THE WHA CHI GUERILLAS
FROM OUT OF THE INNUMERABLE STORIES OF THE PAINFUL ERA OF THE JAPANESE
occupation in the Philippines during World War II comes the tale of a group called the Wha Chi Guerillas, better known as Squadron 48.
Their full name in Chinese means Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Guerilla Force. Their popular moniker Squadron 48, was coined in honor of the Eight Route Army and the New Fourth Army of the Communist force in China.
The Wha Chi movement began when, in December of 1941, some members of the United Workers Union in Manila decided to establish a resistance group to fight the Japanese.
Approximately 400 Chinese left Japanesecontrolled Manila to fight in the countryside. They scattered in several towns and municipalities in the Nueva Ecija-Pampanga area. Local residents welcomed the Chinese evacuees as freedom fighters in the struggle against a common enemy.
Soon, the guerillas moved to a barrio at the foot of Mt. Arayat. Women, children and the elderly were sent to Manila so the men could prepare for combat.
The 52 men left behind became the original core group of Wha Chi, which was formally organized on May 19, 1942. Wang Chieh (or Ong Kiet), a storekeeper from Dagupan City, is historically recognized as the commander and organizer. He had fought with the New Fourth Army troops stationed at the lower Yangtze River in China, and his
training and experience became valuable to the group.
With only seven rifles, the Wha Chi contacted Filipino resistance groups in the area and set out to arm themselves with the weapons of the enemy. They spent the next few months gathering discarded or abandoned weapons and training in the Pasbul mountains. Along with mock attacks, they formulated rules and policies.
One of their major principles was to foster close ties with the people. It proved to be an invaluable factor, because they had to depend on their support for food, medicine and information time and again. Many lives were saved through this connection.
The Wha Chi left Pasbul and went back to Arayat in September 1942. They had to cross the Candaba swamp at the height of the rainy season, and although 38 of them were stricken with malaria, they made it back to the barrios. What followed were months of major and minor skirmishes,
mostly carried out in coordination with the Hukbalahap (Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon) and other local guerillas.
“Once, we ambushed a Japanese truck crossing a bridge. We shot it down, attacked, then fled,” said Lee Kong Hi, who was barely out of his teens when he fought with Wha Chi. “That was our tactic: hit and run.”
He was possibly referring to the Wha Chi’s first major engagement in Candumba, Arayat where they let over 100 Japanese troops cross a river, cut off their retreat midway, then attacked, killing 38 soldiers.
Aware of their limitations in numbers and arms, the Wha Chi used mobility and cunning ploys to outmaneuver the enemy. They became a model squad among guerillas for their discipline, daring and resourcefulness.
By this time, the Japanese were all too painfully aware of their existence and deployed 10,000 soldiers to surround the Mt. Arayat area. The Wha Chi were forced to split into smaller groups and went into hiding in the Candaba swamplands.
“For three days and three nights, we were trapped,” 75-year-old Chua Bon Bieng recalled. “We had absolutely nothing to eat or drink, we’d lost our sense of direction and we had no one to guide us out of there.
“Finally, on the last night, we decided that if we were going to die anyway, we’d rather die fighting. We sent two of our people out to seek help; luckily, they found some Filipinos who managed to guide us to safety.”
The danger wasn’t over yet; there were just too many Japanese. The Wha Chi retreated to Zambales but ran into enemy troops again. It was a terrifying moment for the Chinese guerillas who were ill-equipped to disguise their appearances. To make things worse, most of them couldn’t speak Tagalog.
“We had two choices,” declared Chua. “We could put down our guns, go to Manila and start a new life as ordinary citizens. Or we could fight on. We felt we were so close; we just couldn’t bring ourselves to give up.”
They made the difficult choice and paid the price with a 26-day march through the entire length of the Sierra Madre mountain range. They were forced deeper into the forest where there was less and less food.
“I doubt if we even had five square meals throughout that entire time,” Chua said with a nonchalance and humor that belies the horrors he must have faced.
“The soles of my feet were this thick,” he spread his thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. “We had no shoes! I would step on thorns and not feel a thing.”
The group, now composed of more than 100 men, ate what they could find: fruits, wild plants and roots. Chinese herbal knowledge also came in handy.
Eventually, the bedraggled troupe reached Laguna. They ate their first meal of rice, given by the Filipino guerillas, after three months. Each morsel that slid down their throat was savored with great relish.
At the boundary of Laguna and Tayabas, they met the Marking Guerillas and Hunter’s ROTC, which helped them reach Paete on June 3, 1943. Here, they helped organize four new Huk squadrons before moving to Barrio Majayjay, Tayabas for three months of their own training.
On Feb. 19, 1944, the Wha Chi transferred to the Mt. Banahaw area and concentrated on coordinating and uniting various resistance movements. They attracted more recruits, whom they
organized into five squadrons.
The first squadron consisted of the original members. The second and third were the Cantonese and Fukienese Squadrons with 100 members each. The fourth included smaller groups affiliated with Wha Chi, and the last was based in Bicol.
They continued to be a persistent thorn in the Japanese army’s side. When the American reinforcements arrived in Lingayen in January 1945, they managed to reach them immediately to get much needed arms and ammunitions, most notably a powerful Garand M-1 machine gun.
With the USAFFE guerillas and the Huks, the Wha Chi helped liberate the towns of Jaen, Sta. Maria, Cabiao, San Fernando, and Tarlac. They joined the 44th Battalion, the First Cavalry, US Army in February.
They also participated in the spectacular rescue of 2,136 American prisoners from a Los Baños prison camp and in mopping-up operations that followed American victory. They fought alongside US forces and guided them to the hideouts of Japanese resistance units after the war.
The Wha Chi Guerillas fought side by side with their fellow Filipinos, and in the three years of waging guerilla warfare they fought over 200 battles, killing over 2,000 enemy troops and losing over 70 of their own men.
With the fighting over in the Philippines, many of the Wha Chi planned to go to China to join the guerilla movement there to help hasten the liberation of their motherland, but the Japanese surrendered before they could leave. As one of them put it, many felt they had fulfilled a destined role in history.
Editor’s note: As part of the worldwide commemoration of 70 years since the end of World War II, an exhibit entitled “Remembering History, Honoring Heroes” opens today at the Kaisa Heritage Center, Cabildo cor Rada streets, Intramuros, Manila. The exhibit is organized by survivors and descendants of the Wha Chi guerrillas and Bahay Tsinoy, Museum of the Chinese in Philippine Life. The exhibit runs until June 28.