Hunters ROTC

Hunters ROTC
Active 1941-1945
Country  Commonwealth of the Philippines
Allegiance  Commonwealth of the Philippines
 United States
Role Resistance movement
Nickname(s) "The Hunters"
Engagements Raid at Los Baños

The Hunters ROTC was a Filipino guerrilla unit active during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, and was the main anti-Japanese guerrilla group active in the area near the Philippine capital of Manila.[1]:206 It was created upon the dissolution of the Philippine Military Academy. Cadet Terry Adevoso, refused to simply go home as cadets were ordered to do, and began recruiting fighters willing to undertake guerrilla action against the Japanese.[2][3] This force provided intelligence to the liberating forces led by General Douglas MacArthur, and took an active role in numerous battles, such as the Raid at Los Baños.

When war broke out in the Philippines, some 300 Philippine Military Academy and ROTC cadets were unable to join the USAFFE units because of their youth. The Hunters ROTC banded together in a common desire to contribute to the war effort throughout the Bataan campaign. They worked to protect civilians and to assist the USAFFE forces by way of intelligence and propaganda.

Personal stories of sacrifice and heroism have been passed down through the generations of former Hunters ROTC members. As recalled by former member Damaso Fernandez, the omnipresent reign of the Japanese occupation force in Manila was punctuated with the threat of murdering one's whole family if caught hiding intelligence. One particular memory etched in Damaso's mind was when he was hiding a piece of intelligence to give to liberating forces in his pillowcase. The Japanese raided and searched his home including his mattress without finding the papers.

After the surrender of American and Filipino forces on Bataan, the Hunters ROTC relocated to the Antipolo mountains.

The Hunters originally conducted operations with another guerrilla group called Marking's Guerrillas, with whom they went about liquidating Japanese spies. Led by Miguel Ver, a PMA cadet, the Hunters raided the enemy-occupied Union College in Manila and seized 130 Enfield rifles.[4]

The Hunters was one of the more effective south Luzon guerillas.[5]

They were founded in Manila in January 1942 by Miguel Ver[6]:87 of the Philippine Military Academy, and moved to Rizal Province in April where they came under Col. Hugh Straughn's FAIT. After the Japanese captured Straughn and Ver the executive officer, Eleuterio Adevoso (aka Terry Magtanggol), also a Philippine Military Academy cadet, took over.[6]:87 They were among the most aggressive guerrillas in the war and made the only guerrilla raid on a Japanese prison, Muntinglupa (New Bilibid), to free their captured members and to obtain arms. They also participated in the liberation of Los Banos prison camp. Captain Bartolomeo Cabangbang, leader of the Central Luzon Penetration Party, said that the Hunters supplied the best intelligence data on Luzon.

During the Battle of Manila (1945), the Hunters ROTC, under the command of Lt. Col. Emmanuel V. de Ocampo, fought with the U.S. Army from Nasugbu, Batangas to the Manila General Post Office.[6]:87 The Hunters also jointly operated with the Philippine Commonwealth Army and Philippine Constabulary and the American soldiers and military officers of the United States Army in many operations in Manila, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Tayabas (now Quezon).

Legacy

The Headquarters Philippine Army (HPA) parade ground at Fort Bonifacio is named Hunters ROTC Field. In February 1945, this area of Sakura Heiei (Cherry Blossom Barracks), as this military installation had been renamed by the Japanese, was overrun by the 47th ROTC Division as it led the advance of American 11th Airborne Division into this military installation. Additionally, in Quezon City, there is a street named Hunters ROTC, and in Cainta a street formerly named St Francis Avenue now bears the name Hunters ROTC Avenue. There is a memorial along the latter road dedicated to the guerrilla organization.

In film

  • Death was a Stranger. 1963.
  • Unsurrendered 2: The Hunters ROTC Guerrillas. Written & Directed by Bani Logroño. 2015.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Keats, J., 1963, They Fought Alone, New York: J.B. Lippincott Company
  2. ↑ "Philippine Resistance: Refusal to Surrender". Asia at War. 2009-10-17. History Channel Asia.
  3. ↑ Mojica, Proculo (1960). Terry's Hunters: The True Story of the Hunters ROTC Guerillas.
  4. ↑ "Remember Los Banos 1945". Los Banos Liberation Memorial Scholarship Foundation, Inc. 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  5. ↑ [ article on guerrilla groups in Luzon http://www.bataandiary.com/Research.htm#Guerrilla_Units.]
  6. 1 2 3 Connaughton, R., Pimlott, J., and Anderson, D., 1995, The Battle for Manila, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 0891415785
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