When World War II broke out in the Pacific in December 1941, then President Quezon ordered the immediate closure of UP. Shortly thereafter, Manila was declared an open city on 26 December. Still, the Japanese forces attacked and occupied Manila in 1942, and headquartered themselves in many of the buildings on campus. In spite of this, some of the critically important units remained in operation such as the Colleges of Medicine, Hygiene, Agriculture, and Forestry.
The Japanese also permitted the creation of a Junior College, the continued operations of the College of Engineering and the School of Pharmacy, and the opening of the College of Foreign Service. In the main campus in Ermita, classes were held in the buildings of the College of Medicine and the Philippine General Hospital, while the administrative offices were set up at the Infirmary Building.
Bienvenido M. Gonzalez resigned as UP President in 1943, because he “could not and would not allow the sacred halls of the University to be used for ‘indoctrination’ purposes by Japanese propagandists.” He was replaced by Dr. Antonio Sison who was then the Dean of the College of Medicine and concurrent Director of PGH.
In early 1945, as the American forces began operations to recapture Manila, the Japanese troops fortified the buildings on campus. They proved no match for the invading American forces.
As the din of battle finally died down, not a single serviceable building was left in the main campus. Records, laboratory equipment, and the library collections were completely destroyed, and the buildings which were once grand and imposing were reduced to rubble.
In one of his correspondences, then University Librarian Prof. Gabriel A. Bernardo recounted that less than 20% of library collections were usable, and only because these were books borrowed by students and faculty, returned after the war.
Prof. Rosa Vallejo, during the 28th Gabriel A. Bernardo Memorial Lecture,narrated that as a junior librarian in 1951, she and her colleagues saw around 100 books in the basement of the University Library along with other documents. These were all what was salvaged from the Library in Padre Faura.
The herculean task of rebuilding UP from the ashes of war fell on President Gonzalez, who was reelected by the Board of Regents in June 1945. He proved equal to the task. He was able to secure a grant from the US-Philippines War Damage Commission to rehabilitate the damaged Manila campus and construct new buildings in what would be UP’s new home, Diliman. Prof. Bernardo was asked to begin another library, for the old one he painstakingly built almost two decades prior was completely demolished.
Today, we commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Liberation of Manila through photographs from the 1946 Philippinensian (UP Diliman Archives) and the Gerald Ford School of Public Policy (University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library) to illustrate how WWII left the University in ruins, physically, intellectually, and spiritually. The juxtaposed images capture the grandeur of the edifices before the war, in stark contrast to the utter devastation of its aftermath.
Source: U.P. Phoenix 1942-1946
In addition to photographs, presented here is President Gonzalez’s Annual Report to the Board of Regents, which gives a detailed description of what transpired before, during, and after the war, including its plans for the future.
Source: U.P. Phoenix 1942-1946
Freedom came with a price, paid for in blood and treasure. But UP’s resilient spirit still prevailed.
“Out of the ruins, hope,
Out of the ashes, life;
Out of the embers, love;
Out of the darkness, light.”
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References:
Aquino, B. A. (1991). The University experience: Essays on the 82nd anniversary of the University of the Philippines. University of the Philippines Press.
Resurgence of the University. (December 1948). Manila: University of the Philippines
University of the Philippines. Communication Research and Development Foundation & Arroyo, E. K. (1984). The University of the Philippines: A university for Filipinos. UP-CRDF.
University of the Philippines Buildings (Photographs), Philippine Project, 1952-1955, Box 14, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy (University of Michigan) records, 1917-2013, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan
U.P. Phoenix 1942-1946
Vallejo, R.M.(2007). Looking back while traveling into the future: The legacy of Gabriel A. Bernardo: A man for all time. Journal of Philippine Librarianship, 27(1&2), 1-42.