Shigenori Kuroda Shigenori Kuroda ( 黒田重徳 , 1887 – 1952 ) was a general of the Japanese Imperial Army and the Japanese Governor - General of the Philippines during World War II . Biography . Kuroda was commissioned as an infantry officer in 1909 . He graduated from Army War College in 1916 with Tomoyuki Yamashita and Shizuichi Tanaka , and later became a military observer in Europe during World War I . In 1922 , Kuroda served as military attaché in England . From 1935 - 1937 , he served as military attaché in India . In 1937 , he was made major general and Deputy Inspector General for Military Training in 1941 , which was then under General Otozō Yamada . From July 1 , 1942 to May 19 , 1943 , he was Chief of Staff in Japanese Southern Expeditionary Army Group . Battle of Wuyuan . He participated in the Second Sino - Japanese War , where he led the 26th Division in the Battle of Wuyuan . The battle , which was part of the Japanese counterattack in response to the Chinese 1939 - 40 Winter Offensive , resulted to a Chinese victory and Japanese retreat . The Japanese call it 第２次後套作戦 ( English : The second battle of Wuyuan ) . Despite the loss in the said battle , the Japanese had a strategic victory for making the Chinese fail their primary objectives . Philippines . From May 28 , 1943 to September 26 , 1944 , he was made military governor of the Philippines , succeeding Shizuichi Tanaka in the said post . He later became the first Commander in Chief of the Japanese Fourteenth Area Army , which were the merged elements of the Japanese 14th Army , 35th Army and 41st Army , in the Philippines from July 28 to September 26 , 1944 . During his rule in the Philippines , a constitution was formed by the Preparatory Commission for Independence , consisting of 20 members from the KALIBAPI . The Preparatory Commission , led by José P . Laurel , presented its draft Constitution on September 4 , 1943 and three days later , the KALIBAPI general assembly ratified the draft Constitution . By September 20 , 1943 , the KALIBAPI ' s representative groups in the country ' s provinces and cities elected from among themselves fifty - four members of the Philippine National Assembly , the legislature of the country , with fifty - four governors and city mayors as " ex officio " members . Three days after establishing the National Assembly , the Second Philippine Republic ' s inaugural session was held at the pre - war Legislative Building and it elected by majority Benigno S . Aquino as its first Speaker and José P . Laurel as President of the Republic of the Philippines , who was inaugurated on October 14 , 1943 at the foundation of the Republic . American return and postwar life . By early 1944 , the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff anticipated the return of American forces to the Philippines . So , the weight for preparing against an American landing fell to Kuroda . Kuroda planned to concentrate the bulk of the Japanese forces in Luzon , but his plan was never considered by the Imperial Army General Staff . The staff instead devoted only five of his ten divisions in Luzon , which was said to have no experience in any of the past Japanese campaigns . After being denied of his ideas for the defense of the Philippines , he was said to have been lax in his duties . He was replaced by Tomoyuki Yamashita , his former schoolmate in the Army War College , who was said to be " superb and excellent tactician " , after the fall of his patron Tojo Hideki from power . Yamashita found the condition " unfavorable " with many of the newly placed generals unfamiliar with the archipelago . The defense for the Philippine archipelago was charged to 270 , 000 army and air force troops as of October 20 , 1944 . The total size of the Japanese navy at the time amounted to 17 battleship s , 4 aircraft carrier s , 13 heavy cruiser s , 6 light cruiser s , and 34 destroyer s . Kuroda then retired in 1945 , arrested for war crimes in 1946 , and condemned to life imprisonment . His lawyer at the time was Lieutenant Colonel Jose Lukban . He disguised Kuroda by putting a mole on his face , and removing that at the end of the trial to discredit the witnesses thrown at the Japanese general . He was released eventually in 1952 , and dies at the same year .