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There's been a lot of talk on this board about how badly MacArthur bungled his responsibilities, which seems largely borne out from what reading I've done on the subject.

That in mind, let's say MacArthur falls down some stairs in the 1930s, and butterflies are kept to a minimum. The skilled General Narrative Convenience takes his place in Manila.

What's the ideal plan to defend the Philippines from a Japanese attack in late 1941?

Simply given the mistakes OTL: I presume that the Philippines would best be broken into multiple commands so one man couldn't surrender it all at once. Actual execution of plans that called for bombing of Japanese staging areas in Taiwan is an easy one to add as well.

But moving beyond just not making the same mistakes, what could be done to bolster the capacity for defense of the Philippine Islands before the war even began? Was MacArthur more or less effective in that preparatory role?
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