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Economic and Political Changes in the occupied Philippines

Political
Japan realised that Filipino loyalty would be accomplished by focusing efforts on
the institutional establishment of the government.
Japan decided to make a Philippine republic on October 14th 1943 under Jose.
P Laurel as President. Although the Japanese attempted to mask their true
intents by elaborating that it would benefit the Philippines, people still suffered
great Japanese brutality with the Philippines government becoming a puppet.
Although this brutality diminished consequently under the American liberation, the
Philippine congress who met for the first time on June 9 1945 faced countless
problems which arose during the Japanese occupation. Whilst the government
still stayed established it was needed to work with a convoluted economy and a
country which had been destroyed by political warfare and guerilla violence.
Economic
Japanese invasion was detrimental to the economic landscape within the
Philippines due to shortages and undermining conditions.
The Philippines before the Pacific theatre of War were one of the greatest
economic superpowers within Asia however Japanese invasion by the end of the
War had destroyed the economic stability making them one of the poorest
countries in the Asia Pacific region.
War time conditions created sudden influxes in chronic shortages of basic
commodities. With as lack of such material possession the Philippines a sense of
desperation became apparent with individuals
Wartime conditions gave rise to the chronic shortages of basic commodities. The
deprivation of physical comforts and the desperation with which the people
regarded the situation which did not offer any element of hope, led people to acts
that would have been considered reprehensible in any civilized community, but
under the conditions many Filipinos now found themselves in, became
mandatory, and in fact patriotic.Thus emerged the phenomenon of the saboteur,
the vandal, the looter, and the profiteer who took advantage of scarcity to exact
his toll, the squatter who sneered at all titles to property, and worst of all the
traitor personified by the makapili who would betray any person and any cause,
for lucre. These also became permanent in the Philippines, in business, politics,
and every sector of the community.
http://philippinesfreepress.wordpress.com/2006/04/09/world-war-ii-in-the-philippines/
The war also sharpened social, economic and political tensions in the
Philippines. Throughout Japanese occupied Asia people suffered badly.
Filipinos were no exception. Corruption increased the gap between the rich
and the poor widened and social structures broke down. In 1946 the
Communist Party of the Philippines took advantage of the deteriorating

conditions in the countryside to arouse support for rebellion. The war also
spawned an armed society. Filipinos put up strong resistance to the invading
Japanese and the fighting between United States/Filipino and Japanese forces
in 194445 was extensive. The violence of the war years led to a greater
preparedness to use force to achieve political ends in the post-independence
Philippines.
Historians of the Philippines have stressed the importance of the family to an
understanding of the political structures and the political culture of the
Philippines. They see independence in 1946 as changing very little. A small
number of wealthy families, generally based on extensive regionally-based
land holdings, have controlled Philippines politics since the first elections in
1907.
In accordance the instructions of President Manuel Quezon to Jorge Vargas,
the Filipino officials in Manila were told to enter into agreements and
compromises with the Japanese to mitigate the sufferings of the people under
the iron-clad rule of the Japanese. On January 23, 1942 the Philippine
Executive Commission was established.
Philippine Republic, with Jos P. Laurel, former Supreme Court justice, as
president. But the people suffered greatly from Japanese brutality, and the
puppet government added little support. Meanwhile, President Quezon, who
had escaped with other high officials before the country fell, set up a
government-in-exile in Washington. When he died (Aug., 1944), Vice President
Sergio Osmea became president. Osmea returned to the Philippines with
the first liberation forces, which surprised the Japanese by landing (Oct. 20,
1944) at Leyte, in the heart of the islands, after months of U.S. air strikes
against Mindanao. The Philippine government was established at Tacloban,
Leyte, on Oct. 23.
After their landing, Filipino and American forces also undertook measures to
suppress the Huk movement, which was originally founded to fight the
Japanese Occupation. The Filipino and American forces removed local Huk
governments and imprisoned many high-ranking members of the Philippine
Communist Party. While these incidents happened, there was still fighting
against the Japanese forces and, despite the American and Philippine
measures against the Huk, they still supported American and Filipino soldiers
in the fight against the Japanese.
Since the end of World War II, the Philippines has been on an unfortunate
economic trajectory, going from one of the richest countries in Asia (following
Japan) to one of the poorest. Growth after the war was rapid, but slowed as
years of economic mismanagement and political volatility during the Marcos
regime contributed to economic stagnation and resulted in macroeconomic
instability.

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