By: Atty. Ignacio R. Bunye
The more than five month battle to retake Marawi has quite a few similarities to the Battle of Manila which occurred 72 years ago.
The Battle of Manila which raged for more than a month in 1945 was the first and only urban warfare fought by the Allies in the Pacific theater.
All previous battles from Guadalcanal up to Leyte were fought either in jungles or open fields.
Nothing prepared the Allied troops in the Pacific for this type of warfare save for the theoretical training provided in field manuals. The GIs had to learn their lessons fast in actual combat.
One Allied field manual instructed troops on, among others, how to take buildings:
“Attackers should get into the highest floor possible immediately either going up stairs or directly up the walls, since once the upper floors are under control, the remaining enemy can be eliminated much easier. A point to stress – go into the building firing.”
If memory serves, the only prior Philippine military experience in urban warfare was during the siege of Zamboanga City in 2013.
Feeling left out in the on-going peace talks with the MILF, MNLF leader Nur Misuari started to make his presence felt once again by seizing Zamboanga coastal towns. The battle eventually spread to the city.
In Zamboanga, the final stages of the battle involved house-to-house clearing.
But unlike in Zamboanga, the takeover of Marawi appears better planned and the hostile forces came better prepared.
The Mautes stacked up on arms and food which sustained them during the early stages. They even managed to dig connecting tunnels which protected them from air strikes.
The Mautes booby trapped likely routes of government forces.
All these, plus the fact that hostiles have held dozens of civilian hostages, have slowed down the advance of government troops.
Several times, the declaration of cessation of hostilities was pushed back. Hopefully, it will come soon. The more protracted the battle becomes, the more international propaganda mileage the Mautes gain.
In Manila 72 years ago, here is how the month-long battle started and ended.
Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi, the Japanese Commander, had ordered the fortification of several strong points in the center of Manila. Buildings of strong material were ringed by Japanese pillboxes. Streets leading to the mini-fortresses were mined and protected by barricades and barbed wire.
Initially reluctant to bombard Manila’s landmarks, McArthur later agreed to pull all stops when allied casualties started to mount.
The final assault by McArthur’s troops on the Japanese commander’s suspected headquarters was described in a military journal as follows:
“On February 28, the regiment returned to the Agriculture Building with a three-hour artillery preparation. Point-blank 155mm howitzer fires alternated with point-blank tank and tank-destroyer fires….. Much of the Agriculture Building thus pancaked on its own first floor, and the 5th Cavalry Regiment assaulted into what was left. ”
Iwabuchi’s (the Japanese commander) remains were never recovered.
The fighting flared for three more days as the Allied troops tried to retake the last Japanese stronghold – the Finance Building. On Day 29, US troops cleared the last of the Japanese defenders.
Thus, the month-long Battle of Manila ended. In the process, one-tenth of the civilian population perished. Manila, the Pearl of the Orient, was left in total ruins. But the war was still far from over.
Steven Seagal and President Rody
What do visiting martial artist Steven Seagal and President Rody Duterte have in common?
One, both are into fighting illegal drugs. Although in the case of Seagal, it is only via film.
Two, the President claims he is also a martial arts enthusiast, having taken up karate in his younger days.
Three, both are admirers of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom they praised for his strong leadership. Seagal has gone as far as vocally defending Russia’s policy on Ukraine.
Recall that President Rody was in middle of a State Visit to Russia when the Marawi crisis started to unfold on May 23. This forced the President to cut short his Moscow trip.
Seagal’s friendship with Putin arose from their shared love of martial arts. Seagal is a master of aikido while Putin is an active practitioner of judo. A video clip, which I recentlly enjoyed viewing, showed Seagal and Putin in a sparring session, to the delight of a small Russian audience.
Last year, Putin made Comrade Steven Seagal a Russian citizen, an act which did not sit well with Ukraine which has since declared Seagal as a security risk.
Following the example of Russia, Serbia also granted Seagal a Serbian citizenship, making Seagal, I believe, the one and only triple citizen in the world.
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