PEREZ, Tonie Jezka V.

| 2015-46143

Are Japanese people insane?

According to Valiente (2015), the Manila 1945: The Rest of the Story is a multi-

layered remembering of the war that, one informant said, destroyed the soul of the

Filipinos. There was a scene where they described the situation of the Philippines before

the Japanese attacked and compared it with the events during the Japanese occupation.

It saddens me to discover how the Japanese oppressed the Filipinos and marginalized

women. It feels like the Japanese doesnt have any mercy and emotions towards the

people of the country theyd attacked.

I didnt know how to imagine the different inhumane ways of the tortures and

killings the Japanese did to the Filipinos. They look at the Filipinos like animals

slaughtering them without any hesitations. They burned houses and even a whole district,

shot and beat random people they see in the streets, tortured guerrillas or any people in

contact with the rebels, divided the Filipino people, and even killed the handicapped, the

sick, the old people, the pregnant women, the children, and the babies.

It really hurts on what a tragic Manila was during the Japanese occupation. While

watching the documentary, fear from the Japanese people grew within myself and I felt

anger towards them. Cant people see how war transformed nations into machines?

People into monsters? How it manipulates the minds of each people to gain power is to

attack, to colonize, and to kill? No one wins in a war; only war itself wins.

References:

Valiente, T.G. (2015). Manila 1945: The Rest of the Story. Retrieved on April 5, 2017 from http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/manila-

1945-the-rest-of-the-story