Recently, someone asked me a question if there are really hidden Yamashita treasures in the region of Cebu. My answer is of course, “Yes”. We can explain this by looking at the history about what happened in the Second World War at this particular place which can be our basis.

During the Second World War particularly here in the Philippines right in the region of Cebu, it came under the control of the Japanese Imperial Army. The region of Cebu was garrisoned by a total of 14,500 to 15,000 Japanese Imperial soldiers. At this time, they had two main bases. One was at the “Cebu city” and two was at the middle eastern portion of the region.

On March 26, 1945, the combined military forces of the Americans and Filipino people launched an attack. But when they landed on the beach, they were bothered why they didn’t encounter any Japanese soldiers. What do you think were they doing?

Based on my own opinion, they were probably busy hiding their Yamashita treasures. You need to know that before the Allied Forces launched their final all-out attack, General Yamashita had issued an emergency order to all of his men to hide all treasure loots in their possession. So in order to do this, the Japanese Imperial soldiers resorted to a “delaying tactic” strategy. They intend to prolong their battles in order to make time for themselves in burying their treasures.

Since the combined American and Filipino forces did not encounter any foes at the beach of Cebu, they never expected to encounter a lot of booby traps on it. Many of them suffered from crossing the beach going towards the inland but despite the danger, they were still able to cross. This proved that the Japanese soldiers were pretty much skilled in setting up their traps. In fact the Allied Forces even claimed that they never encountered such unique traps ever before.

So to all treasure hunters thinking that their booby traps still no longer work today due to the belief that they already rusted then you are wrong. These booby traps still work and are quite dangerous.

When the Allied Forces made their way through the beach, they finally encountered a few Japanese soldiers. Why were there only a few of them? Just like what I stated, their main objective was to delay the Allied Forces in order to gain more time in hiding their loots.

Only when the combined American and Filipino forces reached Cebu city, a larger force of the Japanese Imperial Army fought back. They had some serious battles but the Japanese soldiers ended up losing so they had to retreat.

The Allied Forces finally took over the “Lahug Airfield” and “Cebu Harbor” in the island of Mactan. According to one of my fellow treasure hunter in Cebu, he claimed that many buried Yamashita treasures have already been recovered at the Lahug Airfield. By the way, Lahug Airfield today no longer exists since it has now been converted into a “Real State” or more commonly known as “Asiatown IT Park or Cebu IT Park”.

As for the Harbor of Cebu situated at the island of Mactan, my opinion about this is that most of the treasure deposits are underwater. This is due to the reason that the island is surrounded by water.

Going back, the combined American and Filipino forces gained their victory over the Japanese Imperial Army by taking back the city of Cebu. However, there were still many other remaining Japanese soldiers that escaped from the nearby places of the city. And based on my personal opinion, they had no intention to fight back since they were completely busy hiding their treasures.

The largest group of the remaining Japanese soldiers had headed towards the North portion of the city. This part of the city consists of the mountainous terrains which are perfect for hiding their treasures. According to history, this remaining group of Japanese soldiers was led by “Major-General Takeo Manjome”.

The battle became more intense between the Allied Forces and the remaining troops of the Japanese Imperial Army. But the combined American and Filipino forces proved much stronger  so they had driven the Japanese soldiers further more to the North.

Did you know that there was this one very controversial issue from the historical record that was questioned by many curious individuals?

This issue was all about a Japanese General named “Sosaku Suzuki”. He was actually the Military General assigned and responsible for commanding all units in the region of Cebu. As a Japanese General, he was highly famed and admired by many even the high ranking officials of the Allied Forces knew about him.

The controversial issue about General Suzuki was that he was “missing-in-action” in all of the battle field that took place. Where was he and what was he doing at the time that his men desperately needed him?

If you are thinking that General Suzuki probably got sick and died before the battle even started then you are wrong. This was because he was spotted at the end of the battle trying to make his escape from the South portion of Cebu. He took a convoy of ships with the intention of escaping towards Mindanao where he had a group of Japanese soldiers left. Unfortunately, an American plane had spotted his convoy of ships and attacked it which finally ended him.

So what exactly is General Suzuki doing? As a treasure hunter, my own personal opinion about this is that he probably intended to lead the group responsible for hiding their looted treasures. Perhaps we can understand his main reason by putting yourself to him. So the question for you is that would you like to order a lower ranking official to do the hiding of your looted treasures? But what if they did and after the war has ended then you can no longer find them?

So in my opinion, General Suzuki simply took part in hiding their looted treasures to insure that he will soon be able to recover them after the war ends.

Overall, the region of Cebu is no doubt filled with plenty of treasure deposits scattered all over its place especially at the North and mountainous side of the region.