A U.S. service member and several defense contractors were killed when a flight that was contracted by the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-defense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of Defense</a> crashed on Thursday in Asia.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said that the crash happened in the Philippine Province of Maguindanao del Sur.
&#8220;The aircraft was providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support at the request of our Philippine allies,&#8221; INDOPACOM said in a statement. &#8220;The incident occurred during a routine mission in support of U.S.-Philippine security cooperation activities.&#8221;
&#8220;We can confirm no survivors of the crash,&#8221; the statement added. &#8220;There were four personnel on board, including one U.S. military service member and three defense contractors. The names of the crew are being withheld pending next of kin notification.&#8221;
The military said that an investigation has already been launched into the cause of the accident and that updates will be released as they become available.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
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— U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (@INDOPACOM) <a href="https://twitter.com/INDOPACOM/status/1887563270787375149?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said that the plane that crashed was a smaller aircraft.
Officials in the area were notified of the crash after receiving reports that residents saw &#8220;smoke coming from the plane and heard an explosion before the aircraft plummeted to the ground less than a kilometer (about half a mile) from a cluster of farmhouses,&#8221; the Associated Press reported.
The U.S. military has been deployed in the Philippines for decades to help the Philippine military combat Islamic terrorists who are members of ISIS.

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Multiple Killed After Surveillance Flight Contracted By U.S. Military Crashes

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My Old Home

The Battle Of Luzon, Part 4: Victory And Aftermath

American General

Douglas MacArthur

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Japan

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World War II

To truly appreciate the tragedy that unfolded in Manila in 1945, one must consider that up until then the city had been nicknamed “The Pearl of the Orient.” Historian James Scott offers: “In the four decades leading up to World War II, Manila developed into a small slice of America in Asia, home not only to thousands of U.S. service members, but employees of companies like General Electric, Del Monte, and B.F. Goodrich. The city boasted a great quality of life, with department stores and social clubs, golf courses and swimming pools, all in a tropical setting, and at a fraction of the cost of living in the United States.”
Then in December 1941, the Japanese came.
Filthy, ragged, half-starved U.S. prisoners were paraded through the streets of Manila after their 1942 surrender. The sight of their more physically imposing former protectors being ignominiously herded along by diminutive Japanese soldiers was disillusioning. “Filipinos stood and watched in an agony of embarrassment,” recalled Manila journalist Nick Joaquin. “These were the God blessed Americans, supposedly invincible. Now here they were: mighty giants being herded rudely by little Jap soldiers. We would never recover from that loss of innocence.”
For the unlucky POWs, however, their three-year nightmare of criminally sadistic captivity was just beginning. 3,700 U.S. civilians were also caught up in the invasion; they would languish in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp, where they desperately ate dogs, cats, pigeons, rats, insects, anything to survive. On the eve of their liberation, the civilian prisoners starved to death at a rate of three to four per day. (MacArthur’s Philippine guerilla network informed him of this, hence his relentless drive to keep moving).
Believing their new Filipino subjects to be an inferior race, the Emperor’s troops had no qualms about looting food supplies and stores, while stealing vital farm equipment which left fields to rot. By the third year of Japanese occupation — with the exception of Japan’s puppet Filipino government officials and collaborators — starvation was rampant, killing some 500 civilians per day. Hordes of beggars roamed the streets; some went so far as to dig up graves to rob jewelry, watches, anything that could be bartered for a fistful of rice. Parents unable to feed their children might abandon or even sell them. (U.S. intelligence reported that by 1944, it cost less to buy a Filipino child than a hog).
<div id="attachment_856933" style="width: 719px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-856933" class="wp-image-856933 " src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/SC-202168-710x576.jpeg" alt="General MacArthur visits the ruins of the Manila hotel that was his pre-war home on Luzon, 23 February 1945. He is accompanied by Colonel James Corbett and two infantrymen, one armed with an M1 rifle. Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Naval History and Heritage Command." width="709" height="575" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/SC-202168-710x576.jpeg 710w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/SC-202168-300x243.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/SC-202168.jpeg 740w" sizes="(max-width: 709px) 100vw, 709px" />General MacArthur visits the ruins of the Manila hotel that was his pre-war home on Luzon, 23 February 1945. National Archives. Naval History and Heritage Command.</div>
On February 3, 1945, U.S. troops entered the capital. But they did not find an open city. Instead they faced a fortified urban center they would have to take block-by-block, street-by-street, even house-by-house. This came as a rude shock to their five-star commander. Having thoroughly outmaneuvered his enemy, MacArthur expected there to be few if any Japanese left in the area. Other than its sprawling port facilities, which could be demolished before evacuation to deny them to the Americans, the city held no strategic value, as MacArthur himself concluded in 1941 when he abandoned Manila for the more defensible jungle terrain of Bataan, declaring it an open city. Therefore, the notion that Yamashita, a first-rate commander, would choose to defend Manila perplexed him — and then, as the destruction and carnage mounted, infuriate him. But MacArthur’s assumptions had been correct; the Tiger of Malaya had no intention of fighting for the Philippine capital. 
Yamashita, however, was dealing with a problem that plagued the Japanese High Command throughout the war. That was the intense rivalry, even downright disdain, between the Imperial Army and Navy top brass. In the case of Manila, while Yamashita pulled most of his army troops out of the city before it was surrounded, some 20,000 Japanese sailors under the command of Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi remained behind to destroy Manila’s harbor.
Although still technically under Yamashita’s command, Iwabuchi and his men didn’t see it that way. They vowed to make a stand, spending the weeks prior to the enemy’s arrival throwing up hasty fortifications, sowing landmines, constructing pillboxes and tank traps. When the Americans approached, the Japanese in the besieged capital opted to get drunk and fight to the death. 
And the atrocities began.
<div id="attachment_856963" style="width: 717px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-856963" class="wp-image-856963 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-273406-707x576.jpeg" alt="Liberation of Manila, 1945. Stretcher party brings out a wounded U.S. soldier, following an attack by U.S. troops to liberate Filipino prisoners in the walled city, 23 February 1945. Note wrecked buildings. Catalog #: 80-G-273406. National Archives. Naval History and Heritage Command." width="707" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-273406-707x576.jpeg 707w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-273406-300x244.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-273406-768x626.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-273406.jpeg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 707px) 100vw, 707px" />Stretcher party brings out a wounded U.S. soldier, following an attack by U.S. troops to liberate Filipino prisoners in the walled city, 23 February 1945. National Archives. Naval History and Heritage Command.</div>
In a mid-February letter to his wife, Gen. Eichelberger wrote with grim understatement, “I hear the big parade has been called off.” In fact, it would have been impossible to march down any Manila street as no thoroughfare would be free of debris and corpses, mostly civilians. By the time the last shot was fired, the Pearl of the Orient would be reduced to a smoldering heap of rubble, whose gutters ran red with the blood of innocents.
It is impossible to adequately describe the horrors the Filipinos endured. Men were bound and shot, bayoneted or mutilated en masse, while patients were strapped to hospital beds before the buildings were set ablaze. Females of every age were brutally gang-raped before being systematically murdered. Babies were tossed in the air and skewered on bayonets by sadistic Japanese who smeared the children’s eyeballs on walls like jelly.
Filipina survivor Carmen Guerrero Nakpil remembered: “It was like a scene from hell. We were running like rats. I saw my classmates dragged through the streets to be raped by the Japanese in the Bayview Hotel. I saw my neighbors cut down by sniper bullets. The killing was terrible.”
<div id="attachment_856917" style="width: 708px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-856917" class="size-large wp-image-856917" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3139974-698x576.jpg" alt="20th March 1945: American soldiers watching as refugees pick their way through the debris of North Manila, after safely arriving in the American held part of the city while fighting continues elsewhere. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)" width="698" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3139974-698x576.jpg 698w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3139974-300x248.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3139974-768x634.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3139974.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 698px) 100vw, 698px" />20th March 1945: American soldiers watching as refugees pick their way through the debris of North Manila, after safely arriving in the American held part of the city while fighting continues elsewhere. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)</div>
When the Japanese burst into the LaSalle chapel, Jose and Juanita Carlos were hiding in the cellar with their children. Jose was dragged off and killed. Then they came back for the rest of the family. Sixteen-year-old Dionisia was bayoneted until unconscious. When she came too she looked for her family. She found her mother and nine-year-old sister and six-year-old brother bayoneted to death, and her nineteen-year-old sister shot dead.
Although it has been claimed that it was a spontaneous eruption of violence against the Filipinos upon whom rogue Imperial troops took out their rage for siding with the Americans (and fear as death closed in), captured Japanese records show that, as with Nanking, the massacre was officially sanctioned, even encouraged. One order went so far as to give explicit instructions on how to commit mass murder: “When Filipinos are to be killed, they must be gathered into one place and disposed of with the consideration that ammunition and manpower must not be used to excess. Because the disposal of dead bodies is a troublesome task, they should be gathered into houses which are scheduled to be burned or demolished. They should also be thrown into the river.”
And yet, throughout the carnage of what has been called the “Pacific Stalingrad”, courageous Filipinos risked their lives braving sniper fire and shell bursts to fill canteens and bring ammunition and food to the Americans hunkered down in the wreckage.
<div id="attachment_856915" style="width: 736px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-856915" class="size-large wp-image-856915" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3241992-726x576.jpg" alt="February 1945: A Filipino guerrilla fighting Japanese forces of occupation in Manila. Lacking a tripod for his machine-gun, he has tied the weapon to a fire hydrant. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)" width="726" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3241992-726x576.jpg 726w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3241992-300x238.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3241992-768x609.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3241992.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 726px) 100vw, 726px" />February 1945: A Filipino guerrilla fighting Japanese forces of occupation in Manila. Lacking a tripod for his machine-gun, he has tied the weapon to a fire hydrant. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)</div>
Despite MacArthur’s repeated calls for the Japanese to surrender, they resisted with suicidal desperation while the American commander anguished over the destruction of the once beautiful city. GIs accustomed to fighting in jungles and beaches had to quickly learn the ways of deadly urban warfare, in which every floor of every building, every stairwell, even closets, were bitterly contested. It was a brutal, often hand-to-hand, form of combat the likes of which had not been seen in the Pacific before, made all the more difficult by the number of civilians.
The Americans, wielding rifles, grenades, satchel charges, flamethrowers, sometimes even rocks and spades, eventually cornered the remaining Japanese in the one-quarter-square-mile fortress of Intramuros, whose walls, twenty-five feet high and forty feet thick, had withstood maritime raiders and earthquakes since the 1570s. General Kenney wanted to bomb the citadel, but MacArthur, aware that many civilians were trapped within, denied his requests, especially the use of napalm. But he did allow the big guns to fire on the holdouts. (In the end, the shelling was so destructive it didn’t really matter.) Eventually the guns breached the walls and the Japanese, including the recalcitrant Iwabuchi, were wiped out or committed ritual suicide.
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With tactics in the capable hands of his field commanders, MacArthur set out to visit the liberated Santo Tomas and Bilibid prison camps. The conditions of the internees horrified him. He was especially moved by the military captives at Bilibid, who made pathetic attempts to stand at attention. In his memoirs he wrote: “Here was all that was left of my men of Bataan and Corregidor…As I passed slowly down the scrawny, suffering column, a murmur accompanied me as each man barely speaking above a whisper, said ‘You’re back,’ or ‘You made it’…I could only reply, ‘I’m a little late, but we finally came.’”
<div id="attachment_856923" style="width: 934px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-856923" class="size-large wp-image-856923" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-563522359-924x576.jpg" alt="American soldiers who were part of the liberation of the Japanese Bilibid POW camp stop to talk with two internees who had been in the prison camp for two years, Manila, Philippines, February 11, 1945. (Photo by Underwood Archives/Getty Images)" width="924" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-563522359-924x576.jpg 924w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-563522359-300x187.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-563522359-768x479.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-563522359.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 924px) 100vw, 924px" />American soldiers who were part of the liberation of the Japanese Bilibid POW camp stop to talk with two internees who had been in the prison camp for two years, Manila, Philippines, February 11, 1945. (Photo by Underwood Archives/Getty Images)</div>
By the time the 29-day fight for Manila was over, and every last Japanese killed, the city had been utterly annihilated with some 11,000 buildings reduced to ruins and ash. 70% of the utilities, 75% of the factories, 80% of the southern residential district and the entire business district had been razed. Of all the Allied cities, only Nanking and Warsaw saw such destruction and civilian carnage. No one will ever know for sure but it is estimated that 100,000 Filipinos died at the hands of the enraged Japanese.
On March 4, 1945, Manila was officially declared secured. The smoking Philippine capital had been liberated, but at a horrific cost to the city and its bewildered inhabitants. CBS News correspondent Bill Dunn would reflect on the tragedy, summing up the horrible effects of war: “The Manila of 1941 was a unique Manila, a Manila that had never existed before, a Manila that would never exist again.”
* * *
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-battle-of-luzon-part-1-climax-of-the-southwest-pacific-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: The Battle Of Luzon, Part 1: Climax Of The Southwest Pacific War</a></h3>
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-battle-of-luzon-part-2-race-to-manila" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: The Battle Of Luzon, Part 2: Race To Manila</a></h3>
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-battle-of-luzon-part-3-the-massacre-of-manila" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: The Battle Of Luzon, Part 3: The Massacre Of Manila</a></h3>
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-battle-of-luzon-part-4-victory-and-aftermath" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: The Battle Of Luzon, Part 4: Victory And Aftermath</a></h3>
* * *
Brad Schaeffer is a commodities fund manager, author, and columnist whose articles have appeared on the pages of The Daily Wire, The Wall Street Journal, NY Post, NY Daily News, National Review, The Hill, The Federalist, Zerohedge, and other outlets. He is the author of three <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07MQJBJSD?ccs_id=55112527-86f6-4c89-b82e-a96d6869abed" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07MQJBJSD?ccs_id%3D55112527-86f6-4c89-b82e-a96d6869abed&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1736518135479000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3K_WhJtiUZw7LF1PwSIHtH">books</a>. Follow him on <a href="https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1736518135479000&amp;usg=AOvVaw02hy-lB4UuAlHo7FfD_FIQ">Substack</a> and <a href="https://x.com/bschaeffer123" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/bschaeffer123&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1736518135479000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0P6pRoAqcBhUQ1W0qwN5rH">X/Twitter</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Manila Harbour

The Battle Of Luzon, Part 3: The Massacre Of Manila

In planning the battle for Luzon, MacArthur would have liked to surprise his waiting opponent. But Yamashita understood that Lingayen Gulf offered the only approach to the central Luzon plain, on which U.S. tanks could maneuver most effectively. It also had the best road and rail networks approaching Manila. Although he initially stationed 36,000 troops to cover the 22 miles of landing beaches, Yamashita conceded that U.S. naval firepower would just scythe his men down on the shoreline. And despite his public bravura, the Japanese commander knew that, with Halsey’s and Kinkaid’s U.S. fleets now masters of the sea, and Kenney’s planes filling the skies, the best he could really hope for was a holding action through a defense in depth to give the home islands time to prepare for the inevitable invasion. 
So, in December 1944, he withdrew his men and headquarters, along with members of Tokyo’s puppet Philippine government, headed by the controversial President José Laurel, into the more defensible terrain around the Philippine summer capital of Baguio, 30 miles east of Lingayen and 150 miles north of Manila.
<div id="attachment_856493" style="width: 750px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-856493" class="size-large wp-image-856493" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-59525-740x576.jpg" alt="Battle line entering the Lingayen Gulf. The USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) leads the USS Colorado (BB-45), USS Louisville (CA-28), USS Portland (CA-33), and USS Columbia (CL-56) in a battle line entering the Lingayen Gulf preceding the landing off Luzon in the Philippines in January 1945. Catalog #: 80-G-59525. National Archives &amp; Records Administration." width="740" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-59525-740x576.jpg 740w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-59525-300x233.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-59525-768x598.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-59525.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" />National Archives &amp; Records Administration.</div>
At dawn on January 9, 1945, code-named &#8220;S-Day,&#8221; the enormous U.S. fleet — the largest of any landings in the Pacific and equal to the American contingent at Normandy — lay to in Lingayen Gulf and over 800 anchors splashed into the unusually calm waters. It was an awesome display of U.S. industrial might. At 0700, the big guns of some 70 battleships and cruisers roared, sending shells of all calibers whistling down onto what turned out to be undefended beaches. Beginning at 0930, the first of 175,000 troops of Gen. Walter Krueger’s Sixth Army waded ashore while Gen. Robert Eichelberger’s smaller Eighth Army was held in reserve. 
<div id="attachment_856503" style="width: 722px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-856503" class="size-large wp-image-856503" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-507339859-712x576.jpg" alt="Coast Guard-manned landing barges bringing troops to the beaches of Lingayen Gulf during World War Two, Luzon, Philippines, circa January 7th 1945. (Photo by US Coast Guard/Getty Images)" width="712" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-507339859-712x576.jpg 712w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-507339859-300x243.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-507339859-768x621.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-507339859.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 712px) 100vw, 712px" />US Coast Guard/Getty Images</div>
By the end of the day, the GIs would push eight miles inland. Only the occasional Kamikaze air and even suicide boat attacks, with sporadic artillery rounds warbling in from distant enemy gun positions, disturbed the otherwise smooth operations.
Once four of Kruger’s divisions made it ashore and began to press inland, MacArthur left his headquarters on the light cruiser USS Boise and headed in. Filipino peasants waving U.S. and Philippine flags joyfully greeted the Americans, while others raced ahead to spread the word that after over 1,200 days of Japanese rule, MacArthur had returned as promised, and their deliverance was finally at hand.
<div id="attachment_856693" style="width: 725px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-856693" class="wp-image-856693 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-304340-715x576.jpeg" alt="Lingayen Gulf Landings, 1945. General Douglas MacArthur and staff leaving USS BOISE (CL-47) on 9 January 1945 to go ashore on the Lingayen Gulf beaches, Luzon Philippine Islands. Catalog #: 80-G-304340. National Archive. Naval History and Heritage Command" width="715" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-304340-715x576.jpeg 715w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-304340-300x242.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-304340-768x619.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-304340.jpeg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 715px) 100vw, 715px" />Lingayen Gulf Landings, 1945. General Douglas MacArthur and staff leaving USS BOISE (CL-47) on 9 January 1945 to go ashore on the Lingayen Gulf beaches, Luzon Philippine Islands. National Archive. Naval History and Heritage Command</div>
The central Luzon plain, the amphitheater in which Krueger’s army would be maneuvering, was roughly 40 miles wide and ran some 110 miles due south from Lingayen to Manila Bay. It was walled in on each side by high, rugged peaks blanketed under a thick layer of jungle vegetation. It provided ideal terrain for flying columns to advance quickly down the fine roads leading to Manila.
MacArthur had earned the epithet “Dugout Dug” on this island in 1942 when he rarely ventured from his headquarters in Corregidor’s Malinta Tunnel to visit the front lines during the bitter struggle to hold Bataan. But now the General was, quite literally, often out in front leading the GIs and tankers in their advance south. No doubt invigorated by the prospect of reaching his beloved city of Manila, he raced around the battlefield in his five-star-studded Jeep like a man decades younger. At one moment he could be found perched on the turret of a tank ascertaining Japanese positions. Other times up in a B-17 watching a parachute jump. Once when confronted by an enemy roadblock and a Nambu machine gun opened up, a flummoxed lieutenant shouted to him, “We’re going after those fellows, but please, sir, get down; we’re under fire!” Another time, while inspecting the lines of the 161st Infantry regiment, they were suddenly attacked by Japanese tanks and the lines buckled. In conduct reminiscent of his days leading the Rainbow Division over the top in the First World War, the highest-ranking general in the Pacific Theater personally rallied the troops who beat back the assault, earning him his third Silver Star.
Although courageous to the point of being reckless, there most likely was a method to MacArthur’s madness. It was to goad the cautious Krueger to move faster as he suspected, correctly, that Yamashita had opted to withdraw into the rugged mountains east of Lingayen to let the Americans come to him in time. Thus, he saw no need for caution. But Krueger feared a screaming host of Japanese might come charging down from the mountains to puncture his left flank, cutting him off from the beachhead to his rear, and, in Romulo’s words, “slicing him up like a pie.” But for a frustrated MacArthur, who justifiably feared Japanese reprisals against POWs and Filipino civilians alike, speed was everything. “Get to Manila!” he exhorted his commanders. “Go around the Japs. Bounce off the Japs. Save your men, but get to Manila!”
<div id="attachment_856567" style="width: 733px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-856567" class="wp-image-856567 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-258490-723x576.jpeg" alt="Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid, USN, Commander Seventh Fleet, and Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, USA Commander Sixth Army, on board PT-525, off Leyte Island, the Philippines, 23 October 1944. The boat was taking General MacArthur ashore at the time. Catalog #: 80-G-258490. National Archives. Original Date: Mon, Oct 23, 1944. Naval History and Heritage Command." width="723" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-258490-723x576.jpeg 723w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-258490-300x239.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-258490-768x612.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-258490.jpeg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px" />Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid, USN, Commander Seventh Fleet, and Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, USA Commander Sixth Army, on board PT-525, off Leyte Island, the Philippines, 23 October 1944. National Archives. Naval History and Heritage Command.</div>
While Kruger was directing his Sixth Army in their fight to capture the enormous complex of runways and installations that made up Clark Field, his commander unleashed his reserves in a series of rapid thrusts elsewhere that confounded his Japanese opponent. Due to the Mindoro landing, Yamashita had to contend with the possibility of an attack from the south. So he sent part of his army to shore up defenses below Manila. As such, the landings in Lingayen caught every Japanese column in motion.
On January 31, MacArthur put a division of paratroopers from Eichelberger’s Eighth Army ashore at Nasugbu, 40 miles south of Manila. The landings were virtually unopposed as Col. Masatoshi Fujishige, upon whose shoulders the defense of the area had been entrusted, had placed his troops in defensive positions closer to Mindoro. In a scene reminiscent of the Allied advance through Holland, civilians cheered their American saviors, gifting them with food and spirits, and covering their vehicles in flowers until they resembled victorious Roman chariots.
Meanwhile, the General landed another corps at Subic Bay west of Manila above Bataan, and with minimal losses captured the valuable port of Olongapo while hitting the bewildered Yamashita with another regiment at Mariveles on the southern tip of the peninsula, trapping the Japanese troops in a double envelopment. Bataan, on which the Americans and Filipinos held out for months in 1942, fell in seven days. By the end of January, Manila was surrounded.
The most difficult Japanese nut to crack should have been the 5,000 Imperial soldiers stationed on the island bastion of Corregidor in the mouth of Manila Bay. With exquisite timing, paratroopers descended on the island’s “topside” while GIs stormed the “bottomside” beaches. After a week of fighting, the remaining defenders blew themselves up in the Malinta Tunnel. Although the Japanese lost twice their initial landing force taking the island in 1942, the Americans suffered fewer than 300 KIA (50 in the final explosion).
<div id="attachment_856583" style="width: 759px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-856583" class="size-large wp-image-856583" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3225792-749x576.jpg" alt="16th February 1945: American paratroops of the 503rd Regiment (Parachute Regiment) drop on the bomb-shattered terrain of the island of Corregidor in the Philippines. The air warriors quickly seized batteries and defences, clearing the entrance to Manila Bay and opening the harbour to the Allied fleet. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)" width="749" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3225792-749x576.jpg 749w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3225792-300x231.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3225792-768x590.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3225792.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 749px) 100vw, 749px" />Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images</div>
The landings and subsequent race to Manila from all sides had been a remarkable strategic enterprise, which earned the ardent praise of no less an astute observer than Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. George Marshall, who in his report would declare: “Yamashita’s inability to cope with MacArthur’s swift moves, and his desired reaction to the deception measures, combined to place the Japanese in an impossible situation.” The enemy, he went on, “was forced into a piecemeal commitment of his troops” which left the Agno River, a potential major defensive stronghold, lightly defended. MacArthur was able to neutralize Japanese numerical parity by compelling his opponent to split his forces and then scramble to attack with whatever units were in the zone of operations. The General himself would write in his memoirs with typical MacArthur braggadocio (though in this case justified) “Never had such large numbers of troops been so outmaneuvered…and left tactically impotent to take an active part in the final battle.”
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With Clark Field finally in the methodical Krueger’s hands after heavy fighting, as well as engineers clearing out booby traps the Japanese had sewn all over the installation, the Americans from both the north and south were poised to enter the capital.
It was now early February and the 1st Cavalry, the vanguard of 100,000 Americans pouring down Luzon’s main highways while the rest guarded the beachhead, had reached the suburbs of Manila. With the bulk of Yamashita’s forces nullified in the rugged terrain around Baguio, victory was in the air. The triumphant MacArthur, now at the threshold of all he’d been pushing towards for the past three years, was preparing a grand parade through Manila ala the Allies’ triumph down the Champs Élysées. The media celebrated. Newsweek reported: “Prize Of The Pacific, Manila, Fell To MacArthur Like A Ripened Plum!” Time magazine headlined its Philippine story “Victory! Mabuhay!” (Tagalog for “Hurrah!”).
But the headlines were shatteringly premature. In fact, before the fight for Luzon was over, the city of Manila would suffer one of the most cruel and heartbreaking tragedies of the Second World War.
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Brad Schaeffer is a commodities fund manager, author, and columnist whose articles have appeared on the pages of The Daily Wire, The Wall Street Journal, NY Post, NY Daily News, National Review, The Hill, The Federalist, Zerohedge, and other outlets. He is the author of three <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07MQJBJSD?ccs_id=55112527-86f6-4c89-b82e-a96d6869abed" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07MQJBJSD?ccs_id%3D55112527-86f6-4c89-b82e-a96d6869abed&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1736518135479000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3K_WhJtiUZw7LF1PwSIHtH">books</a>. Follow him on <a href="https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1736518135479000&amp;usg=AOvVaw02hy-lB4UuAlHo7FfD_FIQ">Substack</a> and <a href="https://x.com/bschaeffer123" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/bschaeffer123&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1736518135479000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0P6pRoAqcBhUQ1W0qwN5rH">X/Twitter</a>.
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Correction: And earlier version of this article contained a photo of General Douglas MacArthur returning to the Philippines, wading through the water. MacArthur&#8217;s famous return took place in 1944 not in January of 1945. The image has been removed.

80-G-59525

The Battle Of Luzon, Part 2: Race To Manila

Inside the imperial palace in Tokyo, Prime Minister Koiso Kuniaki stood uneasily before his Emperor Hirohito and apologized for the catastrophe that had just befallen his majesty’s army and navy at the hands of the Americans on and around the Philippine island of Leyte. In the fierce land and sea combat that lasted from October 17 to December 24, 1944, the backbone of the Japanese fleet, as well as some 65,000 troops and hundreds of aircraft, were erased from the order of battle. When the Emperor reminded Koiso that he’d promised Leyte would be a repeat of Japan’s 1582 victory at Tennozan, the prime minister sheepishly mumbled that Luzon, not Leyte, would be the Kentai Kessen, “decisive battle,” that would once and for all destroy the Americans and their allies advancing ever closer to the home islands.
Luzon was the main island in the Philippines archipelago, and site of the nation’s capital city Manila. Slightly larger than Cuba, it stretches some 460 miles running north-to-south, and sits roughly equidistant between Japan and Australia. If Japan could not fight off the Americans here and regain the initiative then the sea lanes between the home islands and her vital raw materials in the Dutch East Indies, which had been severed when Leyte was lost, would be forever cut off. And should Luzon fall, only the island bastions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa stood between the Allies and Japan.
<div id="attachment_855787" style="width: 726px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-855787" class="size-large wp-image-855787" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-289537-716x576.jpeg" alt="Leyte Invasion, October 1944. General Douglas Macarthur and Philippine president Sergio Osmena in a landing craft on their way to ceremonies proclaiming the liberation of Leyte, 23 October 1944. On the right is Brigadier General Carlos P. Romulo. Catalog #: 80-G-289537. National Archives. Mon, Oct 23, 1944. National Archives. Naval History and Heritage Command." width="716" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-289537-716x576.jpeg 716w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-289537-300x241.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-289537-768x618.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-289537.jpeg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 716px) 100vw, 716px" />General Douglas MacArthur and Philippine president Sergio Osmena in a landing craft on their way to ceremonies proclaiming the liberation of Leyte, 23 October 1944. National Archives. Naval History and Heritage Command.</div>
Bearing down on Luzon was an immense U.S. invasion force of over 800 ships, 3,000 landing craft — many just arrived from Normandy — and some 280,000 troops. This formidable army, fielding more men than Eisenhower landed at Sicily, was led by America’s most brilliant strategist, Five-Star General Douglas MacArthur. For two years this American Caesar had dazzled the Japanese with one victory upon the next in a relentless drive up New Guinea and the Bismarck Sea with the aim of recapturing the Philippines.
<div id="attachment_855769" style="width: 727px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-855769" class="wp-image-855769 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-281338-717x576.jpeg" alt="Carrier Raids on Formosa, October 1944. Crewmen on USS Hancock (CV-19) move 3.5-inch rockets (with 5-inch diameter warheads) to planes, while preparing for strikes on Formosa, 12 October 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.Catalog #: 80-G-281338. Naval History and Heritage Command. " width="717" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-281338-717x576.jpeg 717w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-281338-300x241.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-281338-768x617.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-281338.jpeg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 717px) 100vw, 717px" />Carrier Raids on Formosa, October 1944. Crewmen on USS Hancock (CV-19). National Archives. Naval History and Heritage Command.</div>
Beginning in November 1942 with a grinding, bloody fight for Buna on New Guinea’s northern coast, MacArthur’s advances steadily accelerated. Utilizing amphibious thrusts by coordinating land, sea, and air power — what Churchill described as “triphibious warfare” — the general leapfrogged from beachhead to beachhead in ever more audacious envelopments up the world’s second largest island. Indeed, by the time his landing force steamed towards Leyte in October 1944, the first of the Philippine islands targeted for assault, MacArthur had captured more territory while suffering fewer casualties than any commander in modern warfare — while inflicting ten times as many losses on the enemy.
MacArthur now set his determined sights on the ultimate prize, Luzon, 300 miles north of Leyte. Waiting for him, however, was a Japanese garrison numbering some 270,000 determined troops, the largest enemy contingent the Americans would confront in the Pacific War. Moreover, the Emperor’s forces would be under the overall command of a formidable general in his own right, Tomoyuki Yamashita, the “Tiger of Malaya.” On this most vital Philippine island, two gifted generals, each at the height of his power, would face off in the climactic battle of the Southwest Pacific campaign.
<div id="attachment_855827" style="width: 463px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-855827" class="wp-image-855827 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3201763-453x576.jpg" alt="circa 1945: Japanese army general Tomoyuki Yamashita uses a cane while walking along a dirt road ahead of several soldiers. Yamashita was known as the 'Tiger of Malaya' for his leadership of the Japanese forces against the British troops in the Philippines. (Photo by US Army/Getty Images)" width="453" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3201763-453x576.jpg 453w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3201763-236x300.jpg 236w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3201763-768x977.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3201763.jpg 805w" sizes="(max-width: 453px) 100vw, 453px" />Japanese army general Tomoyuki Yamashita. US Army/Getty Images.</div>
Although the primary aim of seizing Leyte in the fall of 1944 was to provide MacArthur an aerodrome from which Allied planes could cover his Luzon campaign, as well as stage raids on Formosa and the Chinese mainland, the soil proved to be unstable during the rainy season, which had just begun (24 inches of rain fell in November alone). Although some air bases were eventually operational, due to the soggy runways as well as washed out roads in need of constant repair, MacArthur’s air chief, General George Kenney, was unable to utilize the bulk of the island’s airstrips for the upcoming operations. Still, even with this unexpected setback, the imaginative MacArthur saw an opportunity.
The island of Mindoro, a mere hour-and-a-half ferry ride from Luzon and just 200 miles from Manila, offered ideal ground for Kenney’s aircraft. Adm. Chester Nimitz, MacArthur’s naval counterpart, agreed to support an operation to seize the island, with Adm. William “Bull” Halsey’s carrier task force providing vital top cover until Mindoro could be seized and converted into a land-based aerodrome. But the approach was dangerous. So perilous, in fact, that MacArthur’s reliable naval head, Adm. Thomas Kinkaid, vehemently opposed the landings as he feared his transports would be exposed to attacks from land-based enemy aircraft — especially the deadly Kamikaze suicide planes that made their debut at Leyte and whose attacks were growing in number and lethality — as the vulnerable convoy wiggled its way through the narrow waters of the Surigao Strait and Sulu Sea. Furthermore, should there be a significant number of Japanese on Mindoro, the operation could be costly, even repulsed. The Joint Chiefs in Washington, DC were also alarmed; the Pentagon declared MacArthur’s plan “too daring in scope, too risky in execution.”
But MacArthur’s sixth sense told him Yamashita had no stomach for another Leyte, but was instead husbanding his strength for the defense of Luzon. He also might have assumed that, just as his subordinates had been frightened by the hazards facing any convoy on the narrow approach to Mindoro, Yamashita would figure no enemy would risk such a passage. MacArthur’s contrarian instincts proved correct.
<div id="attachment_855783" style="width: 712px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-855783" class="size-large wp-image-855783" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-301022-702x576.jpeg" alt="Mindoro Operation, December 1944. Caption: Escort carriers of task group 77.12.7 getting under way from the Palau Islands, en route for the invasion of Mindoro, 10 December 1944. Photographed from USS KADASHAN BAY (CVE-76). Catalog #: 80-G-301022. National Archives. Naval History and Heritage Command." width="702" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-301022-702x576.jpeg 702w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-301022-300x246.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-301022-768x630.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/80-G-301022.jpeg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 702px) 100vw, 702px" />Mindoro Operation, December 1944. Photographed from USS KADASHAN BAY (CVE-76). National Archives. Naval History and Heritage Command.</div>
On December 16, 1944, 10,000 American troops raced from their Higgins boats and overwhelmed the barely 1,000 Japanese stationed on Mindoro; the GIs soon captured four abandoned airstrips. The U.S. suffered just 240 KIA (a mere 18 on the ground, the rest Naval losses from air attacks). And unlike Leyte, the ground here was solid. U.S. engineers went to work refurbishing the captured airfields and constructing two more. Overhead, Halsey’s pilots fended off waves of marauding Japanese fighters and suicide planes swooping down from Luzon. By New Years Day 1945, an ebullient Kenney declared Mindoro his main aerodrome, allowing MacArthur to once again operate under the protection of his land-based air force.
The capture of Mindoro, the last stepping stone to Luzon, also confronted Yamashita with the possibility that MacArthur could hit him from the south as well as the obvious landing spot in Lingayen Gulf 140 miles north of Manila. And he was now cut off from his garrisons in the southern Philippines.
<div id="attachment_855845" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-855845" class="size-large wp-image-855845" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-183023714-864x576.jpg" alt="acprints. Getty Images." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-183023714-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-183023714-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-183023714-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-183023714-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-183023714-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-183023714-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-183023714-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />acprints. Getty Images.</div>
Yamashita’s motivations for defending the island were purely military. But for MacArthur, his return to the Philippines was a deeply personal crusade. He’d lived in the archipelago for many years and felt the U.S. had a solemn obligation to free a people over whom we’d assumed responsibility after wresting the islands from the Spanish in 1898. He had been in command of the joint US-Philippine army in December 1941 when the Japanese invaded. Abandoning the capital, he consolidated his forces on the Bataan Peninsula due west across Manila Bay, and the Island fortress of Corregidor covering the mouth of the inlet. The General had hoped to fight a holding action, anticipating a U.S. relief force would come to the rescue and save his command. 
In early 1942, however, Japan was at the zenith of its power while the U.S. was just getting on a war footing, and thus in no position to relieve the beleaguered defenders. In May 1942 a combined 75,000 ragged and malnourished American and Filipino troops surrendered. Although it had been a heroic if forlorn stand that upset the Japanese timetable, it was the largest capitulation of U.S. forces in history.
<div id="attachment_855835" style="width: 801px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-855835" class="size-large wp-image-855835" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3272158-791x576.jpg" alt="May 1943: Premier Tojo arriving in Manila. He responds to the salute from General Waui Ehk of the Japanese Administration and the Commander of the Imperial Japanese Fleet (in the white uniform). (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)" width="791" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3272158-791x576.jpg 791w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3272158-300x219.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3272158-768x560.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-3272158.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 791px) 100vw, 791px" />May 1943: Premier Tojo arriving in Manila. Hulton Archive/Getty Images.</div>
MacArthur believed his government had abandoned not just the brave garrison, but also the 18 million inhabitants of his beloved islands to a cruel occupier in the dark days of the war’s opening rampage of Japanese conquest following Pearl Harbor. He also felt an individual obligation to return as he’d been ordered by FDR to leave his doomed garrison and escape to Australia before the inevitable defeat, where he would organize the island continent’s defenses and then lead the eventual Allied counter-offensive in the Southwest Pacific. For almost three years, while American and Filipino captives languished in brutal captivity* and civilians endured privations and repressions, the Japanese military ruled the American protectorate.
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But now, to the jubilation of the Filipinos, who’d feared their islands would be bypassed in favor of a U.S. landing on Formosa farther to the north, and thus abandoned a second time, the Americans were back.
Carlos Romulo, the Philippine writer and diplomat who had been with MacArthur on Corregidor, was one of the General’s confidants. When in October he descended from the transport John Land to join the landing party of brass, politicians and war correspondents onto the barge headed for the beaches of Leyte, MacArthur embraced his friend. “Carlos, my boy, how does it feel to be home?” Two months later, the elated Romulo found himself in Lingayen Gulf amidst a vast Allied armada whose ships stretched out to the horizon. Thirty-seven agonizing months before, it had been a Japanese landing force in these waters. He recalled his “cold horror” when Manila Radio announced the news of Japanese transports in Lingayen. But now, he wrote with satisfaction, “it is their turn to quake.”
Meanwhile, following an interview with Yamashita who promised, “I shall write a brilliant history of The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere on the Philippine Islands”, Radio Tokyo confidently announced: “The battle for Luzon, in which 300,000 American officers and men are doomed to die, is about to begin.”
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Brad Schaeffer is a commodities fund manager, author, and columnist whose articles have appeared on the pages Daily Wire, The Wall Street Journal, NY Post, NY Daily News, National Review, The Hill, The Federalist, Zerohedge and other outlets. He is the author of three <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07MQJBJSD?ccs_id=55112527-86f6-4c89-b82e-a96d6869abed" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07MQJBJSD?ccs_id%3D55112527-86f6-4c89-b82e-a96d6869abed&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1736518135479000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3K_WhJtiUZw7LF1PwSIHtH">books</a>. Follow him on <a href="https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1736518135479000&amp;usg=AOvVaw02hy-lB4UuAlHo7FfD_FIQ">Substack</a> and <a href="https://x.com/bschaeffer123" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/bschaeffer123&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1736518135479000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0P6pRoAqcBhUQ1W0qwN5rH">X/Twitter</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.
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NOTES:
<ol>
<li>In World War II some 40% of U.S. POWs died at the hands of the Japanese, as opposed to only 1% of those captured by the Germans.</li>
</ol>

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The Battle Of Luzon, Part 1: Climax Of The Southwest Pacific War

American History

Multiple people were killed and dozens more were injured on Sunday following a church bombing in Marwari in the southern Philippines.
The National <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/asia/2023/12/03/bomb-blast-kills-four-at-philippine-church-service-in-suspected-isis-attack/">reported</a> that at least four were killed and 50 more injured during the suspected ISIS terrorist attack that targeted the Catholic church during mass.
&#8220;I condemn in the strongest possible terms the senseless and most heinous acts perpetrated by foreign terrorists upon the Mindanao State University (MSU) and Marawi communities early this Sunday morning,&#8221; said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. &#8220;Extremists who wield violence against the innocent will always be regarded as enemies to our society.&#8221;
The blast happened in the school&#8217;s gymnasium just as the congregation began reading the Bible.
Military chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said that there were &#8220;strong indications of a foreign element&#8221; to the terrorist attack and that all evidence &#8220;points to the Maute-ISIS.&#8221;
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The area is part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which was given self-rule under former President Rodrigo Duterte in an effort to stave off growing Islamic terrorism.
The military killed 11 suspected pro-ISIS fighters on Friday after civilians provided information to the government on the terrorists&#8217; whereabouts.
Brig. Gen. Oriel Pangcog, commander of the Philippine Army&#8217;s 601st Infantry Brigade, said: &#8220;Eleven members of the local terrorist group, including the proclaimed Ameer of Dawlah Islamiyah-Philippines, were killed in decisive military operations in the mountainous area of Mother Tuayan, Datu Hoffer Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur, at 12:15 p.m. on Friday. The operation also led to the recovery of ten high-powered firearms and three explosives.&#8221;

PHILIPPINES-UNREST

Multiple Dead, Dozens Injured After Church Bombed In Asia In Suspected ISIS Attack

Bombings

Church

ISIS

Terrorism

The San Diego Comic Con took some heat this week for slapping a woke label on a panel featuring Filipino &#8220;Voices In Pop Culture&#8221;: Filipinx.
Much like the often-criticized term <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/ive-never-met-a-latinx-van-jones-says-the-way-liberals-talk-is-just-weird/">Latinx</a> — which has been <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/new-poll-shows-only-2-of-hispanics-use-term-latinx-many-find-it-offensive/">widely panned</a> by members of the very community it is used to describe — the convention&#8217;s social media team&#8217;s use of the term Filipinx appeared to be an attempt to be gender-inclusive.
&#8220;The Filipinx Voices in Pop Culture was a fun and educational all Filipinx panel discussing Filipinx influences behind your favorite media!&#8221; @Comic_Con <a href="https://twitter.com/Comic_Con/status/1550269418953125888">tweeted</a>.
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The Filipinx Voices in Pop Culture was a fun and educational all Filipinx panel discussing Filipinx influences behind your favorite media! 📸 Edward S. <a href="https://t.co/OOgLFKp2pf">pic.twitter.com/OOgLFKp2pf</a>
&mdash; Comic-Con International (@Comic_Con) <a href="https://twitter.com/Comic_Con/status/1550269418953125888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2022</a></blockquote>
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But critics were not impressed, and quickly took to Twitter to hit back at Comic Con.
&#8220;Stop using these made-up words to score woke virtue signaling points from people who never asked you to speak for them in the first place,&#8221; @nknewsorg&#8217;s social media editor Oliver Jia (@OliverJia1014) <a href="https://twitter.com/OliverJia1014/status/1552020027398037504">commented</a>.
&#8220;Want to know why white liberals push this &#8216;Latinx&#8217; and &#8216;Filipinx&#8217; s***? It&#8217;s the &#8216;white man&#8217;s burden,'&#8221; @ReviewsPossum <a href="https://twitter.com/ReviewsPossum/status/1552019029048676353">added</a>. &#8220;They see you as a savage and feel the need to civilize you, so they colonize your language to make it more appealing to their own &#8216;enlightened&#8217; sensibilities. It&#8217;s racism.&#8221;
&#8220;We are NOT going to start using Filipinx. nuh uh. no,&#8221; @Chef033 <a href="https://twitter.com/chef033/status/1552099331968221184">declared</a>.
&#8220;The gringx are at it again,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/KalebPrime/status/1551971962599182336">came</a> from @KalebPrime.
@RioXVII <a href="https://twitter.com/RioXVII/status/1551948739149021185">added</a>, &#8220;We don’t use Filipinx at all. this isn’t a thing. It’s always been gender neutral, which is why we use Kami = us, Tayo = we, Sila = they. Please stop trying to make it a thing.&#8221;
&#8220;¿Qué diablos es Filipinx? ¿Una nueva enfermedad venérea?&#8221; Agustin Laje <a href="https://twitter.com/AgustinLaje/status/1552084650570485760">tweeted</a>. (Translation: What the devil is Filipinx? A new venereal disease?)
&#8220;If you call me Filipinx I will personally go to your house and eat you alive,&#8221; @yousoromi <a href="https://twitter.com/yousoromi/status/1552099156868489218">warned</a>.
&#8220;How is it that I, a white American dude, who has a moderately basic knowledge of Latin languages know more about said languages — like the fact that &#8216;X&#8217; doesn&#8217;t exist in the vocabulary or that gender neutral terms already exist in said languages — than these people?&#8221; @soulkibble <a href="https://twitter.com/soulkibble/status/1552063361235357696">added</a>.
A number noted that the <a href="https://learningfilipino.com/language/filipino-alphabet/">Filipino language</a> did not include the letter X at all until 1976, when 8 new letters were added to the original Tagalog alphabet — and even then, the letter only appears in words that are derived from foreign origins.
Others pointed out the fact that the word Filipino is already a <a href="https://preen.ph/96642/on-the-filipino-gender-neutral-language-and-our-egalitarian-origin">gender neutral</a> term — as are the language&#8217;s pronouns. Typically, a person is addressed as &#8220;siya&#8221; (&#8220;them&#8221;) and there are no gender-specific words for he/she or him/her.

San Diego Exteriors And Landmarks – 2022

‘Stop Using These Made Up Words’: Comic Con Slaps Woke Term On Filipino Panel, Gets Torched

Comic Con Torched For Labeling Panel 'Filipinx'

Comics

Culture

Movies

Woke Culture

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/world-war-ii">World War II</a> Navy destroyer was discovered off the coast of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/philippines">Philippines</a> in the “deepest shipwreck ever located and surveyed,” according to the explorers who found the ship.
Caladan Oceanic, a Texas based underwater exploration group, and EYOS Expeditions <a href="https://phys.org/news/2022-06-deepest-shipwreck-wwii-ship-philippines.html">found</a> the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shipwreck-credited-with-inspiring-the-goonies-found-off-oregon-coast">wreck</a> of the USS Samuel B. Roberts, which had sunk on October 25, 1944. The ship was challenging the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in a battle near Samar, one of the Philippines’ central islands.
“With sonar specialist Jeremie Morizet, I piloted the submersible Limiting Factor to the wreck of the Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413). Resting at 6,895 meters, it is now the deepest shipwreck ever located and surveyed,” Victor Vescovo, founder of Caladan Oceanic, <a href="https://twitter.com/VictorVescovo/status/1540275623960133632">tweeted</a>.
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With sonar specialist Jeremie Morizet, I piloted the submersible Limiting Factor to the wreck of the Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413). Resting at 6,895 meters, it is now the deepest shipwreck ever located and surveyed. It was indeed the &quot;destroyer escort that fought like a battleship.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/VjNVERdTxh">pic.twitter.com/VjNVERdTxh</a>
&mdash; Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) <a href="https://twitter.com/VictorVescovo/status/1540275623960133632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Vescovo also shared footage from the expedition, showing the destroyer resting on the sea floor four miles below the surface. You can see fish swimming by in the video taken from the Limiting Factor sub.
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Part of the dive on the Sammy B. It appears her bow hit the seafloor with some force, causing some buckling. Her stern also separated about 5 meters on impact, but the whole wreck was together. This small ship took on the finest of the Japanese Navy, fighting them to the end. <a href="https://t.co/fvi6uB0xUQ">pic.twitter.com/fvi6uB0xUQ</a>
&mdash; Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) <a href="https://twitter.com/VictorVescovo/status/1540295606970769409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
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“Part of the dive on the Sammy B. It appears her bow hit the seafloor with some force, causing some buckling. Her stern also separated about 5 meters on impact, but the whole wreck was together. This small ship took on the finest of the Japanese Navy, fighting them to the end,” he explained.
Days before they <a href="https://twitter.com/VictorVescovo/status/1539946783496933378">found</a> the Sammy B, the expedition located a torpedo rack they believed to be from the ship. During the battle, which was part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the ship went down losing 89 men from its crew of 224 after being hit by Japanese fire.
“This site is a hallowed war grave,” retired Rear Adm. Sam Cox said, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/06/25/uss-samuel-roberts-sammy-deepest-shipwreck/">according</a> to the Washington Post. Cox runs the Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington, D.C.
Vescovo shared more photos of the historic discovery, the deepest shipwreck ever found, on twitter, including the bow, the mast, and the aft turret.
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Some additional photos from the Sammy B. The bow, the fallen mast, the gap between fore and aft where she was hit by a battleship round, and the aft turret . . . where the brave and mortally wounded GM3 Paul H. Carr died trying to place a final round into the broken breech. <a href="https://t.co/3VcZoZyPo3">pic.twitter.com/3VcZoZyPo3</a>
&mdash; Victor Vescovo (@VictorVescovo) <a href="https://twitter.com/VictorVescovo/status/1540534447182909441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 25, 2022</a></blockquote>
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He called the discovery an “honor.”
“It was an extraordinary honor to locate this incredibly famous ship, and by doing so have the chance to retell her story of heroism and duty to those who may not know of the ship and her crew’s sacrifice,” Vescovo stated.
Kelvin Murray of EYOS also was thrilled to have helped discover the ship.
“Using a combination of detective work and innovative technology, everyone has pulled together to reveal the final resting place of this tenacious ship,” he said.
The discovery of the Sammy B follows Vescovo’s discovery of the USS Johnston last year, which went down in the same battle. Despite these losses and the Americans being outgunned, the U.S. still managed to defeat the Japanese.

Underwater view of waves

WATCH: Sub Discovers World War II Navy Destroyer 23,000 Feet Under The Sea

Expedition Finds USS Sammy B. Roberts Off Coast Of Philippines, Deepest Wreck Ever Found

Sara Duterte-Carpio, the daughter of the outgoing president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, was sworn in as vice president on Sunday following a landslide victory last month.
The inauguration took place in her hometown of Davao, where she will leave her role as mayor to assume the new post on June 30.
&#8220;I&#8217;m not the best or the most intelligent person in the Philippines and the world but nobody can beat the toughness of my heart as a Filipino,&#8221; Duterte-Carpio <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/06/20/1106186237/the-daughter-of-the-outgoing-philippine-president-takes-oath-as-vice-president" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a speech after taking her oath before a Supreme Court justice.
&#8220;The voice of 32.2 million Filipinos was loud and clear — with the message to serve our motherland,&#8221; she added.
Duterte-Carpio, 44, ran alongside Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who won the presidency on May 9 in a sweeping victory. Marcos, the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, also supported Duterte-Caprio at the inauguration ceremony.
The newly elected vice president <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/dutertes-daughter-sworn-philippines-vice-president-2022-06-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously served</a> as the first female mayor of Davao starting in 2010. Duterte-Carpio took her first political role in 2007 as vice mayor under her father, who then led the city as mayor.
The two controversial names now set to lead the Philippines are not without critics.
&#8220;In the Philippines, political dynasties dominate — with the Marcos family being among the most well known. Ferdinand Marcos, his wife, Imelda, daughter Imee and son have all held political posts in or representing the province of Ilocos Norte,&#8221; The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/10/philippines-presidential-election-result-ferdinand-bongbong-marcos/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
The human rights group Karapatan called on the public to express rejection of Marcos Jr. and Duterte-Carpio&#8217;s victory.
&#8220;We call on the public to express our rejection of the Marcos Jr.-Sara Duterte tandem in the 2022 polls and beyond,&#8221; the group <a href="https://www.karapatan.org/reject+marcos+jr+and+sara+duterte+in+the+elections+and+beyond" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> following the May election.
&#8220;The two represent the worst brand of traditional politics and governance in our nation’s history — one that promotes authoritarianism as a response to legitimate exercise of political dissent, upholds mendicancy to foreign interests over national sovereignty, and uses an empty and fake rhetoric of unity to sugarcoat their incompetence to respond to social problems and their adherence to neoliberal policies that will further demean human dignity,&#8221; the statement added.
Outgoing President Duterte made headlines last year when he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/philippines-president-threatens-to-jail-citizens-who-refuse-vaccine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commanded</a> citizens to get vaccinated against COVID-19, threatening them with prison time or forced injection of a drug if they refused the vaccine.
Duterte could be seen threatening the public during a June 2021 speech, according to a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6DCuND1RR0">video</a> released by The Guardian.
“You choose, get vaccinated or I will have you jailed. I’m telling you, those police jail cells are filthy and foul-smelling, police are lazy in cleaning. That is where you’ll be,” he said.
The video clip cut to another moment when Duterte says, “You get vaccinated, otherwise I will order all the village heads to have a tally of the people who refuse to be vaccinated. Because if not I will inject them with Ivermectin which is intended for pigs.”

Vice President-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio

Philippines President’s Daughter Takes Oath As Vice President

Philippines President's Daughter Takes Oath As Vice President

COVID-19 Vaccine

Elections

President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, commanded citizens to get vaccinated against COVID-19, threatening them with prison time or forced injection of a drug if they do not get the vaccine.
Duterte can be seen speaking to the camera while wearing a mask and threatening the public, according to a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6DCuND1RR0">video</a> released by The Guardian.
“You choose, get vaccinated or I will have you jailed. I’m telling you, those police jail cells are filthy and foul-smelling, police are lazy in cleaning. That is where you’ll be,&#8221; he said.
The video clip cut to another moment when Duterte says, “You get vaccinated, otherwise I will order all the village heads to have a tally of the people who refuse to be vaccinated. Because if not I will inject them with Ivermectin which is intended for pigs.”
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/duterte-philippines-arrest-vaccine/2021/06/22/9ac3eed8-d337-11eb-b39f-05a2d776b1f4_story.html">reported</a> that Duterte also said, “If you don’t want to be vaccinated, I’ll have you arrested and have the vaccine shot into your [buttocks],” he said, reportedly using a vulgar word. “If you don’t get vaccinated, leave the Philippines. Go to India if you want, or somewhere, America.”
Justice Secretary of the Philippines Menardo Guevarra reportedly cleared up Duterte’s words on Tuesday and said refusing vaccination was not a violation of the law, per The Post. 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have warned everyday people not to use Ivermectin against COVID-19. 
On its website, the FDA <a href="https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/why-you-should-not-use-ivermectin-treat-or-prevent-covid-19">stated</a> that the agency “has not approved ivermectin for use in treating or preventing COVID-19 in humans. Ivermectin tablets are approved at very specific doses for some parasitic worms, and there are topical (on the skin) formulations for head lice and skin conditions like rosacea. Ivermectin is not an anti-viral (a drug for treating viruses),” adding that “Taking large doses of this drug is dangerous and can cause serious harm.”
The agency added, “Never use medications intended for animals on yourself. Ivermectin preparations for animals are very different from those approved for humans.”
In March, the WHO <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/who-advises-that-ivermectin-only-be-used-to-treat-covid-19-within-clinical-trials">recommended</a> that Ivermectin only be used in treatment of COVID-19 within clinical trials. “The current evidence on the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 patients is inconclusive. Until more data is available, WHO recommends that the drug only be used within clinical trials,” it stated, citing a guideline development group that looked at data from trials. 
As Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/philippines-duterte-threatens-those-who-refuse-covid-19-vaccine-with-jail-2021-06-21/">reported</a>, “Duterte is famous for his bellicose rhetoric and his remarks on Monday contradicted those of his health officials, who have said getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is voluntary.”
&#8220;Don&#8217;t get me wrong, there is a crisis in this country,&#8221; Duterte said. &#8220;I&#8217;m just exasperated by Filipinos not heeding the government.”
COVID-19 <a href="https://github.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19">cases</a> have gone down in the Philippines since a spike in April, but continue to maintain an uncomfortable rate. 
According to the WHO, “from 3 January 2020 to 5:44pm CEST, 22 June 2021, there have been 1,364,239 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 23,749 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 12 June 2021, a total of 6,624,417 vaccine doses have been administered.” The current population of the country is 111,034,497 people, according to <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/philippines-population/">Worldometer</a>. 
Reuters reported that “as of June 20, just 2.1 million people had been fully vaccinated of the 70 million people targeted for this year.”

Tokyo Holds The Future of Asia International Conference

Philippines President Threatens To Jail Citizens Who Refuse Vaccine

On Sunday night, the Foreign Minister of the Philippines, Teddy Locsin Jr., issued a fiery tweet targeting the Chinese Communist government and warning them about their incursions into the South China Sea, snapping on Twitter, “GET THE F*** OUT.”
Locsin’s tweet, which came in response to Chinese coast guard vessels harassing some ships from the Philippines, stated:
<blockquote>China, my friend, how politely can I put it? Let me see… O…GET THE FUCK OUT. What are you doing to our friendship? You. Not us. We’re trying. You. You’re like an ugly oaf forcing your attentions on a handsome guy who wants to be a friend; not to father a Chinese province.</blockquote>
https://twitter.com/teddyboylocsin/status/1389021070045290497
When asked later about his strong rhetoric, Locsin replied, “Usual suave diplomatic speak gets nothing done,” the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9537307/Philippines-foreign-minister-tells-Beijing-f-South-China-Sea.html?ito=social-twitter_mailonline">Daily Mail</a> reported, adding, “The latest row was sparked by confrontations between rival coast guards around the Scarborough Shoal &#8211; an uninhabited island claimed by both nations.”
The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs said it “has protested the shadowing, blocking, dangerous maneuver and radio challenges by the Chinese coast guard of Philippine coast guard vessels conducting legitimate maritime patrols and training exercises” on April 24 and 25 near Scarborough Shoal, adding that it warned against “the incessant, illegal, prolonged and increasing presence of Chinese fishing vessels and maritime militia vessels in Philippine maritime zones,”
The Chinese Communist government reportedly claims most or all of the South China Sea. In 2016 an arbitration tribunal in The Hague ruled in a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/11/world/asia/south-china-sea-philippines-hague.html">case</a> brought by the Philippines that China did not have a legitimate claim to most of the South China Sea.  <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/world/asia/south-china-sea-hague-ruling-philippines.html">The New York Times</a> reported, “The tribunal also said that China had violated international law by causing ‘irreparable harm’ to the marine environment, endangering Philippine ships and interfering with Philippine fishing and oil exploration.”
“But while the decision is legally binding, there is no mechanism for enforcing it, and China, which refused to participate in the tribunal’s proceedings, reiterated on Tuesday that it would not abide by it,” The Times added.
One resident of the Philippines asked Locsin, “Sir Teddy, what’s the next step? Are we getting any true aid from allies? How do position ourselves moving forward?”
“If we ask for it specifically,” Locsin answered. “But I’d rather polish institutional arrangements to more efficiently operationalize Mutual Defense Treaty—a Cold War thing that no protagonist in the South China Sea wants tampered with. All the big players have studied the provisions and worked out the scenarios thereunder to strategize accordingly. In the Struggle for Power in the South China, contenders want all sides to be predictable so no accidental conflicts; only the one they set their minds to—then they’ll let weaponry rip. U.S. &amp; China militaries talk a lot to each other, I was assured, like U.S. and USSR in the Cold War. In my first or second meeting in Beijing, I gave assurances all around that the MDT would not be tampered with. And that the Americans don’t want it touched. It’s a treaty; U.S. Senate may not pass another.&#8221;
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1 If we ask for it specifically. But I’d rather polish institutional arrangements to more efficiently operationalize Mutual Defense Treaty—a Cold War thing that no protagonist in the South China Sea wants tampered with. All the big players have studied the provisions and… <a href="https://t.co/N5gaZk4gah">https://t.co/N5gaZk4gah</a>
&mdash; Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) <a href="https://twitter.com/teddyboylocsin/status/1389204887859171330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 3, 2021</a></blockquote>
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3 a lot to each other, I was assured, like US and USSR in the Cold War. In my first or second meeting in Beijing, I gave assurances all around that the MDT would not be tampered with. And that the Americans don’t want it touched. It’s a treaty; US Senate may not pass another.
&mdash; Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) <a href="https://twitter.com/teddyboylocsin/status/1389204891118100481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 3, 2021</a></blockquote>
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When someone opined, “It should be noted that the Philippines has very much swung back towards the United States since Biden come to office,” Locsin fired back, “Nah, What did that was Trump, his strong foreign policy and his shared affection for Duterte and my deep liking for and implicit trust in Mike Pompeo.”
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Nah, What did that was Trump, his strong foreign policy and his shared affection for Duterte and my deep liking for and implicit trust in Mike Pompeo. <a href="https://t.co/bGmnp3XSrm">https://t.co/bGmnp3XSrm</a>
&mdash; Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) <a href="https://twitter.com/teddyboylocsin/status/1389183665683374081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 3, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Yearly, on the 12th of June  Philippines honor the

‘Get The F*** Out’: Philippines’ Foreign Minister Warns China On South China Sea

China

Though our nation’s complex system of checks and balances is not always perfect, we remain the greatest example of democracy and freedom the world has ever seen. While our country still stands as the world’s great beacon of freedom and opportunity, the far-left narrative disingenuously portrays the U.S. as rife with oppression and persecution. The sad fact is that actual oppression and persecution are a tragic fact of life in many other countries. Liberties we often take for granted — such as due process, freedom of speech, and the right to bear arms — are non-existent under these authoritarian regimes. Here are some alarming developments in five of the most oppressive.
1. Venezuela
The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Venezuela at the hands of Nicolás Maduro’s “illegitimate regime” has only been exacerbated by the current pandemic.
The Trump Administration “indicted Maduro and 14 regime officials on narco-terrorism, proposed a dramatic power-sharing and transition agreement, and bolstered U.S. counter-narcotics assets in Latin America,” according to <a href="https://www.heritage.org/sites/default/files/2020-04/IB5060.pdf">Ana Quintana</a>, a senior policy analyst at the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy.
<a href="https://www.heritage.org/index/country/venezuela">The Heritage Foundation</a> gives Maduro’s Marxist regime and abysmal “economic freedom score” of 25.2, “making its economy the 179th in the 2020 Index.”
“Economic freedom has been suffocated in Venezuela under the Maduro regime,” The Heritage Foundation continues. “If a transitional government could take power and begin the long return to market democracy, it would have to end hyperinflation, restructure public debt, and rebuild institutions to restore confidence and promote investment.”
Starvation is now commonplace in Venezuela due to decades of socialism alongside widespread corruption. A recent piece in <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/venezuelas-suffering-shows-where-illiberalism-leads/606988/">The Atlantic</a> reported that “78 percent of Venezuelans eat less than they used to, and 41 percent go whole days without eating.” The report goes on to provide horrifying details that harken back to Stalinism:
“To anyone who knows the long history of the relationship between Marxist regimes and famine, this development seems uncannily familiar. More than 80 years ago, in the winter of 1932–33, Stalin confiscated the food of Ukrainian peasants and did nothing while nearly 4 million died. Then he covered up their deaths, even altering Soviet population statistics and murdering census officials to disguise what had happened. To anyone who knows the long history of Communist countries’ use of food as a weapon, the Venezuelan regime’s manipulation of the food supply comes as no surprise, either. Most Venezuelans—80 percent according to <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://reliefweb.int/report/venezuela-bolivarian-republic/venezuela-complex-emergency-situation-report-9-february-24-2020&amp;sa=D&amp;ust=1582638965391000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF87io5EN_SeeijYS6FWnEJMEcGmw">a recent survey</a>—now rely on boxes of food, containing staples such as rice, grain, or oil, from the government…The hungrier people get, the more control the government exerts, and the easier it is to prevent them from protesting or objecting in any other way. Even people who are not starving now spend most of their time just getting by—standing in lines, trying to fix broken generators, working second or third jobs to earn a little bit more—all activities that keep them from politics.”
2. Saudi Arabia
Though a U.S. ally, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia enforces all sorts of arcane strictures on its people, often in the name of a draconian understanding of Islam that emerged in the nineteenth century. The kingdom spends billions upon billions promoting its brand of religious extremism — loosely known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahhabism">Wahhabism</a> — across the globe and has done so now for decades “[b]y investing heavily in building mosques, madrasas, schools, and…cultural centers across the Muslim world,” according to <a href="https://theweek.com/articles/570297/how-saudi-arabia-exports-radical-islam">The Week</a>.
Much of the radicalism emerged in 1979 when fears of “Western decadence” led “hundreds of armed militants to occupy the Grand Mosque in Mecca.” The royal family acquiesced to the demands of these extremists and formed an ignoble pact of sorts.
“The royal family made a grand bargain with the clerics: Riyadh would fund the spread of Wahhabism abroad,” according to The Week, “as long as the extremists kept any militant activities off Saudi soil. That deal ensured that radical Islam would overwhelm moderate versions in many countries, and planted the seeds of many terrorist groups.”
Worse, as fanatical as Saudi Arabia’s brand of religiosity is, “ISIS represents a form of Wahhabi ideology that the Saudis can&#8217;t control — a cancer that now threatens the kingdom.” One can very much argue that Saudi Arabia had a direct influence on the rise of ISIS and its virulent ideology with the kingdom’s proselytizing around the world.
Saudi Arabia also has little regard for due process and crushes any form of dissent with imprisonment or capital punishment. In 2019, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-52358476">only Iran</a> had more executions.
“Saudi Arabia announced the mass execution of 37 men on April 23, 2019 in various parts of the country,” according to <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/04/24/saudi-arabia-mass-execution-37-men">Human Rights Watch</a>. “At least 33 of the 37 were from the country’s minority Shia community and had been convicted following unfair trials for various alleged crimes, including protest-related offenses, espionage, and terrorism. The mass execution was the largest since January 2016, when Saudi Arabia executed 47 men for terrorism offenses.”
Like many other brutal regimes, forms of dissent in the country are often labeled “terrorism” as an authoritarian form of subterfuge. “Saudi authorities will inevitably characterize those executed as terrorists and dangerous criminals” even though the kingdom is “largely devoid of any due process.”
The recent imprisonment of a child provides just one grave example of this ongoing injustice. 13-year-old Murtaja Qureiris was detained by Saudi authorities for taking part in a protest in support of religious freedom at the age of ten, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2019/06/middleeast/saudi-teen-death-penalty-intl/">according to CNN</a>.
“Three years after he was filmed taking part in the bike protest, Saudi authorities arrested Qureiris, then just 13 years old. He was traveling with his family to Bahrain when he was detained by Saudi border authorities on the King Fahd causeway that connects the two countries.”
Qureiris barely escaped execution due to international outcry. He was still sentenced to 12 years in prison by the kingdom.
3. Russia
In a bizarre referendum in which “[t]he opposition accused the government of rigging the vote,” Vladimir Putin can now remain president of Russia until 2036, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/07/01/886440694/referendum-in-russia-passes-allowing-putin-to-remain-president-until-2036">according to NPR</a>.
“Russian voters have overwhelmingly backed a referendum on constitutional changes that includes a provision allowing President Vladimir Putin — who has already served for some two decades — to remain in power until 2036.”
Putin is now able to maintain his stranglehold on the Russian people and beyond under the guise of being “democratically elected.”
A 2019 report from the <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/more-and-more-russians-are-fleeing-oppression-in-russia/">Atlantic Council</a> argues that oppression and lack of civil liberties are driving Russians to flee elsewhere now more than ever:
“An oppressive political climate marked by a lack of rights and freedoms is now a key factor driving emigration from Russia, according to a new report from the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. This is in stark comparison to emigration before 2012 when economic factors were the primary driver.”
The Russian leader and <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/27/catherine-belton-putin-people-book-review-kgb-russia-west/">former KGB agent</a> also excels at Machiavellian tactics, appealing to the moral impulses of many as a smokescreen for his political schemes inside and outside of Russia. “Putin has cleverly cast himself as a belligerent in the culture war” and “a defender of traditional morality” rooted in Orthodox Christianity that appeals to some conservatives far and wide, according to <a href="https://www.heritage.org/europe/commentary/how-putin-uses-russian-orthodoxy-grow-his-empire">The Heritage Foundation</a>.
His appeals to faith seem a tired ploy, however, and far more rooted in “geopolitics than religious sincerity.”
“Putin is seeking to tighten his grip on Ukraine and Belarus, as well as expand Russian influence further into Eastern and Central Europe. He will undoubtedly continue to promote Orthodoxy in the process. This is simply an attempt to seduce former Soviet republics back under the sway of Russia…Putin’s use of traditional Christianity is calculated for political effect. American and European observers would do well to see through the charade.”
4. The Philippines
Rodrigo Duterte’s reign in the Philippines began with an almost complete abandonment of due process in a treacherous effort to combat rampant drug use in the region.
During his inaugural speech in 2016, Duterte told a crowd of supporters “to shoot and kill drug dealers who resist arrest and fight back,” <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/05/kill-drug-dealers-medal-philippines-president-rodrigo-duterte">The Guardian</a> reported. He urged his citizens to take the law into their own hands if they had the means, adding, “Please feel free to call us, the police, or do it yourself if you have the gun, you have my support.”
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-1987eb2a568d773b36b578bda820abe4">AP News</a> reported that “[m]ore than 5,700 mostly poor drug suspects have been killed under Duterte’s anti-drug crackdown” since his infamous declaration in 2016.
His deeply misguided decree has led to allegations of unprecedented vigilantism and a complete disregard for the rule of law from the International Criminal Court and various human rights groups, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/asia-pacific-philippines-rodrigo-duterte-manila-crime-4b47dbd244d4e67e231e0fbfeb5db383">AP News</a>:
“At least two complaints for crimes against humanity and mass murder in connection with Duterte’s campaign are being examined by an ICC prosecutor, who will determine whether there is enough evidence to open a full-scale investigation.”
Duterte recently urged his police force to kill anyone defying lockdown orders and “challeng[ing] the government” at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as detailed by <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rodrigo-duterte-philippines-president-coronavirus-lockdown-shoot-people-dead/">CBS News</a>:
&#8220;‘I will not hesitate. My orders are to the police and military, as well as village officials, if there is any trouble, or occasions where there&#8217;s violence and your lives are in danger, shoot them dead,’ he said in a mix of Filipino and English in the televised address. ‘Do not intimidate the government. Do not challenge the government. You will lose.’&#8221;
5. North Korea
Though President Trump attempted to make unprecedented diplomatic inroads into North Korea in 2018, the country remains enshrouded in secrecy, isolation, and ongoing oppression. It’s no exaggeration to assert that there is virtually no freedom in North Korea. Everything that can be controlled by the state is controlled by the state.
While officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea is a decidedly Marxist regime. All means of production are run by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers%27_Party_of_Korea">Worker’s Party of North Korea</a>, including agriculture which is “owned by the party and therefore by the state,” according to the late <a href="http://www2.law.columbia.edu/course_00S_L9436_001/North%20Korea%20materials/hwang%20jang3.html">Hwang Jang-yop</a>, a high-ranking official in North Korea who <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwang_Jang-yop">defected in 1997</a>.
Land is broken down into cooperatives “[s]o ultimately, all the land managed by the agricultural cooperative belongs to the Great Leader.” Such a socialist monopoly on food production has led to ongoing mass starvation and what the late Hwang Jang-yop considers “the greatest human rights violation.”
“That more than 1.5 million people died of hunger from 1995 to 1996 is an irrefutable fact,” the late Hwang Jang-yop explains. “We do not have accurate data about the situation from 1997 to 1998, but since the food supply did not improve much, it can be deduced that at least a million people have met their deaths every year. According to reports that Chinese telecommunications company Xinhua claims it received from officials of the Agricultural Committee in North Korea, a total of 2.8 million people have starved to death at last count at the end of 1997. From this and the irrefutable fact that 1.5 million had died by the end of 1996, we can deduce that another 1.3 million people died in 1997 to add up to a total of 2.8 million deaths by starvation. We have consistently said that more than 1.5 million died between 1995 and 1996 and that 1 million more probably died every year from 1997 to 1998. We never resorted to exaggerating the situation.”
By all accounts, little has changed in North Korea except a greater potential to disrupt the geopolitical balance. <a href="https://www.heritage.org/asia/report/us-will-face-stronger-more-provocative-north-korea-2021">The Heritage Foundation</a> recently reported a “massive military parade on October 10” that “revealed an intimidating array of new military systems that increase the threat to America’s homeland and to its Asian allies.”
“Also of great concern for American security,” according to The Heritage Foundation, “the regime demonstrated that it could indigenously produce ICBM transporter erector launchers (TELs). During the parade, four Hwasong-15 ICBMs and four of the new ICBMs were paraded on TELs. North Korea had previously been constrained to six TELs converted from large trucks imported from China in 2012.&#8221;

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