Claire Phillips

“NEWS FROM ABROAD WAS encouraging, but living conditions were becoming more difficult. American canned goods, clothing and medicines had disappeared early in 1942. Now, by late 1943, we were rationed on rice, lard, sugar, matches and coconuts. We had long since been given a cloth allowance, and gas and electricity had long been stringently rationed. If we used more than we were allowed, our bill was doubled and we were fined. If we offended a second time, the utilities were shut off. So we had to be careful. Our new monthly food quota was so small that it rarely lasted us a week, and during the balance of the month I was forced to buy on the black market at unreasonable prices. When food cannot be bought because of its scarcity, it is alarming. I”
― Claire Phillips, Agent High Pockets: A Woman's Fight Against the Japanese in the Philippines