Editing History of the Philippines (section)

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[[File:Douglas MacArthur lands Leyte1.jpg|thumb|[[Leyte]] Landing of General [[Douglas MacArthur]] to liberate the Philippines from the Empire of Japan]]
As in most occupied countries, crime, looting, corruption, and black markets were endemic. Japan in 1943 proposed independence on new terms, and some collaborators went along with the plan, but Japan was clearly losing the war and nothing became of it.<ref>Dear and Foot, eds. ''Oxford Companion to World War II'' pp 877–79</ref>

With a view of building up the economic base of the [[Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere]], the Japanese Army envisioned using the islands as a source of agricultural products needed by its industry. For example, the Japanese had a surplus of sugar from Taiwan but a severe shortage of cotton, so they tried to grow cotton on sugar lands with disastrous results. They lacked the seeds, [[pesticide]]s, and technical skills to grow cotton. Jobless farm workers flocked to the cities, where there was minimal relief and few jobs. The Japanese Army also tried using cane sugar for fuel, [[castor bean]]s and [[copra]] for oil, [[derris]] for [[quinine]], cotton for uniforms, and [[abaca]] (hemp) for rope. The plans were very difficult to implement in the face of limited skills, collapsed international markets, bad weather, and transportation shortages. The program was a failure that gave very little help to Japanese industry, and diverted resources needed for food production.

Living conditions were bad throughout the Philippines during the war. Transportation between the islands was difficult because of lack of fuel. Food was in very short supply, due to inflation.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Ara | first1 = Satoshi | year = 2008 | title = Food supply problem in Leyte, Philippines, during the Japanese Occupation (1942–44)| journal = Journal of Southeast Asian Studies | volume = 39 | issue = 1| pages = 59–82 | doi=10.1017/s0022463408000039| s2cid = 162389263 }}</ref>