page_title: Philippine Constabulary
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Philippine Constabulary / History / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: Filipinos Pledge Allegiance to the U.S. In unbroken fighting spirit, the troops of the First Regiment, the Philippine Constabulary, swear allegiance to the U.S. Flag and to the cause of the United Nations. Office of War Information Collection, Feb-Mar 1942.
context_page_description: The Philippine Constabulary was a gendarmerie-type police force of the Philippines from 1901 to 1991, and the predecessor to the Philippine National Police. It was created by the American colonial government to replace the Spanish colonial Guardia Civil. It was the first of the four branches of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. On January 29, 1991, it was merged with the Integrated National Police to form the Philippine National Police.
context_section_description: In May 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed a state of emergency in the continental United States and all American overseas possessions including the Philippines. With the organization of the United States Army Forces in the Far East in July, the Philippine Commonwealth Army and the Constabulary prepared their combat units. The PC was inducted to the USAFFE and was formed into three infantry regiments for participation in national defense.
  On October 15, the 1st PC Regt. was inducted into the USAFFE by Brig, Gen. George M. Parker in Camp Crame, after which it was moved to the Balara cantonment area in Quezon City, where the men were trained as a combat team on the regimental level.
  The 2nd and 3rd Regts. were inducted into the USAFFE on November 17 and December 12, respectively. The 1st and the 2nd were assigned to safeguard public utilities vital to the survival of the growing population of the City of Greater Manila.
  War broke out on December 8, 1941. The two PC regiments less the 2nd Battalion of the 1st which was ordered to proceed to Bataan immediately, were assigned in Manila to arrest all aliens believed to be sympathetic with the enemy. In addition, these units were ordered to safeguard centers of communication and all public utilities in the city and of securing the metropolitan area against subversive elements. Soon, a protective cordon around Manila was formed by units of the two PC regiments.
  By January 1942, most of the "constables" were in the Bataan peninsula with other Fil-American troops. "On Bataan and Corregidor, in Aparri, Lingayen and Atimonan, everywhere in the islands were the invaders dread to set foot, Constabulary troops distinguished themselves in action against overwhelming odds."
  On December 29, the 4th PC Regiment was activated and constituted by PC units from the provinces of Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Tarlac, and Zambales. Two days later, the regiment was ordered to Bataan.
  To prevent the unnecessary slaughter of his war-weary troops, Maj. General Edward P. King Jr., the Commanding Officer of the Southern Luzon Force, negotiated with the Japanese High Command the surrender of the Bataan-based Filipino American troops. Bataan fell on April 9, 1942 and thousands of Filipino-American servicemen who had defended it became prisoners of war. A large number of Constabulary men died in the battle and in the infamous Bataan Death March. Many more died at the concentration camp in Capas, Tarlac.
  The Philippines was liberated late in 1944 and early in 1945. Thereafter, the problem of restoring peace and order from the general chaos and disorder arising from the war came up. The Constabulary went on active service with the Philippine Commonwealth Army under President Sergio Osmeña's Executive Order 21, dated October 28, 1944. In the reorganization, that followed, the Military Police Command (MPC), USAFFE, was created pursuant to USAFFE General Orders No. 50 Another Order, General Orders No. 51 dated July 7, 1945, redesignated the organization as MPC, AFWESPAC.
caption: Members of the First Regiment swearing to the U.S. Flag and to the cause of the United Nations. February or March 1942.
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