Malinta Tunnel Surrender, Corregidor Island (1942)

The Malinta Tunnel is a tunnel complex built by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

on the island of

Corregidor Corregidor ( tl, Pulo ng Corregidor, ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of the Province of Cavite. Due to this location, Corregidor has historically b ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It was initially used as a bomb-proof storage and personnel bunker, but was later equipped as a 1,000-bed hospital. The main tunnel, running east to west, is long, wide and high. Branching off from this main shaft are 13 lateral tunnels on the north side and 11 lateral tunnels on the south side. Each lateral averaged in length and in width.

Name

The Malinta Tunnel derives its name from Malinta Hill, a rise through which its shaft is bored. ''Malinta'' is

Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Taga ...

for "many leeches", ''linta'' being the local word for "

leech Leeches are segmented parasitism, parasitic or Predation, predatory worms that comprise the Class (biology), subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the Oligochaeta, oligochaetes, which include the earthwor ...

Construction

Its construction, without benefit of new equipment or funds apportioned by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

due to agreements reached during the

Washington Naval Conference The Washington Naval Conference was a disarmament conference called by the United States and held in Washington, DC from November 12, 1921 to February 6, 1922. It was conducted outside the auspices of the League of Nations. It was attended by nine ...

, began in 1932 and the main tunnel and 25 laterals were completed in 1934. Other construction on laterals continued right up to the start of the war. The Army Corps of Engineers rented obsolete equipment from

Baguio Baguio ( , ), officially the City of Baguio ( ilo, Siudad ti Baguio; fil, Lungsod ng Baguio), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

gold miners for a nominal fee and made do with condemned

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

from the

Ordnance Department The United States Army Ordnance Corps, formerly the United States Army Ordnance Department, is a sustainment branch of the United States Army, headquartered at Fort Lee, Virginia. The broad mission of the Ordnance Corps is to supply Army comb ...

. The explosive delivered was in powder form, and had to be wrapped into makeshift cartridges using magazine pages, which were placed into holes drilled into the rock. Labor was provided by the

Philippine Commonwealth The Commonwealth of the Philippines ( es, Commonwealth de Filipinas or ; tl, Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 ...

in the form of 1,000 convicts from the Bilibid Prison in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

. A company of engineers from the

Philippine Scouts The Philippine Scouts ( Filipino: ''Maghahanap ng Pilipinas'' or ''Hukbong Maghahanap ng Pilipinas'') was a military organization of the United States Army from 1901 until after the end of World War II. These troops were generally Filipinos a ...

worked on the construction as foremen and clerks. The cement for concrete used to line the tunnels was bought from the Japanese.

Battle of Corregidor

During the

Battle of Corregidor The Battle of Corregidor (; ), fought on May 5–6, 1942, was the culmination of the Japanese campaign for the conquest of the Commonwealth of the Philippines during World War II. The fall of Bataan on April 9, 1942, ended all organized o ...

, the third lateral on the north side from the east entrance served as the headquarters of General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...

and the

USAFFE United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) ( Filipino: ''Hukbong Katihan ng Estados Unidos sa Malayong Silangan/HKEUMS''; Spanish: ''Fuerzas del Ejército de los Estados Unidos en el Lejano Oriente'') was a military formation of the Uni ...

. Malinta Tunnel also served as the seat of government of the

Commonwealth of the Philippines The Commonwealth of the Philippines ( es, Commonwealth de Filipinas or ; tl, Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 ...

. At the vicinity of the tunnel's west entrance in the afternoon of 30 December 1941, Manuel L. Quezon and

Sergio Osmeña Sergio Osmeña Sr. (, ; 9 September 1878 – 19 October 1961) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the fourth president of the Philippines from 1944 to 1946. He was vice president under Manuel L. Quezon. Upon Quezon's sudd ...

took their oaths of office as President and Vice-president of the Philippine Commonwealth in simple ceremonies attended by members of the garrison.

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

troops forced the surrender of the remaining American and Filipino forces on 6 May 1942 while under the command of

Lt. Gen. Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Jonathan Wainwright.

Retaking of Corregidor

During the re-taking of the island by U.S. forces in 1945, Japanese soldiers who had been trapped in the tunnel after the entrance was blocked as a result of gunfire from began committing suicide by detonating explosives within the tunnel complex the night of 23 February 1945. The collapsed laterals resulting from these explosions have never been excavated.

Today

Today, Malinta Tunnel is the venue of an audio-visual presentation by National Artist Lamberto V. Avellana of events that occurred during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, including the evacuation of President Quezon and General MacArthur by

Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three (MTBRon 3) was a United States Navy squadron based at Cavite, Philippines, from September 1941 to mid-April 1942. It was commanded by Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley and made up of six motor torpedo boats: ''PT-31'' ...

from Corregidor to

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

. They were later flown to Australia. Quezon ran a

government in exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile ...

in the United States during the war. A plaque in the Malinta Tunnel now marks a spot on the island of

. Claims of paranormal activities from within the tunnels have been attested to by its guards, attendants and visitors, citing cold drafts, disembodied voices and shadows. Further concurring to its haunted reputation is collapsed sections of the tunnel, brought about by detonation from Japanese soldiers who committed suicide during World War II.

References

External links

Corregidor Island: Malinta Tunnel
{{Calabarzon attractions Corregidor United States military in the Philippines Philippine Army Tunnels in the Philippines Corregidor* 1942 in the Philippines South West Pacific theatre of World War II United States Army Corps of Engineers Tunnels completed in 1932 Military facilities in Cavite World War II sites in the Philippines World War II sites of the United States Continuity of government