LAND OF CONTRASTS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 9 April 1945, Page 5

LAND OF CONTRASTS

GLIMPSES OF PHILIPPINES Leyte, March 22. The Philippines are islands of amazing contradictions and astounding contrasts. Here war is visible on every hand. The sky seems to be always thunderous with the sound of American air power. The land is alive with men, swarming like ants to build or extend bases, and the sea nearby has more ships than I have ever reen before. The United States is waging war against Japan on a colossal scale, in which the detail of the planning is as impressive as the general outline. As interesting as the continuing fight is the area over which the fight has raged. Here less than three months ago General MacArthur’s forces completed their control of Leyte and the neighbouring island of Samar. Last night I slept in a schoolhouse where Japanese officers were quartered not so long ago, and across the town square in* i front of it, where yesterday Filipino ' schoolgirls in bright dresses were prac- ! tising a dance for an approaching re--1 ligious festival, there went every day the natives dragooned with varying degrees cf compulsion to work for the Japanese. To-day many of them cram into trucks to work for the Americans, no longer dragooned, but paid for what they do. In the hills behind, covered as far as Ihe eye can see with coconut palms, were Filipino guerrillas, determined to secure information of value and of great detail for American forces, and to maintain civilian morale. COMMENT ON THE JAPANESE Yesterday I spoke to one of the leaders of the Samar guerrillas, a young man qualified as a lawyer at the University of Manila. He told how the ! native municipal authorities had practised a degree of collaboration with the Japanese for the purpose of easing the impact upon Filipino life, but said none of the natives blamed them for that now the Japanese had gone. He said that on the whole the Japanese occupation of his island had not been vicious. There have been isolated instances of interference with Filipino women, some cases where men were killed on suspicion of helping the American intelligence, and the enforced use of many homes as quarters for the invaders. He emphasised the difference between the Japanese and the American method in this respect. Even although it has resulted in hardship for many of the troops until camps could be established, the Americans have taken over only* a few buildings, and those for such specialised purposes as hospitals. The Americans, moreover, pay rent.

I went to a Filipino school where 80 children crowd eagerly every day into a room which New Zealand children and education authorities would refuse to enter. They are taught by Filipino women—some university graduates and other students still in their girlhood—and it is obvious that both children and teachers had been thrilled beyond words by the opportunity, provided by their liberation, of reopening their schools. For three years they were closed. In some places the Japanese attempted to teach the Filipino children, but teachers said the children would not gp to the classes. No Filipino is spoken or taught. English is the standard language, although children still pick up their own tongle in their homes.