the occupation of the philippines by japan ended at the war's conclusion. the american army had been fighting the philippines campaign since october 1944, when macarthur's sixth united states army landed on leyte. landings in other parts of the country had followed, and the allies, with the philippine commonwealth troops, pushed toward manila. however, fighting continued until japan's formal surrender on september 2, 1945. the philippines suffered great loss of life and tremendous physical destruction, especially during the battle of manila. an estimated 1 million filipinos had been killed, a large portion during the final months of the war, and manila had been extensively damaged.