ABSTRACT
Throughout the territories they occupied during World War II, the Japanese mobilized large numbers of workers for military-related projects carried out by army and navy units in the field and by Japanese development companies. In the Philippines their preferred approach was to make Filipinos in the Executive Commission (1942-43) and then in the new Philippine Republic (1943-44) responsible for labor recruitment. Before the war, Philippine labor had become powerful and well organized, with active trade unions and a strong awareness of labor rights, but Japan’s labor policies sharply curtailed workers’ rights, and for this reason were met with suspicion if not outright opposition. The government of the Philippine Republic, under President Jose P. Laurel, tried to ensure that workers were treated well and received acceptable rates of pay, but despite having given nominal sovereignty to the Philippines, the Japanese frequently ignored these efforts. As Allied forces pushed toward the Philippines, Japanese demands for labor increased sharply, but few Filipinos responded to recruitment efforts because it was known that working conditions were very poor and the Japanese often did not live up to their promises. In the end the Japanese resorted to forced labor to obtain the manpower they needed.
