 Kunyange zvazvo mauto eU.S. nePhilippines akabudirira kudzivirira Bataan kusvikira pakupera kwaFebruary, akanga atambura kurasikirwa ne50 muzana uye akanga apera simba uye asina kugoverwa zvakakwana. Uyewo, nhare yeBritain yeSingapore yakanga yakundwa musi wa15 February, uye vaJapan vakanga vatora zvitsuwa zvikuru zveDutch East Indies, vachidzivisa chero kusimbiswa kwePhilippines. Mutungamiri wePhilippine Manuel Quezon, nemhuri yake nevakuru vakuru, vakaendeswa kumaodzanyemba kwePhilippines nechikepe chepasi pemvura musi wa20 February. MacArthur akarayirwa naPurezidhendi Franklin D. Roosevelt kuti aende kuAustralia kunodzivisa kubatwa kwake uye kutungamirira mamwe mabasa. Akabva Corregidor musi wa 12 Kurume 1942, pakutanga nechikepe chePT kuenda kuMindanao, achipedzisa rwendo rwake nendege. Musi waMarch 20 akataura mashoko akakurumbira okuti Ndichadzoka. Akasiya Lieutenant General Jonathan M. Wainwright IV ari muuto riri pasi pake muPhilippines, achiudza vakuru vakuru ikoko kuti iye MacArthur aizodzora mauto muPhilippines achibva kuAustralia. Zvisinei, akaregeredza kuzivisa Washington nezvegadziriro iyi, uye Washington yaida kuti Wainwright ave mutariri. Kwakanga kusati kwava musi wa 20 Kurume apo ukuru hwechiremera chaWainwright uye mwero wekuzvimiririra kubva kuna MacArthur zvakajekeswa neshoko kubva kuna General George C. Marshall, mukuru wemauto. 