My Dad, who served directly with MacArthur, and has the Phillipines Defense, Liberation and Independence medals, swore that Mac had been ordered to be ‘surprised by the Japs’ so that their attack on him would seem more perfidious and thus more of a reason for going to war. It does explain Doug’s total lack of preparation, even given almost a days warning.
The Philippines werent really part of the USA, so would the US Public get into a war mood if they were attacked? However, the Japaneses did the worst thing they could do- attack part of the USA by surprise- that galvanized the US public into 100% support for the war.