Just after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, young Dave McVey, son of a wealthy plantation owner, arrives in the Philippines and is rescued from attacking bandits by Manuel Careo, leader of a resistance group. Sheltered by the guerrillas, Dave meets cynical, brutal Joe Trent, an American who takes the youth under his protection. Joe drunkenly rapes a young Filipina, and Dave, realizing that both of them will be held responsible, joins him in flight. They meet Sisa, a young Filipina guerrilla who speaks English, and accompany her group to the headquarters of an American guerrilla unit. Joe has an affair with Sisa and shoots Atong, the bandit who had assumed the role of her protector. Meanwhile, Dave and Sisa fall in love. Dave leaves Joe, who has been wounded in an enemy raid, in order to seek help from their allies, and Joe forces his attentions on Sisa. Resistance leader Careo pursues Joe and places him under arrest for rape and murder, but Dave refuses to testify against his protector. During a Japanese attack, Joe escapes with Dave and Sisa, and he later tries to gun down Careo. To prevent the murder of the guerrilla leader, Dave shoots Joe; he and Sisa then join the Filipino guerrillas in their fight against the Japanese.