‘First Essentials of Survival’: Ensuring the Support and Compliance of Civilians in the Guerrilla Conflict with Japan on Panay, 1942–1945

Abstract

This article offers a detailed examination of the strategies employed by the resistance leadership in Panay to mobilize and, if necessary, coerce civilians into supporting them in their guerrilla conflict with Japan. It argues that their ability to adapt and, thereby, continually ensure the support and compliance of the civilian population were as important, if not more so, to their overall success than strictly military accomplishments. The primary aim of this article is to bring the importance of civilians into focus and deepen our historical understanding of a much-understudied and understated aspect of resistance to Japanese occupation in the Philippines.