Redouble your efforts

Title

Creator

The Director General

Language

English

Source

Volume II (Issue no. 5) March 1, 1943

Year

1943

Subject

Generals--Speeches, addresses, etc.

Political autonomy

Japanese Military personnel

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

T H E c I REDOUBLE YOUR EFFORTS! BY THE DmEcToR GENERAL Japanese Military Administration T y Following is the message read by the Director·aeneral of the Japanese Military Administration at the opening of the convention of provincial governors, city mayors and provincial constabulary inspectors of Luzon. IT is indeed a great pleasure to appear before this convention and deliver to the provincial governors, city mayors and constabulary senior inspectors of the provinces of Luzon, a few words of pertinent advice on matters of utmost importance to you and to your countrymen. : Anglo-American domination which has for so long perpetrated its malignant and oppressive sway over millions of unfortunate peoples of East Asia has now been forcibly and irrevocably terminated and today, every vestige of the enemies' military and naval force has been completely annihilated and repulsed never to return· again to these shores to cause misery and desolation to the peoples of East Asia. Asia is once again the free Asia for Asians and all the inhabitants of this region are now at liberty to assume their proper role and place that Heaven has destined to be theirs, to work for their own salvation and for the common security and mutual prosperity of all. The establishment of the Co-Prosperity Sphere of Asiatic peoples with Japan in the role of leader and protector is now an accomplished fact, and the Philippines is about to be granted independence in the shortest possible time to take its position of honor and prestige in the family of Oriental Nations as a full-fledged member of good standing. This, in brief, is the situation we are happily facing today. Deep Emotion The mere reflection that the ambitions of countless Filipino heroes and martyrs, both sung and unsung, and the dreams of all your forefathers which have remained only dreams for over the last four centuries will ·become an actuality in your generation and with G A z E T T E your own participation must certainly fill all hearts with emotion too deep for words. Recently, I enunciated the· three essential principles for the early attainment of Philippine independence. In that now historic statement, I enumerated the following cardinal program: 1. Eradication of all past entanglements and connections and the complete restoration of peace and order through the own initiative and efforts of Filipinos themselves. 2. Nationwide and far-reaching economic rehabilitation through the rapid reconstruction and rennovation of the economic structure, to the end that this country may obtain a status of self-sufficiency. 3. Speedy and thoroughgoing reorientation of the people, spiritually and intellectually, with the object of regaining the true Oriental soul to serve as the foundation spirit of the New Philippines. I stressed at that time, and I repeat my emphasis today, on the undeniable fact that the faithful, conscientious and thoroughgoing application of these principles and their practical manifestation in the everyday activities of the people in general are all-important and crucial. In fact, it cannot be gainsaid that at the present stage of the rehabilitation of the Philippines, the application of the three car.dinal principles oulined above to the everyday life and activity of the people as a whole is, most emphatically, the supreme guiding policy of the civil administration. Redouble EffOTts hi the successful application of these three principles, it will be essential for all of you assempled here today, to redouble your past efforts in your cooperation with the Japanese Military Administration. It will also be necessary for you to formulate tangible and effective policies, fully consonant with the conditions and problems prevailing in your respective provinces, [ 152] which are calculated to guide the peopl_e in their everyday actions and thoughts. Above all else, the most important thing to bear in mind in this conneciton is to take drastic and dynam~c measures into your hands to put into effect the specific guiding policies you have set up for your provinces and personally see to it, taking your position at the foremost ranks of your people, that such policies are carried out in actual practice. That your personal leadership and your own aggressive participation in the direction and execution of the details of your practical program are the decisive elements in making your efforts successful or not must be self-evident and clear to all. But since this task is so important, not only to your individual successes as local administrators but in turn has such far-reaching and direct bearing on the fundamental question of the date on which the independence of the Philippines is to materialize, I shall not mince words, but speak to you frankly and to the point. You are being called upon, gentlemen, here and. now, to place yourselves at the head of the column, in the foremost ranks of your people, in order to drrect and guide them through your own personal example and through your own voluntary and self-sacrificing service, thereby instilling fresh hope and burning faith in all the hearts of the people, thus giving rise to an overwhelming and strong wave of a community of sentiment and feeling, unprecedented and unknown heretofore in this country, which is calculated to bring about complete and water-tight cooperation among all sections of society, regardless of their former affiliations, principles or mental reservations, without which there can be no solidarity and no permanence for national existence. Love for Filipinos I, for my part, hereby solemnly and publicly declare that I love the Filipino people from the bottom of my heart and that I shall offer my protection to every single member of the 18 million population of the New Philippines who is worthy of it. I also wish to take this opportunity to reiterate my unshakable confidence in the integrity and ability of the officials of the civil government of this country to carry out in full the 3-point program. Provincial governors, city mayors and constabulary senior inspectors now assembled before me, let ·me remind you once again of the gravity of your responsibility and enjoin upon you in the most emphatic language possible to devote yourselves, heart and soul, unstinte_dly and without reservation, even to the point of sacrificing your all, yes, even unto death, if need be, in order that you as loyal Filipinos and successors of the long line of heroes and martyrs who have lived, suffered, and died in the cause of Philippine independence, may be able to see with your own eyes, in your own generation, and as the fruit of your own efforts, the cherished ambition of all your ancestors and all your contemporaries come true, the speedy and successful attainment of the great historical event of this age, the independence of your beloved country in ~e shortest possible time. 1767-2 [ 153]

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