Hostilities

The relationship between the Japanese and the Buguias people deteriorated rapidly as guerilla activity escalated in the war's later years. Soldiers had already killed a Buguias man for allegedly hiding the American manager of the Bad-ayan sawmill; now they attacked the local political structure, arresting the baknang Berto Cubangay. Executions of individuals accused of abetting the guerilla forces soon followed. By the middle of 1944, Buguias was at war.

Several dozen Buguias men now joined the fight. Inducted into the 66th (guerilla) Infantry, they were led by Bado Dangwa (the Benguet transportation entrepreneur), and Denis Molintas, who in turn were under the command of Blackburn and Volckmann (see Volckmann 1954:145). From their headquarters in Kapangan (Dangwa's home), the 66th Infantry patrolled most of the province, gathering information and laying the groundwork for the approaching battle. Civilians eagerly provisioned the troops—although as the war intensified this would not remain true everywhere.

With the American landing in Luzon (December 1944), the commanding Japanese general, Yamashita, ordered his entire occupying force, military and civilian, into the Cordillera. There he planned a prolonged last stand, designed to cost the Americans time, money, and lives, while allowing the Japanese breathing space to organize

their defenses for the inevitable invasion of the home islands. Baguio now became the capital of the Japanese-controlled Philippine government, and the full force of military activity in the archipelago was concentrated in the mountains (see R. Smith 1963; Fry 1983:204).

The combined American and Filipino forces soon began their assault on Yamashita's forces, ascending the slopes from the lowlands toward Baguio City. The 66th, meanwhile, attacked the very center of Japanese power with a degree of success that some Americans could scarcely believe (see Volckmann 1954:197). Now Yamashita's position was so jeopardized that he ordered a retreat to the Magat Valley, from which he retained sway over most of the Cordillera north of Baguio. The American-Filipino army now had to take two strategic passes (Balete and Bessang), but it was clear that they would eventually fall. Yamashita thus designated a final bastion, centered in Tucucan but including Buguias and environs as well (see Hartendorp 1967).

In August, the attack on this final Japanese stronghold began. From the east, American and Filipino forces marched through Kiangan; from the west, they advanced in two salients, one across the Lo-o Valley and the other right through the center of Buguias. The ground combat was fierce, and American bombers and strafers brought extensive destruction. Yamashita surrendered in Kiangan in mid-August, just as the Allied forces were ascending, under heavy fire, the main Cordilleran ridge east of Buguias (R. Smith 1963).