February 4, 1945. Smoke rises in the City of Manila.
Tondo was the first to burn. In Intramuros, at around 3:00am, many residents of the Walled City were forced by the Imperial Japanese squadsto leave their houses. The men were all herded into Fort Santiago, while thewomen and children were moved into San Agustin Church and monastery. Husbands and sons—these men in Fort Santiago—would later on be executed.
In the morning at Binondo, several civilians noted that many Japanese marines transported five-gallon gasoline cans, gunpowder sacks and other explosives on the ground floor of China Banking Corporation, Crystal Arcade Building and Yutivo Sons Hardware Building. They deliberately set fire to these buildings, burning as it went, spreading to almost all the buildings on the northside of the Pasig River. It effectively delayed the northern Allied advance for two days.
The Imperial Japanese forces were determined to slow down the liberation force. By 11:00 a.m., the Ayala Bridge, the bridge that connects Ermita and San Miguel, were effectively destroyed.
Refugees—the burned, the wounded, those who wanted to escape, all poured in at the Philippine Red Cross at Gral Luna and Isaac Peral Streets (now U.N. Avenue). Many schools across Manila began to be converted into make-shift hospitals. These would all soon be targets of Imperial Japanese atrocities. The civilians wait impatiently for rescue, as uncertainty crawls in with the approaching sound of shelling, machine-gun fire and explosions.
No electricity, no water, no food supply. And then war. One would understand why civilians were getting impatient.
In the evening, the Japanese suddenly set fire on the buildings in Ermita using drums of gasoline. Anyone who escapes the fire were shot at or bayoneted. Anyone.
The trudge of the Filipino guerillas and American forces on the city was grueling. A unit was fighting the Japanese resistance at FEU while another unit reached the intersection of Avenida (Rizal Ave.) and Azcarraga Streets (Recto Ave.)
When the resistance was overcome, the Allied forces effectively liberated Bilibid Prison (another American internment camp).
It was an important gain, but a small one nevertheless. The prize was the liberation of the entire city. MacArthur thought that resistance would be quickly crushed.
Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the 1945 Battle of Manila, the gruelling battle for the liberation of the city that lasted from February 3 to March 3, 1945.
*Photo above: (1) Burning of the Manila Port Area; (2) Destruction of the Ayala Bridge.
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