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| FAIT-affiliated guerrilla units in Batangas | |
|---|---|
| Fil-American Batangas Guerrillas | |
| Active | 1942–September 1945 |
| Disbanded | September 1945 |
| Country | Philippines (under Japanese occupation) |
| Allegiance | Commonwealth of the Philippines / United States |
| Branch | Fil-American Irregular Troops (FAIT) |
| Type | Guerrilla resistance (provincial sector) |
| Garrison/HQ | Province of Batangas, Philippines |
During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines (1942–1945), several guerrilla units affiliated with the Fil-American Irregular Troops (FAIT) operated across the province of Batangas in southern Luzon. These units formed part of the broader resistance network organized under retired United States Army officer Colonel Hugh Straughn, who had been authorized by General Douglas MacArthur to organize irregular forces south and east of Manila.[1][2]
FAIT-affiliated units were established in municipalities throughout Batangas, including Batangas, Nasugbu, Balayan, Calaca, Tuy, Ibaan, Rosario, Lian, and Calatagan. Following Straughn's capture and execution in 1943, provincial coherence fragmented; individual units continued independently or sought alignment with organizations including Marking's Guerrillas, the Hunters ROTC, and the President Quezon's Own Guerrillas (PQOG). From January 1945, surviving units were attached to the US 11th Airborne Division and the 158th Regimental Combat Team during the liberation of the province.[3]
Background
editThe Japanese Occupation of Batangas
editThe fall of Bataan on April 9, 1942, and the surrender of Corregidor on May 7, 1942, ended organized Allied military resistance in the Philippines and placed the archipelago under Japanese military administration.[4] In Batangas province, Japanese forces established garrison towns, Kempeitai posts, and civilian control structures. The Japanese-sponsored Philippine Executive Commission and later the puppet republic under José P. Laurel maintained nominal civil governance, while the Kempeitai enforced military rule through surveillance, arrest, and detention of suspected resistance members.[5]
Batangas provided conditions that made sustained Japanese pacification difficult. The province's mountainous interior and extensive coastline offered natural cover, and a significant number of former USAFFE personnel remained at large following the Bataan surrender. The Japanese conducted periodic counter-guerrilla sweeps — burning barrios and detaining suspects — though historians of the Philippine resistance have noted that such measures often accelerated local recruitment into the underground rather than suppressing it.[6][7]
The FAIT and Colonel Hugh Straughn
editThe Fil-American Irregular Troops (FAIT) was organized by Colonel Hugh Straughn, a retired Spanish–American War veteran recalled to active duty on December 23, 1941. During the siege of Bataan, MacArthur authorized Straughn to organize guerrilla forces near Antipolo, Rizal; as Bataan fell, Straughn extended his organizational activities to cover the area south and east of Manila, previously designated the "District of Southern Luzon."[1] The FAIT operated under a sectoral structure, dividing territory into numbered sectors each with a designated commander. Membership required an oath of allegiance to both the President of the United States and the President of the Philippine Commonwealth. The organization's stated mission before Allied liberation was intelligence-gathering, training, and civilian protection; upon American forces' arrival, units were to report for active military duty.[8]
Several major guerrilla organizations were affiliated with the FAIT during Straughn's command, among them Marking's Guerrillas, the Hunters ROTC, and the President Quezon's Own Guerrillas. Straughn was captured by the Japanese on August 5, 1943, and executed at the Chinese Cemetery in Manila on November 1, 1943.[9] The FAIT briefly continued under General Vicente Lim before Lim was also captured and executed. With Straughn's death, most affiliated organizations became formally independent.
Provincial Organization in Batangas
editIn Batangas, a document prepared by Luis Luna under Straughn's authority divided the province into twelve numbered geographic sectors, each with a designated sector commander. This scheme was recovered among guerrilla documents found at Tinga, Batangas on February 15, 1947.
| Sector | Territory | Commander |
|---|---|---|
| I | Bilibid area vicinity | — |
| II | Golod and vicinity | — |
| III | East of the Batangas Road | — |
| IV | San Jose to Ibaan to Rosario | Sixto M. Guerra |
| V | Rosario to Old Rosario to San Juan | Loreto Abaya |
| VI | Taysan to Bilogo and Dagatan | Montano Viril |
| VII | Lobo to Apar and Coast | Luis Aguirre |
| VIII | San Juan to Laiya and Coast | — |
| IX | San Bartolome area | — |
| X | East of Tanauan to Malvar | — |
| XI | Bañadero | — |
| XII | Mainaga Pier vicinity | — |
Lieutenant Colonel Jorge D. Espina of Rosario was appointed overall Provincial Commander for Batangas in late 1942/early 1943. Through the efforts of Major Horacio Ilagan, acting as liaison for western Batangas, sector organizers across Nasugbu, Tuy, Balayan, Calaca, Lemery, and Taal were brought under Espina's provincial command.
Espina was captured by the Kempeitai in March 1944 while in Manila. His disappearance significantly disrupted provincial coordination, with individual municipal units thereafter operating independently or seeking attachment with other guerrilla groups.
FAIT-Affiliated Units by Municipality
edit1st Batangas Regiment (Batangas City)
editThe 1st Batangas Regiment operated in and around the town of Batangas (present-day Batangas City). Founded reportedly by a Major Gutierrez in 1943, command passed to Major Maximo Bool of Pallocan after Gutierrez's capture. The unit conducted intelligence-gathering and distributed Allied radio broadcasts to the civilian population. Bool was arrested and tortured by the Kempeitai but did not disclose information about the organization. The unit cooperated with the 158th Infantry Regiment and 11th Airborne Division during the liberation of Batangas City in early March 1945.
| Name | Rank | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Maximo Bool | Major | Commanding Officer |
Nasugbu Fil-American Irregular Troops (1st and 2nd Regiments)
editThe Nasugbu FAIT was among the largest of the Batangas municipal units, organized in early 1942 in the barrio of Balaytigue and eventually comprising two infantry regiments. The unit established a radio station at Cape Santiago in Calatagan — operated under SWPA GHQ auspices by M/Sgt. Ramon Victorio and M/Sgt. Benjamin Harder — which relayed intelligence on Japanese naval movements. Members also made maritime crossings to Mindoro to maintain contact with MacArthur's forces.
Upon the Nasugbu Landing of January 31, 1945, the 1st Regiment (Lt. Col. Juan M. Villegas) and the 2nd Regiment (Lt. Col. Marcelino T. Enriquez) were formally attached to the 11th Airborne Division.[3] A hand-drawn operational map of Japanese positions prepared by the 3rd Battalion FAIT under Col. Villegas was used by the 11th Airborne's Corps of Engineers during the landing.
| Name | Rank | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Juan M. Villegas | Lt. Colonel | CO, 1st Infantry Regiment |
| Marcelino T. Enriquez | Lt. Colonel | CO, 2nd Infantry Regiment |
Balayan — Pioneer Balayan Town Guerrillas (Bahia-Deguito Unit)
editThe Pioneer Balayan Town Guerrillas (Bahia-Deguito Unit) was organized on June 10, 1942, at a founding meeting of local civic figures including Dr. Rodolfo G. Bahia, a physician and former USAFFE officer, and Amador Deguito, a chemist with ROTC training, who traveled to the Sierra Madre Mountains in August 1942 to contact Straughn and obtain FAIT authorization. The unit maintained radio contact with SWPA forces through stations at Mt. Luya and at Cape Santiago in Calatagan.
The unit suffered severe losses in March 1944 when Kempeitai agents, acting on an informer's tip, arrested Dr. Bahia and Amador Deguito. Deguito was subsequently killed. Bahia also died before liberation, as did Tuguigui, who was arrested and killed in April 1944.
| Name | Rank | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Rodolfo G. Bahia | Major | Co-founder; CO, Bahia Battalion (KIA) |
| Amador C. Deguito | Major | Co-founder; CO, Deguito Battalion (KIA) |
| Domingo Tuguigui | Major | Regional Commander, western Batangas municipalities (KIA) |
Calaca — Pioneer Calaca Town Guerrillas
editThe Pioneer Calaca Town Guerrillas were formed in Calaca and affiliated with the Bahia-Deguito Unit in December 1942. Members engaged in passive resistance, including instructing tenant farmers to under-report harvests and covertly cutting Japanese barbed wire along coastal areas to clear potential Allied landing zones. Following Amador Deguito's death in 1944, the unit maintained its FAIT affiliation through Colonel Vicente Galvez.
| Name | Rank | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Pablo S. de Joya | Captain | Commanding Officer |
Tuy — Fil-American Irregular Troops, Tuy Unit
editThe FAIT's Tuy Unit was organized on September 3, 1942, under Major Vicente Calingasan and Major Apolinario R. Apacible. The unit operated radio receiving sets and distributed Allied broadcast transcriptions across neighboring units. It also sheltered two American survivors of the Carabao Island battery who had evaded capture after the fall of Corregidor. Efforts to evacuate one of the Americans, who was seriously ill, to Mindoro for medical treatment were detected by Japanese informers, triggering a Kempeitai crackdown across western Batangas FAIT units. Major Calingasan was arrested; Major Tuguigui of Balayan was killed in April 1944.
| Name | Rank | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Vicente Calingasan | Major | Commanding Officer |
| Apolinario R. Apacible | Major | Executive Officer |
Ibaan — FAIT Ibaan Guerrilla Regiment
editThe Ibaan Regiment was formally organized on January 25, 1943, by Captain Jorge D. Espina pursuant to his authority from Straughn, and assumed by Lieutenant Colonel Sixto M. Guerra from March 10, 1943. Operating from the barrios of Sabang and Panghayaan in Ibaan's interior, the unit received a radio transmitter in January 1944, enabling direct intelligence relay to Mindoro and Panay. Following Espina's capture in March 1944, the unit aligned for a period with the PQOG before joining the broader "Batangas Guerrillas" in August 1944. By end of 1944, the regiment had grown to two battalions with approximately 700–800 enrolled men. In 1945 it was attached to the 158th RCT (March 12) and subsequently the 11th Airborne / 188th Paraglider Infantry (March 18). Ibaan was liberated on March 13, 1945.
| Name | Rank | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Sixto M. Guerra | Lt. Colonel | Commanding Officer |
| Iluminado Medrano | Major | Executive Officer |
| Eligio P. Yabyabin | Major | 2nd Battalion Commander |
| Manases G. Reyes | Captain | Regimental S-1; CO, Reyes Company |
| Quintin B. Hernandez | 1st Lieutenant | Regimental S-2; attached to 11th CIC Detachment |
Rosario — Fil-Americans, Batangas Guerrillas (Luansing Unit)
editThe unit commanded by Colonel Galicano M. Luansing Jr. was established in October 1942 when a FAIT Inspector General designated Luansing — a former USAFFE 1st Lieutenant — as sector commander for Rosario. Built from a founding nucleus of 154 men, mostly former USAFFE soldiers and ROTC students, the unit initially operated under Espina's provincial command, then briefly aligned with the PQOG before separating in October 1943. It thereafter operated independently, reestablishing radio contact with SWPA headquarters in December 1943 and coordinating with Major Jay D. Vanderpool from October 1944. In the liberation campaign, the unit assisted in the occupation of Rosario and advanced alongside the 2nd Battalion, 188th Paraglider Infantry, in the liberation of San Jose and Lipa in late March 1945, followed by mopping-up operations across southern Batangas.
| Name | Rank | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Galicano M. Luansing Jr. | Colonel | Commanding Officer |
Balayan / Lemery / Taal — Rillo-Neri Unit
editThe Rillo-Neri Unit was founded in Balayan by Colonel Salvador Rillo and Lieutenant Colonel Jaime Samperino Neri, SJ — a Jesuit priest — with claimed FAIT authority derived from Straughn. The unit conducted intelligence work, maintained civil order, and coordinated civilian evacuations in Balayan, Lemery, and Tuy. In the liberation campaign, the Rillo-Neri Combat Team operated alongside the 158th RCT from March 6–15, 1945, participating in the attack on the Himalas Garrison at Balayan in coordination with Hunters ROTC units. By mid-March 1945, Balayan, Calaca, Lemery, and Taal had been liberated.
| Name | Rank | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Salvador Rillo | Colonel | Co-founder |
| Jaime Samperino Neri, SJ | Lt. Colonel | Co-founder |
| Horacio Ilagan | Major | Combat team commander during liberation operations |
6th Regiment FAIT / Rainbow Regiment (western coastal zone)
editIn the western coastal municipalities, the unit that eventually became the Rainbow Regiment was organized in Nasugbu in 1942 by Colonel Mariano Cabarrubia, a former USAFFE officer. By June 1943 the consolidated FAIT units of the western coastal zone were designated the 6th Regiment, FAIT, comprising approximately 1,500 officers and men across the municipalities of Lian, Calatagan, Nasugbu, and Tuy, with Cabarrubia as Commanding Officer. In 1944, following further reorganizations, the regiment was redesignated the Rainbow Regiment, Malakas Division, AUSA, and was formally recognized by the United States Army. In early 1945, the unit liberated Calatagan on February 22, 1945 — before US ground forces arrived — and subsequently assisted the 158th RCT and the 187th Paraglider Infantry at Lemery, Calaca, and Maricaban Island.
| Name | Rank | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Mariano Cabarrubia | Colonel | Commanding Officer, 6th Regt. FAIT / Rainbow Regiment |
Intergroup Relations
editFAIT and Marking's Guerrillas
editMarking's Guerrillas joined the FAIT in May 1942 as the first major affiliated unit, operating as an independent field command with officer commissions requiring Straughn's countersignature. Following Straughn's execution in 1943, Marking's became fully independent, eventually growing to approximately 12,200 members across multiple provinces, with its primary operations in the Sierra Madre mountains east of Manila.[10]
FAIT and the Hunters ROTC
editThe Hunters ROTC operated under the FAIT umbrella from 1942 with a practical division of roles: FAIT members constituting Home Guard and intelligence units, Hunters members providing combat troops. In western Batangas, FAIT members transferred into the Hunters ROTC structure in 1944. The Hunters ROTC fought from Nasugbu through Manila in the 1945 liberation campaign.
FAIT and the President Quezon's Own Guerrillas (PQOG)
editThe PQOG operated in Rosario and parts of Batangas during 1943–1944. Several FAIT units — including the Ibaan Regiment and the Luansing Unit — were at varying points pressured into alignment with the PQOG. Both units eventually severed ties with the organization, citing internal abuses against civilians as justification in their own unit histories.
FAIT and the Hukbalahap
editThe Hukbalahap, a peasant resistance movement with Communist political orientation founded in March 1942, operated primarily in Central Luzon — well north of Batangas. No documented evidence exists of direct operational coordination between the FAIT Batangas units and the Hukbalahap. Historians of the Philippine resistance have noted the broader ideological tensions between USAFFE-aligned organizations and more independently oriented groups across southern Luzon during this period.[11]
Major Jay D. Vanderpool and GHQ Coordination
editFrom mid-1944, Major Jay D. Vanderpool, General Staff Corps, SWPA GHQ, coordinated the activities of most surviving FAIT-affiliated units in Batangas, Cavite, and Laguna. Arriving by submarine on the Tayabas coast, Vanderpool established his headquarters with the Hunters ROTC at Kutad, Nasugbu, channeling intelligence to MacArthur's headquarters and coordinating pre-liberation operations.[2]
Liberation Operations (1945)
editThe liberation of Batangas began with the Allied landing at Nasugbu on January 31, 1945, when the 11th Airborne Division came ashore.[3] Nasugbu FAIT units were immediately attached to the 11th Airborne. As the 158th Regimental Combat Team advanced into the province and the 188th Paraglider Infantry moved from Tagaytay, surviving FAIT units were attached to advancing American forces as local guides and combat auxiliaries.
| Town | Liberation Date | US Unit | FAIT/Guerrilla Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nasugbu | 31 January 1945 | 11th Airborne Division | Nasugbu FAIT (1st & 2nd Regts.) |
| Calatagan | 22 February 1945 | (guerrilla advance, pre-ground contact) | 6th Regt. FAIT / Rainbow Regt. |
| Balayan, Lemery, Taal, Calaca | 6–7 March 1945 | 158th RCT | Rillo-Neri Unit; Hunters ROTC |
| Batangas | Early March 1945 | 158th RCT / 11th Airborne | 1st Batangas Regt. (Bool Unit) |
| Ibaan | 13 March 1945 | 158th RCT / 188th Para. Inf. | Ibaan Regiment (Guerra) |
| San Jose | 25 March 1945 | 158th RCT | Luansing Unit |
| Lipa | 27 March 1945 | 2nd Bn, 188th Para. Inf. | Luansing Unit |
FAIT-affiliated guerrillas also served as local guides, conducted mopping-up operations against Japanese stragglers, provided labor for road and bridge construction, and guarded fords and supply lines. Some units continued patrols through July and August 1945. Most were formally disbanded in September 1945 following Japan's surrender on September 2, 1945.
Post-War Recognition
editThe post-war recognition process for guerrilla units across the Philippines was complex and contested.[12] The US Army Guerrilla Affairs Branch (G-3, AFWESPAC) conducted on-site investigations of units seeking official recognition, interviewing officers, NCOs, and civilians, and examining roster documentation. In Batangas, investigations of FAIT-affiliated units documented recurring issues: roster submissions that included individuals from disbanded organizations or who had not served with the specific unit; cases of rank discrepancies in administrative records; and significant numbers of genuine participants who were never formally processed due to the disruption of wartime demobilization. Final recognition counts varied considerably by unit, from 101 formally recognized members in the Ibaan Regiment to larger figures for units attached directly to American divisions during combat operations.[3]
| Unit | Members Officially Recognized |
|---|---|
| Nasugbu FAIT (1st & 2nd Regts.) | Recognized through formal attachment to 11th Airborne Division |
| Ibaan Regiment | 101 |
| Rillo-Neri Unit | 130 (combat team); ~400 additional through Blue Eagle Brigade |
| 1st Batangas Regiment (Bool Unit) | Favorable American attestations; full count less documented |
| Rainbow Regiment / 6th Regt. FAIT | Formally recognized by US Army |
| Luansing Unit | Recognized through attachment to 158th RCT / 11th Airborne |
Legacy
editThe FAIT-affiliated units in Batangas represent one of the more extensively documented provincial guerrilla networks in the southern Luzon resistance during the Japanese occupation. Participants came from a range of social backgrounds — military veterans, professionals, municipal officials, and civilians — and operated across nearly every major municipality in the province. Their intelligence and combat contributions during the liberation of Batangas are documented in the US Army's official histories of the Pacific campaign.[13]
The history of these units also illustrates wider patterns in Philippine wartime resistance: the fragmentation that followed the loss of senior organizers, the shifting and sometimes coerced intergroup affiliations of the occupation period, the coordination role played by SWPA liaison officers, and the contested post-war recognition process that left many genuine participants without formal acknowledgment.[14][15]
In 2023, the municipality of Ibaan unveiled a Historical Wall titled "Ibaan Regiment: 101 Men of Ibaan", commemorating the officially recognized members of the regiment. The records of the FAIT-affiliated units in Batangas are preserved in the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) and the US National Archives Philippine Archives Collection (Record Group 407).
See also
editNotes
edit- 1 2 Morton 1953, pp. 361–362.
- 1 2 Smith 1963, pp. 178–181.
- 1 2 3 4 Smith 1963, pp. 181–185.
- ↑ Morton 1953, pp. 441–442.
- ↑ Steinberg 1967, pp. 45–47.
- ↑ Lapham & Norling 1996, pp. 78–80.
- ↑ Steinberg 1967, pp. 50–52.
- ↑ Ingham 1995, pp. 61–63.
- ↑ Ingham 1995, pp. 64–65.
- ↑ Lapham & Norling 1996, pp. 112–114.
- ↑ Steinberg 1967, pp. 88–90.
- ↑ Ingham 1995, pp. 68–70.
- ↑ Smith 1963, pp. 178–185.
- ↑ Ingham 1995, pp. 64–70.
- ↑ Steinberg 1967, pp. 88–92.
References
edit- Ingham, Travis (1995). Rendezvous by Submarine: The Story of Charles Parsons and the Guerrilla Soldiers in the Philippines. New York: Doubleday.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Lapham, Robert; Norling, Bernard (1996). Lapham's Raiders: Guerrillas in the Philippines, 1942–1945. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Morton, Louis (1953). The Fall of the Philippines. United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Smith, Robert Ross (1963). Triumph in the Philippines. United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Steinberg, David Joel (1967). Philippine Collaboration in World War II. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
Primary Sources
edit- Lt. George R. Bond, "Report on the Ibaan Regiment FAIT," Guerrilla Affairs Branch, G-3, AFWESPAC, June 1946. File No. 110-6, PVAO.
- "Brief History of the Nasugbu Fil-American Irregular Troops." Philippine Archives Collection. Record Group 407, US National Archives.
- "Brief History of the Pioneer Balayan Town Guerrillas, Bahia-Deguito Unit." Philippine Archives Collection. Record Group 407, US National Archives.
- "Brief History of the Pioneer Calaca Town Guerrillas, F.A.I.T." Philippine Archives Collection. Record Group 407, US National Archives.
- "Brief History of the Tuy Unit, Fil-American Irregular Troops." Written by Apolinario R. Apacible, 1947. Philippine Archives Collection. Record Group 407, US National Archives.
- "Brief History of the Ibaan Regiment Batangas Guerrillas." File No. 110-6, PVAO.
- "Chronological History of the Luansing Guerrilla Unit." Philippine Archives Collection. Record Group 407, US National Archives.
- "History of the Lipa Guerrilla Headquarters Combat Team, Rillo-Neri Unit." Philippine Archives Collection. Record Group 407, US National Archives.
- "Text of Important Documents Issued by Col. Hugh Straughn." [General Memorandum, June 20, 1943.] Philippine Archives Collection. Record Group 407, US National Archives.
- "Early Fil-American Irregular Troops Organization and Guidelines for Batangas" (Luis Luna). File No. 110-6, PVAO.
- Map of the 3rd Battalion Fil-American Irregular Troops. Juan M. Villegas, CO. Harry S. Truman Library and Museum.
- Philippine Archives Collection: Guerrilla Unit Recognition Files, 1941–1948. Record Group 407, US National Archives.
- Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) — World War II Guerrilla Recognition Files.
- "Ibaan Regiment: 101 Men of Ibaan" Historical Wall, unveiled 2023, Ibaan, Batangas.
Category:History of Batangas Category:1942 establishments in the Philippines Category:1945 disestablishments in the Philippines
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