The Book Of Yesterday | May 2
CHIEF JUSTICE JOSE ABAD WAS KILLED
May 2, 1945
Chief Justice Abad Santos was one of those who showed courage, dignity and love for the country in the face of the Japanese occupation during World War II. On this day in 1942, in the small town of Malabang, Lanao del Norte, Abad Santos was martyred at the age of 56, when he was shot in front of a firing squad led by General Kiyotake Kawaguchi, at 2:00 p.m.
Before he was shot, he was given one last chance to be with his eldest son Pepito, and he even told his crying son the words, "It is an honor to die for the people. Not everyone is given this opportunity". After being shot while standing in a coconut tree by the river, Jose Abad Santos was buried in an unspecified grave until now, so his remains have not been found.
On March 17, 1942, President Manuel Luis Quezon appointed Chief Justice Abad Santos as acting President of areas in the country not yet occupied by the Japanese. This was after Abad Santos left our country when President Quezon invited him to leave the country. But on April 11, Japanese soldiers in Barili town, Cebu captured Abad Santos, his son Pepito, Colonel Benito Valeriano and two soldiers. The Japanese urged Abad Santos to join them, but he refused. So find someone to blame for Abad Santos to kill him. He was accused of destroying important buildings and bridges in Cebu to make it difficult for the Japanese to enter there. From the ship, Abad Santos was taken to Parang, Cotabato and then taken to Malabang.
After being detained there for two days, Abad Santos was sentenced to death in a speedy trial for the said accusations, which he willingly accepted.
A native of San Fernando, Pampanga on February 19, 1886, Jose Abad Santos served as secretary of Justice from 1928 to 1941, and became Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and when the war broke out he was appointed Chief Justice in December 1941.
THE UPRISING OF THE SAKDALISTS IN CABUYAO, LAGUNA
May 2, 1935
On this evening in 1935, as many as 68,000 Sakdal members from the provinces of Cavite, Laguna and Batangas began to revolt and captured 14 towns in southern Luzon, including Cabuyao, Laguna. In this town hundreds of Sakdalistas were successful under the leadership of Salud "General" Algabre. But this uprising came to a bloody end in Cabuyao, where early the next day, a group of Philippine Constabulary stormed, and outside the church in that town the blood of the Sakdalistas was shed. As many as 57 Sakdalistas were killed by the Constabulary that night, and their corpses were piled up in the church square to serve as a warning to other Sakdalistas. This time, the Sakdal was completely disbanded, and its membership was greatly reduced, for fear of the massacre in Cabuyao, Laguna.
The Sakdal, founded by writer Benigno Ramos in 1930, is a separatist group calling for the complete independence of the Philippines from the United States. Because Sakdal gained the pulse of the Filipino masses through its periodicals regarding their problems, such as unequal and equitable land distribution, education, tax payment and landlord management, many participated in the organization. it is mostly farmers and the poor in central and southern Luzon. They became a legal party and they also won seats in the National Assembly. When the plebiscite for the 1935 Constitution was proposed the Sakdalists pushed for a boycott of the plebiscite in the towns, because they believed the new Constitution was only in American interest. The boycott of the Sakdalists was considered illegal, and many of them were imprisoned. They were also deprived of the right to assemble, so many of them were convinced that their struggles would go through armed struggle.
THE SOVIETS CAPTURED THE ENTIRE CITY OF BERLIN, GERMANY
May 2, 1945
After the Soviets took over the Reichstag building, the last major Soviet offensive took place at the Reich Chancellery, the capital of Nazi Germany. This time, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels were gone, and after a few hours of fighting they also raised the Soviet Union flag at the top of the Reich Chancellery. The nearly abandoned Führerbunker also fell into their hands, where they caught up with the deceased Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda, and their six children, as well as Generals Hans Krebs and Wilhelm Burgdorf who shot themselves in inside the bunker, but they did not immediately find the bodies of Hitler and Eva Braun. The last person to occupy the bunker, Rochus Misch, an SS telephone switchboard operator, surrendered to the Soviets. It was afternoon when German troops again called for negotiations with the Soviet High Command for a momentary ceasefire.
The city’s chief defense commander General Helmuth Weidling confronted Soviet High Command representative General Vasiliy Chuikov for ceasefire negotiations, but as he also told General Krebs they wanted an unconditional surrender. General Weidling agreed to surrender past 6:00 p.m., and by radio he announced the fall of Berlin to the Soviets and urged the remaining fighting soldiers to stop fighting.
More than 180,000 surrendered German soldiers fell into the hands of the Soviets, but a few more SS resisted while hiding in crumbling buildings. While Soviet soldiers were providing aid to German civilians trapped in the fighting there were several incidents of rape and theft by the Soviets in the city.
The battle in Berlin was the latest major offensive against Nazi Germany in the last days of the war in Europe. Within 17 days, as many as 100,000 German soldiers were killed in defense of Berlin, and more than 175,000 civilians were killed. As many as 75,000 Soviets and thousands of tanks were killed in their offensive in Berlin. Fighting continued outside Berlin until Germany surrendered to the Allies on May 8, 1945.
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