CorregidorIsland When the Japanese imperial forces attacked Pearl Harboron December 7,1941 Corregidor Island in the Philippines was under US military control with general Douglas MacArthur as commander of US Army Forces in the Far East. Since the beginning of 20th century Corregidor had been a stronghold of US military with 15,000 soldiers and military personnels, 5,000 of them were the Filipinos.