In 1944 , when the United States landed on the Philippines to recapture it , orders had been sent out by the Japanese high command to kill the POWs in order to avoid them being rescued by liberating forces . One method of the execution was to round the prisoners up in one location , pour gasoline over them , and then burn them alive . After hearing the accounts of the survivors from the massacre at the Puerto Princesa Prison Camp , the liberating forces feared that the safety of the POWs being held in the country was in jeopardy , and decided to launch a series of rescue operations to save the surviving POWs on the islands
massacre at the Puerto Princesa Prison Camp
Palawan massacre
Raid at Cabanatuan