CHAPTER 1. Introduction. a popular topic of research for scholars in Philippine studies. Many books have been

Transcription

1 CHAPTER 1 Introduction World War II, especially the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, has been a popular topic of research for scholars in Philippine studies. Many books have been written about it, numbers which are comparable to those publications which focus on the Spanish colonization period and the American occupation period. According to Resil B. Mojares keynote address during the Fifth National Conference on Local History in Iligan City, Philippines, the period was one of the most widely written about phases of Philippine history. 1 However, most of the materials about the period focus mainly on two general aspects. The first deals with the military aspect of the war made available through texts from military histories describing the U.S. Army or the Imperial Japanese Army. The second deals with biographies and memoirs of participants of the period, from personalities such as presidents, foreign dignitaries and guerilla leaders to ordinary people such as housewives, children and regular citizens. Most of these works focus on the atrocities of the war, the brutalities of the Japanese soldiers or the battles between the Americans and the Japanese. Only a few works digress from such topics to cover the other aspects of Japanese oocupation, such as the everyday life of the citizenry, the local business, cultural developments, among others. If one approaches a narrower topic on the Japanese occupation period, specifically, komik strips 2, one finds little scholarship on it. A reason for this lack of interest in narrower topics was that the Japanese occupation was too short, about three years and eight months, hence given far little 1 Resil B. Mojares, The Historiography of the Japanese Occupation: Proceedings of the Fifth National Conference on Local History, (Iligan Institute of Technology of the Mindanao State University: 1982), p Komik strips: comic strips 1

2 coverage as compared to the three hundred years of Spanish colonization and forty years of American occupation. However, one can also argue that even though the Japanese occupation covered a period of almost four years, its significance as a world event and its impact on the Philippines was tremendous. In terms of destruction most authors seem to point out that the Philippines was second only to the destruction in Warsaw. Up to the present, there are still unresolved legacies of the war, such as the numerous cases of comfort women. During the post-war period, the issue of collaboration with the Japanese as well as the issue of war reparations from Japan also dominated Philippine politics. Although there are a number of books and articles focusing primarily on the Japanese occupation, these scholarly works were produced under circumstances of limited sources. In Manuel E. Buenafe s book, Wartime Philippines, the author mentions in his preface: Since almost all the reference books in the National Library had been burned, a bibliography of the sources cannot be made. 3 Buenafe was referring to the destruction of incriminatory documents by the Imperial Army at the end of the war. Midori Kawashima similarly noted that: the lack and/or inaccessibility of the records of the former Japanese army is mainly due to the fact that many of these records were destroyed intentionally by the Japanese military towards the end of the war and right after the war. 4 This is not the only reason for the lack of sources regarding the Japanese occupation period. Prominent Filipinos also destroyed evidence or kept them hidden because these could be used to incriminate them as collaborators. Jorge B. Vargas, appointed Mayor of Greater Manila during the occupation period, wrote: Because these [books] contained my signature and were dedicated to a wartime Japanese official [Colonel Utsonomiya], Mike [Michael Goldenberg] was apprehensive that if they 3 Manuel E. Buenafe, Wartime Philippines, (Philippine Education Foundation, Inc.: 1950), preface. 4 Midori Kawashima, The Records of the Former Japanese Army Concerning the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 27 (March 1996), p

3 fell into unfriendly hands the materials could be used in the cases filed against us in the People s Court by the Escolta guerillas and patrioteers of the postwar period. 5 Or in the unique case of American internees who kept diaries about their internment: Ironically, it was the American Counter-Intelligence Corps agents aboard repatriation transports who seized internees diaries, ostensibly as sources of military intelligence. In some cases, months or even years elapsed before they could be recovered from obscure warehouses. 6 Scholars have attempted to overcome this problem of lack of sources by using alternative sources in writing about the occupation period. Mojares suggested the study of non-military aspects of the war and the occupation to gain additional insights and knowledge of occupied Philippine society. He stated that the writing of history should not be just an act of simple commemoration of the great battles and people of the time; it should also be an act of understanding. 7 In the words of Mojares, the re-telling of the story of the Philippines during the Japanese occupation period represented not just [a] simple recounting of events but a more thorough-going analysis of the patterns constituted by various phenomena and events. 8 It is in this context that I intend to use a new source, komik strips published in newspapers during the Japanese occupation, to provide additional perspectives on the Japanese occupation period. The dynamism of komiks lay in the fact that they are popular, being a simple form of media which is easy to understand. Soledad Reyes, one of the few scholars in the field of Philippine komiks, voices her concern that despite the fact that komiks has played an important role in Filipino society, there are only a limited number of scholars who study this phenomenon. How interwoven is komiks with Filipino life? 5 Armando J. Malay, Occupied Philippines: The Role of Jorge B. Vargas during the Japanese Occupation, (Filipiniana Book Guild: 1967), p James J. Halsema, Japanese Interment Camps for Allied Civilians in the Philippines , Pilipinas: A Journal of Philippine Studies 23 (Fall 1994), p Mojares, The Historiography of the Japanese Occupation, p Ibid. 3

4 According to Reyes: A reader would understand more the meaning of what characters such as Phantomanok or Kleng Kleng are doing than the effect of the increase of oil prices to the life of Filipinos. 9 She further observes that a number of institutions have realized the significance of such a medium as komiks in shaping the mindsets and beliefs of their readers. From this perspective, the medium of komiks has been used to promote policies of government offices and religious organizations, as well as for commercial and election campaigning purposes. 10 Reyes adds that komiks do not only influence the readers mindsets but also attempts to influence the readers actions. For example, komiks expounding the concept of Green Revolution invites its readers to involve themselves by cleaning their surrounding and planting in their backyards. Clearly then komiks can exert a strong influence on the lives of Filipinos and has been used by various institutions for that purpose. 11 Komiks therefore offers a promising field of inquiry. It can provide new glimpses on the lives of ordinary people. It can also highlight the efforts by institutions to shape the lives of people. It is with these two objectives in mind that I intend to analyze komik strips of the Japanese occupation period. By studying the four komik strips published in the Philippine local newspaper, the Tribune, during the Japanese occupation period, I aim to first, present the many facets of daily life of Filipinos, offering insights on the dynamics of Philippine society during the Japanese occupation; and second, present and evaluate efforts by the occupation authorities to restructure the lives of Filipinos. Little scholarship has been done on this topic, as shown in the following literature review on the history of Philippine komiks and the study of propaganda during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. 9 Soledad S. Reyes, Pagbasa ng Panitikan at Kulturang Popular: Piling Sanaysay, , (Ateneo de Manila University Press: 1997), p Ibid., p Ibid., p

5 Literature Review Only a limited number of scholars have written about the topic of komik strips in the Philippines. As for komik strips during the Japanese Occupation period, they elicited only passing comments by a few authors. One of the more comprehensive works on Philippine komiks is Ramon R. Marcelino s edited work, A History of Komiks of the Philippines and Other Countries, which compiles samples of komiks and offers short biographies of various Filipino artists. It also contains several essays concerning certain characters in the strips as well as defining the value of komiks in Philippine society. 12 The authors opine that the phenomenon of komiks in the Philippines can only be understood within the context of Philippine society and not apart from it because komiks is very deeply interwoven with Filipino life. 13 They agree that komiks are popular among Filipinos who belong to the lower and middle class since komiks is affordable, compared to other more expensive leisurely pursuits. Aside from entertaining the Filipino reader, komiks also offer practical advice for Filipinos, since komiks project various aspects of daily life that are not far from the experiences and situations of the Filipino reader. The authors further argue that komiks add hope and optimism to the lives of Filipinos since most of these stories portray happy endings or situations that are far better than reality. 14 A more specific study was done on Philippine political cartoons by Alfred McCoy and Alfredo Roces in their book, Philippine Cartoons: Political Caricature of 12 Ramon R. Marcelino, ed., A History of Komiks of the Philippines and Other Countries, (Islas Filipinas Publishing Co., Inc: 1985). 13 Ibid., p Marcelino, ed., A History of Komiks of the Philippines and Other Countries, pp

6 the American Era ( ). 15 This work compiles political cartoons printed in particular newspapers and magazines during the American occupation period and contains two essays. In the essay, Mang Juan and Uncle Sam: The Filipino Caricaturist as Historian, Alfredo Roces introduces the concept of political cartoons and explores why there was no profusion of satirical drawings and indignant cartoons during this period. Roces attributes the lack of such cartoons to the long period of the Spanish occupation during which censorship was very stringent; as such, Filipinos were wary and cautious when they were introduced to the genre of political cartoons. Moreover, Roces contends that Filipinos [have a] temperament of avoiding face-toface confrontation and direct public criticism as well as any unnecessary unpleasantness. 16 In the other essay, : Images of a Changing Nation, Alfred McCoy analyzes the entire American period of the Philippines through cartoons. He asserts that scandals, struggles and social changes of the American colonial period gain an immediacy in these graphic images that eludes even the most eloquent historical prose. 17 McCoy thus highlights the power of cartoons in enhancing historical understanding. The book also contains translated dialogues of the strips which were published in either Spanish or the local vernacular as well as provides the context to better understand the strips. It organizes the strips into various themes such as problems encountered during the transition between the Spanish and American colonial periods, and the dispatch of various independence missions sent by the Philippines to the United States over the issue of Philippine independence. It also makes a little mention of the Philippines during World War II. 15 Alfred McCoy and Alfredo Roces, Philippine Cartoons: Political Caricature of the American Era, , (Vera-Reyes, Inc.: 1985). 16 McCoy and Roces, Philippine Cartoons, p Ibid., p

7 A third work which collects and studies cartoons is Helen Rivera s Images of Japan and the Japanese in Philippines Editorial Cartoons ( ; ), a master s thesis at Ateneo de Manila University. 18 Rivera s thesis begins by looking at the work of McCoy and Roces and develops the topic further by gathering not just editorial cartoons during the American period but also the cartoons from the immediate post-world War II period. Her thesis examines the various problems encountered by Filipinos during the American period and after World War II. The work also explores the changing nature of stereotypes, such as Uncle Sam representing the United States and Juan representing the Philippines. For example, Uncle Sam was portrayed as a lean kindly old man in cartoons representing a good image of the United States but with additional devilish attributes such as horns or a tail to show an evil image of the United States. Aside from the compilation of cartoons, Rivera also gives a profile of the artistic styles of the various Filipino artists who drew the editorial cartoons. However, as the title of her thesis states, she covers only the periods before and after the Japanese occupation period as well as analyzes only editorial cartoons and not komik strips. Closely related to my topic would be studies dealing with Japanese propaganda since the newspaper which contains the komik strips, the Tribune, was under the control of the Japanese Propaganda Corps during the occupation period. There are two general studies done on the topic of Japanese propaganda. The first is Rafaelita Soriano s The Japanese Occupation of the Philippines, with Special Reference to Propaganda, , a doctoral dissertation written in 1948 at the 18 Helen Rivera, Image of Japan and the Japanese in Philippine Editorial Cartoons ( ; ), (Ateneo de Manila University: 2000). 7

8 University of Michigan. 19 The dissertation offers a general survey of the different forms of Japanese propaganda, from print media, such as newspapers, magazines, flyers and books, to radio with programme listing and movies. The second work is Motoe Terami-Wada s The Cultural Front in the Philippines, : Japanese Propaganda and Filipino Resistance in Mass Media, a master s thesis at the University of the Philippines, Diliman Campus. 20 In her thesis, Terami-Wada goes beyond Soriano s dissertation by examining Filipino responses to the different Japanese propaganda as well as surveying Filipino guerilla publications. In works focusing on Japanese propaganda, a common theme of scholars is the resistance/collaboration dichotomy. An example of such works is Mariano C. Javier s article, Japanese Cultural Propaganda in the Philippines. 21 The essay presents a general view of the propaganda machinery of the Japanese and concludes that the Japanese failed to nipponize the Filipinos primarily because of the latter s pro-american-ness. The author quotes from Theodore Friend s book Between Two Empires to prove his point: by 1941, the Filipinos were already too well developed under American rule or too spoiled as the Japanese saw it, for the invaders [Japanese] to accomplish much. 22 This implies that the Filipinos were actively resisting the propaganda fed to them by the Japanese. The edited work by Ricardo Trota Jose and Ikehata Setsuho, The Philippines under Japan: Occupation Policy and Reaction, offers another perspective regarding 19 Rafaelita Vasquez Hilario Soriano, Japanese Occupation of the Philippines with Special Reference to Japanese Propaganda, , (University of Michigan: 1948). 20 Motoe Terami-Wada, The Cultural Front in the Philippines, :Japanese Propaganda and Filipino Resistance in Mass Media, (University of the Philippines, Diliman Campus: 1984). 21 Mariano C. Javier, Japanese Cultural Propaganda in the Philippines, Asian Studies 13 (December 1975). 22 Ibid., p

9 Japanese propaganda. 23 The book is a compilation of essays which studies Japanese policies regarding the Philippines, such as how the Japanese used religion as a legitimizing factor by incorporating Catholic and Christian priests and lay ministers to their army units. It also looks at various economic measures to alleviate the growing poverty the Philippines was encountering, such as the attempt to replace sugar plantations with cotton and the campaign to create a vegetable garden on everyone s backyard. The book also presents an interesting proposition to explain the actions of the Filipinos during the occupation period. While some authors would either assume that the Filipinos were very much pro-american or readily pro-japanese, Ikehata Setsuho argues in her essay that the Filipinos were actually applying the wait-andsee method so as to better assess the situation before adopting a certain course of action. 24 This is a more promising proposition since it highlights that Filipinos were thinking about their circumstances constantly, and were not merely receiving propaganda from both sides (American and Japanese) without processing them. Other studies on Japanese propaganda, in particular, print propaganda, have been largely ignored, probably because such materials are regarded as simply Japanese propaganda, with no other value. However, what some scholars cannot seem to perceive is that this form of propaganda, like most other forms of propaganda, have their own latent and manifest functions. Ricardo Trota Jose in his two articles, The Tribune during the Japanese Occupation and The Tribune as a Tool of Japanese Propaganda, , has shed some insights on this topic. 25 Jose s first article gives a background of the newspaper. It features the personalities involved and 23 Ikehata Setsuho and Ricardo Trota Jose, The Philippines under Japan: Occupation Policy and Reaction, (Ateneo de Manila University Press: 1999) 24 Setsuho and Jose, The Philippines under Japan, p Ricardo Trota Jose, The Tribune during the Japanese Occupation Philippine Studies 38 (1990) and The Tribune as a Tool of Japanese Propaganda, Philippine Studies 38 (1990). 9

10 presents the transition from an independent newspaper which tried to present both sides of a story when it could, to a propaganda mouthpiece for the Japanese. A survey of the various columns and their writers backgrounds shows how this medium provided propaganda, or maintained a sense of normalcy for the public. The second article elaborates on the topic by looking at the content of each section of the newspaper from news to other feature columns. The author highlights interesting features like the komik strips which are supposed to have a manifest nature of entertaining its readers. Jose further notes how a homemaker s column written by the Grau sisters has a manifest function of giving tips to the housewife but also has a latent function of telling its readers the present situation of the Philippines, that of poverty: [An article]..spoke of the difficulty of feeding pigs, since there were virtually no leftovers from meals. It [the article] suggested that householders could give their pigs dishwater instead! 26 He continues his general analysis of the latent functions of the columns by looking at the various classified advertisements posted daily, certain news articles as well as the society pages. Jose adds that Filipinos were wise to Japanese propaganda, especially in the Tribune. Filipinos were aware that most of the news articles in the Tribune would be false, especially during the latter part of the Occupation period. This notion can be seen in the comic skit by Pugo and Togo: Pugo and Togo wore many watches. Pugo asked Togo: What is so strong it can bring down many American planes? Togo would answer, one after the other: Machine gun? Anti-aircraft? Cannon? Other airplanes? Pugo would say no to all these. When Togo gives up, Pugo says that he has to give up all his watches if he wants to know the answer. Then, he would give the answer: The newspaper [The Tribune] (which listed everyday the incredible number of American airplanes shot down) Jose, The Tribune as a Tool, p Renato Constantino, Under Japanese Rule, (Foundation for Nationalist Studies, Inc.: 1995), p

11 Despite this knowledge of falsified reporting, Jose argues that due to the hunger for news about the war, people would readily buy their own copy of the Tribune. However, they would read the news backwards, that is if the news reported that the Japanese had shot down ten planes, the reader would assume that it was ten Japanese planes being shot down. Jose s casual mention of some strips in his article offers the closest link to my topic of study as little else has been written on these komik strips Komiks of the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines This study aims to compile and analyze komiks and komik strips printed in local newspapers during the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines by focusing on four comic strips that appeared in the Tribune during the years The four comic strips include: The Philosopher of the Sidewalk by Gat from 25 January 1942 to 16 August 1942; Now I ve Seen Everything by Ros from 12 July 1942 to 23 August 1942; The Boy Pilipino by Keizo Simada from 5 January 1943 to 23 January 1943; and The Kalibapi Family by Tony Velasquez from 10 October 1943 to 25 June The first among the four komik strips was The Philosopher of the Sidewalk by Gat. The komik strip was a weekly which appeared every Sunday in The Sunday Tribune Magazine and first appeared on 25 January It had a run of twenty-nine strips ending on 16 August The strip features as its main character a man referred to as the Philosopher. The strip was presented with only four panels and had little or no dialogue at all. Its creator is Liborio Gatbonton, who after his stint with The Philosopher of the Sidewalk would also be used by the Tribune to illustrate another series in the newspaper called Our Leading Personalities which featured prominent personalities during the Japanese Occupation period, from Japanese 11

12 generals to local and national government officials. The series was usually accompanied with a caricature done by Gat. However, Gat is better known for his post-war works, such as his Jappy Days in the Philippines, which is a collection of illustrations criticizing and poking fun at the Japanese during the Occupation period. Helen Rivera also studied him as one of the more prolific artists illustrating editorial cartoons in various newspapers during the post-war period. The second komik is Now I ve Seen Everything by Ros. This was a very short-lived komik that was supposedly a weekly. It only had four strips beginning from 12 July 1942 and ending on 23 August The komik was presented almost like an editorial cartoon, which only had one panel. It did not have any main characters, but usually dealt with a specific theme such as bicycle thefts and Filipino ingenuity. Ros did not seem to have any work before and after the Occupation period. And unlike Gat, Ros was not used to illustrate for any other portion of the newspaper after the print run of Now I ve Seen Everything. After a dearth of strips from August 1942, a komik strip drawn by a Japanese, Keizo Simada, and entitled The Boy Pilipino, was launched on 5 January It was a daily which lasted barely a month, with eighteen strips, ending on 23 January The strip features two protagonists, the main character Pilipino and an older companion, probably his father. The strips were presented in a four panel format. An interesting feature of the strip was that it contained no English dialogue. Rather, all the dialogue were written in katakana characters with their respective romaji translations at the bottom. Little is also known with regards to the artist, Keizo 12

13 Simada. The only information about the artist is from his introduction letter printed a day before the official release of The Boy Pilipino : 28 Dear Filipino Friends, I take the liberty to introduce myself to the Dear Readers of the Tribune. I am Keizo Simada, a cartoonist by profession. The Mainichi Shimbun, Tokyo and Osaka, the largest twin newspapers in Japan and which have been running my cartoons for millions of Japanese readers have dispatched me to the Philippines to draw cartoons and contribute to healthful recreation, an important phase of the cultural side of the construction of the New Philippines. My sojourn to the Philippines is yet short and my sphere of observation is limited but I am putting my heart and soul into the preparation of cartoons for your enjoyment. My friends of the Philippines, give me your kind applause if the cartoons meet with your favor, Sincerely Yours, Keizo Simada 4 January 1943 Finally, the last strip to appear in the Tribune was Tony Velasquez The Kalibapi Family. This strip was also a daily which began its run on 10 October 1943 with a total of a hundred and forty-six strips. It ended its run on 25 June It features a family consisting of Kalibapi, the father; Inday, the mother; Bayani, the oldest son; Nene, the sister; Totoy, the youngest son; Tia Upeng, an aunt; Tio Tasyo, husband of Upeng; and Nena, daughter of Tasyo and Upeng. The works are formatted as four-panel strips using a blend of English, Filipino and romaji dialogue. An interesting feature of the strip is the family name of the characters, Kalibapi, which stood for Kapisanan sa Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas or The Association of Service to the New Philippines. The KALIBAPI was created by the Japanese Military Administration to act as a "non-political service organization." It served as the de facto political party of the Japanese Military Administration in the Philippines to justify Japanese occupation policy. To enhance its credibility, he party was officially launched on 30 December 1942 to coincide with the death anniversary of 28 Tribune, 5 January 1943, p

14 Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. The objectives of the KALIBAPI were as follows: To promote technical and scientific efficiency by coordinating all the activities and services dedicated to the national regeneration of the Philippines; 2. To make every Filipino a hard-working, self-reliant, courageous, well-disciplined and progressive citizen; 3. To bring the Filipinos together as one compact and vigorous body free from any strife or regional division animated by a common desire to serve the nation with zeal and devotion; 4. To promote physical development of the people through proper guidance, athletic exercise, whole some recreation and outdoor activities; 5. To assist the people in under standing the significance of, and to strengthen their adherence to, the principles of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere; and, 6. To do everything possible to ward off the Anglo-Saxon influence so as to bring the Filipinos back to the fold of the Orient. Given its objectives and the fact that the party also served as a useful political vehicle of the Japanese in pacifying the Filipinos, the strip using the Kalibapi name also follows a similar objective. Another interesting feature was the choice of Filipino terms for some of the characters: Inday means Miss, Nene means little girl, Totoy means little boy and Bayani means hero. The strip was created by Tony Velasquez, identified as the Father of Filipino Komiks, because of his works before and after World War II. One of Velasquez endearing works was the development of a komik character called Kenkoy during the American period. Kenkoy was identified as the Filipinoin-transition during the period. He wore American-style clothing and spoke in carabao English (broken English). He was used to influence his readers to assimilate American values rather than becoming backward like Kenkoy s friends and family who had insisted on wearing the traditional Filipino costumes introduced during the Spanish period. Existing scholarship on Velasquez and his work Kenkoy tend to gloss over the Japanese occupation period by merely stating the fact that 29 Accessed on 29 June

15 Kenkoy was used as propaganda by the Japanese during the period. No mention is given with regards to the Kalibapi family. All of these strips were printed in the Tribune from January 1942 to June With this collection of strips, I will attempt to first present the many facets of daily life of Filipinos and second, present and evaluate efforts by the occupation authorities to influence the lives of Filipinos. This study is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter introduces the topic of study, literature review, and the komiks to be analyzed. The next five chapters provide thematic analyses of the komiks. Chapter two introduces the reader to the familiar concept of propaganda, highlighting strips used by the Japanese to influence the newspaper s readers, such as learning the language, celebrating Japanese holidays, among others. Chapter three deals with the theme of shortages and solutions, presenting strips which relate the scarcity of materials and how Filipinos coped under such a situation. Chapter four deals with the same theme of shortages and solutions, but focuses mainly on the problem of food shortages. It explores two programs presented by the government: one program was to encourage city dwellers to maintain a backyard garden while the other program urged Filipinos to go to the province and cultivate idle fields. Chapter five highlights the existence of unscrupulous individuals, thieves, looters, conmen and profiteers, who took advantage of the chaos of the period for their own benefit. The strips aim to discourage such unscrupulous behavior and caution Filipinos to be wary of these bad hats. The sixth chapter deals with Japan s promise of granting Philippine independence. The strips present the need to strengthen Asian [Filipino] values and identity in the Philippines as well as the need for Filipinos to cooperate with the occupation government in 15

16 implementing various policies and projects. The last chapter serves as a conclusion and reiterates the main arguments of this thesis. 16