February 26, 1943 manifesto of the Philippine Council of State

by Philippine Council of State

PHILIPPINE COUNCIL OF STATE
MANILA

MANIFESTO

TO THE FILIPINO PEOPLE:

⁠INDEPENDENCE is finally within our reach! Japan is waging a sacred war for the purpose of liberating the Orient from Occidental domination. In pursuance of that noble cause, now happily on the point of attainment as a result of her brilliant successes on air, land and sea, she offers us the honor of independence and the blessings that it implies.

⁠This generous and unparalleled offer, Japan has solemnly made to the Philippines with the sincerity of a friend and protector. Her friendship for us is traditional. As far back as the sixteenth century, her samurai warriors offered to join our ranks to smash the Spanish yoke. During the Philippine Revolution, a number of her sons volunteered to fight and die side by side with their Filipino comrades-in-arms. Nor was that all. Long before the outbreak of the current Greater East Asia War, her Imperial Government freely and unreservedly declared that she had no territorial ambition in the Philippines. This declaration the Imperial Japanese Forces reaffirmed when they occupied Manila early last year. They had come here, they announced, merely to fulfill Japan's "sacred mission, the establishment of Asia for the Asians, the Philippines for the Filipinos."

⁠Time and again the highest Japanese representatives in the Philippines—the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army and the Director General of the Japanese Military Administration—repeated this inspiring assurance. True to her lofty and ennobling mission, Japan went farther. She avowed through her Premier, General Hideki Tozyo, before the Imperial Diet on January 21, 1942, that: "As regards the Philippines, if the peoples of those Islands will hereafter understand the real intentions of Nippon and offer to cooperate with us as one of the partners for the establishment of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, Nippon will gladly enable them to enjoy the honor of independence."

⁠Japan's solemn promise, which brought new hope to all conquered and oppressed peoples in the Far East, Premier Tozyo reiterated a year later. Speaking before the same distinguished body, on January 28, 1943, he said: "Substantial progress is being made in the degree of cooperation rendered to the Japanese Empire by the people of the Philippines as well as in the restoration of internal peace and security. Under these circumstances and on condition that further tangible evidence of cooperation is actively demonstrated it is contemplated to put into effect the statement made previously on the question of Philippine independence in the shortest possible time.

⁠Firmly resolved as we are and have always been to attain our independence, we would be unworthy indeed of our race and that liberty which our martyrs and heroes have sanctified with their blood if we did not exert our utmost to surmount every obstacle placed in our path to freedom and nationhood. But first of all let us be united. We have a common cause, a common destiny. Let us all cooperate with our true liberators to the limit of our capacity and ability. Let the misguided remnants of the USAFFE who are still hiding in the mountains abandon any futile resistance which at best can only mean unnecessary sufferings and sacrifices of our people. To normal life let everybody return as the rest of us have done, certain that it is there, and not in the fastness of the mountains, where we all can best strive for the peace, happiness, and prosperity of our fatherland.

⁠Why continue resisting those who have honestly, sincerely, and bravely shown by deed that they are really doing their best to make us free? Japan could have treated us as a conquered enemy, imprisoned our soldiers for the duration of the war, and devastated our country. But this she did not choose to do. Instead, she allowed us from the beginning to direct our administration under the benevolent guidance of the Japanese Military Administration. She freed our imprisoned soldiers, and with her own hands repaired the ravages of war. She went beyond that. She taught us the value of discipline, increased our national consciousness and showed us by precept and example the real meaning of racial dignity. By cooperating with Japan actively and in full measure, we emancipate ourselves from political domination and economic exploitation and win for ourselves the honor and glory of independence.

⁠We, therefore, appeal most earnestly to all our countrymen to join and help us in the titanic task of reconstruction of our own country and in the complete re-establishment of peace and order throughout the land. Let us avoid further suffering, bloodshed and destruction. Let us build and reconstruct our country and heal the wounds of the past, for it is only in this way that we can realize within the shortest possible time our supreme aspiration to be free and independent.

⁠MANILA, February 26, 1943

(Sgd.) JORGE B. VARGAS
Chairman of the Executive Commission
Chairman of the Council of State

(Sgd.) JOSE P. LAUREL
Commissioner of the Interior
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) TEOFILO SISON
Commissioner of Justice
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) CLARO M. RECTO
Commissioner of Education, Health, and Public Welfare
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) JOSE YULO
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) SERAFIN MARABUT
Auditor General and Director of the Budget
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) JORGE BOCOBO
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) EMILIO AGUINALDO
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) RAMON FERNANDEZ
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) MIGUEL UNSON
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) CAMILO OSIAS
Assistant Commissioner of Education, Health and Public Welfare
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) ARSENIO BONIFACIO
Assistant Commissioner of the Interior
Mmeber, Council of State

(Sgd.) ANTIONIO DE LAS ALAS
Commissioner of Finance
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) RAFAEL R. ALUNAN
Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) QUINTIN PAREDES
Commissioner of Public Works and Communications
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) BENIGNO S. AQUINO
Vice President and Director General, KALIBAPI
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) FRANCISCO LAVIDES
Executive Secretary to the Commission
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) LEON G. GUINTO
Mayor of the City of Manila
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) VICENTE MADRIGAL
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) RAMON AVANCEÑA
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) ALEJANDRO ROCES
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) PIO DURAN
Director of General Affairs, KALIBAPI
Member, Council of State

(Sgd.) JOSE VELOSO
Member, Council of State

Source: Official Gazette. Manila, Philippines. Vol. 2. Bureau of Printing. 1943. pp.144–145.