Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma Gave His Farewell Speech

Today in Philippine History (Philatelic Edition Series 3):

AUGUST 3, 1943

Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma gave his farewell speech in front of the members of the Philippine Executive Commission. 

He was the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Japanese Forces in the Philippines and administrator of Japanese-occupied Philippines. 

He appealed to the Filipino people to remove the yoke of Western influence, embrace their Oriental heritage and be part of the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere. 

Earlier, the Imperial General Headquarters forced him into retirement and regarded him as not aggressive enough in war which resulted in the high cost and long delay in securing the surrender of American and Filipino forces. 

They accuse him of being too lenient with the Filipino people in peace. Homma retired and lived in Japan until the end of the war. 

He was the commander of the Japanese 14th Army, which invaded the Philippines and was responsible for the Fall of Corregidor and the Bataan Death March. 

He was later convicted of war crimes and was executed by firing squad on April 3, 1946.

(Design, concept, stamps and research: Richard Allan B. Uy) All rights reserved

Photo credit: wikipedia.org