Christmas under
Japanese occupation

World War II came to Negros in the morning of December 8, 1941. Instead of Merry Christmas, the concerns of the people were how to cope with the impending difficulties or survive the war. They had heard of the Japanese army on a rampage of killing, burning, raping and looting in Nanking and other parts of China. At the time, war had not yet come to Philippine shores but the horror of Japanese occupation was reported widely and talked about on radio.

There was, however, optimism that war would not come. America, we were made to believe, was too strong for Japan to attack. Moreover, America would come to the aid of the Philippines since the Philippines was its colony.

But war did come and Christmas of 1941 was not as merrily celebrated. However, the churches were full for the Aguinaldo Masses since there was only one church in a town. Bacolod, in fact, with the largest population had only the San Sebastian Cathedral and there was only one Mass. People, faced with uncertainties of life as war, tended to remember God and plead for help.

The Japanese occupation army came on May 20, 1942. December that year was the first year of Christmas under enemy occupation. In the lowlands Masses were held as usual, but for those in the mountain hideouts and evacuation areas there were no priests to say Mass but Christmas was celebrated with greater freedom than in lowlands.

There were handwritten and typewritten invitations for a Christmas Party and Christmas cards. These were sent to friends and allies in other evacuation areas. By Christmas of 1943, the guerrillas and the free civil government had developed an extensive relay system where news and materials travelled with speed.

However, Christmas lights were off because the Japanese would be able to pinpoint the locations of guerrilla hideouts and civil government encampments.

To deceive the Japanese, bonfires were lit far from the hideouts. In some cases, Christmas lights from generators fueled with gasoline or hydro-propelled were hidden under heavy forests covers. But whether in the plains or inside the jungle, the spirit of Christmas was never livelier.

The scarcity of flour and wine for the Mass prompted Bacolod Bishop Casimiro Lladoc to advise the priests to reduce the use of these for the Mass. For the first time, the Japanese allowed the Irish priests who were in detention at the Rizal Elementary School since 1942 to say Mass.

The usual Noche Buena gathering with plenty of food gathered from the bounties of nature made the Christmas parties as merry as in the past although the usual ham and cheese were missing from the table of the rich who had gone into the forests. They brought their best china and silver, however so that they were able to celebrate with a modicum of decent living.

By the Christmas of 1944, however, there was more to partake. Apples, grapes, butter, cheese, and even cigarettes had been supplied by submarine together with machine guns, ammunition, medical supplies and kits, clothing – the amenities of life and materiel for war.

By then the Japanese were on the retreat. The Americans had landed in Leyte on October 20, 1944.

The usual Christmas messages were beamed via radio from San Francisco. President Franklin Roosevelt had been sending Christmas and New Year's messages since 1942. Governor Alfredo Montelibano, Sr. also sent out mimeographed messages as did Negros commander Colonel Salvador Abcede.

These messages were important to morale. In 1943, there was promise of reinforcement. America wanted to salvage its reputation after its promised aid in 1941 and 1942 never came. In 1943, aid did come, first in small packages then in large volumes as Japanese patrol of the Pacific began to taper off. Submarines made several trips through Sipalay's Maricalum Bay and the goods were distributed throughout the island.

The Christmas message of 1943 already indicated that war was going bad for Japan and the time for liberation was near. There was a continuous flow of news that was published by four mimeographed newspapers, complete with graphics colored by crayons.

The Japanese attempted to make Christmas bearable. They held sports and cultural shows to commemorate the season but this failed somewhat to make an impact on the population. By 1944 they began to leave the towns to prepare for the American landing.

Even the war did not dampen their Christmas, perhaps better and in keeping with that of the Child born in the open field.*

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