Japanese Filipino forces. US archives fail to lend support to his claim of being very 'active'.
Last edited by John McKenna on Mon May 09, 2016 12:42 am, edited 2 times in total.
