Essay About Nationalism In The Philippines

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One specific group showed particularly exceptional unification; That group was the youth of the Philippines, in these regions. Many of those fighters that hindered the Japanese with such force were in fact Filipino youth.33 These were not your basic youth fighters but instead described as “red-blooded”, durable, defiant, and daring. These traits were brought out of the youth because of the invasion.34 They were an enemy, the Japanese never accounted for and would prove to be a real problem for the Japanese. The legacy that these fighters left was that of bravery and would set the table for a tradition of patriotism.35 Finally, even the “British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill commended the Filipino youths for being some of the bravest fighters in the world.”36 The…show more content…
As a lawyer, politician and jurist, he was well qualified for the job of President and was appointed by the Japanese.39 During the Japanese’ invasion of the Philippines, the Filipino president Manuel Quezon escaped. He first went to the Bataan Peninsula then eventually making it all the way to the United States.40 Following his abandonment of his country, there was a void in the government of the Philippines for which the Japanese had to fill in order to try and maintain some sort of peace in the country they had invaded. The void was filled by Laurel, himself, “Laurel offered his services to the Japanese, and, because of his criticism of the U.S. Rule of the Philippines, he held a series of high posts in 1942-43, climaxing in his selection as president in 1943.”41 By reading that without giving it much thought, it does seem as though Laurel was a collaborator with the Japanese, and therefore would be no help to the Filipino Guerrillas in their attempt to kick the Japanese out. However, there is much more to his role as president than simply putting on a smile in front of his Japanese

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