51. Mrs. Paquita C. Garcia testified in part as follows: "We left our house on the 9th of February about 8:00 PM, as the house next to ours was already on fire.  We took some clothes and food stuff and went to Alhambra Street and there the Japanese stopped us and separated us from the men.  There are eight in the family - a couple of girls, 24 and 18; a girl, 15; a girl, 14; and twins boy and girl age 11.  The eldest son and husband were taken away.  They left me with my youngest son and the girls.  They searched the men for arms and money.  I saw this.  There were hundreds of women and children in the large Ferguson Plaza.  There were all nationalities - Filipino, Spanish, Chinese and Italian.  They made a long row of women to take them somewhere.  I didn't know where, but when I got there I knew it was the Bayview Hotel.  It is only a few blocks from the plaza to the Bayview Hotel.  There were only a few Japanese soldiers in the plaza, but a large number of them at the hotel as it was a garrison, I think.  When I was in line they separated my girls from me and took a handbag and first aid kit which I had on my back.  The handbag had only five pesos in silver and a rosary and something I was knitting.  When they took my girls away, my instinct told me the Japanese were going to rape them.  We came to the Bayview Hotel and I saw the Japanese checking and searching and touching them.  The woman in front of me was so scared that she threw away from behind her back six hundred pesos.  We reached the Bayview Hotel and forty were crowded into a small room about 12 x 15 feet, and we were kept there all night.  We couldn't even lie down we were so crowded.  The Japanese came into the room several times and around midnight I heard the girls shouting and calling for their mothers.  Finally, I heard my girl, Evangeline, call me, and a Japanese brought her to me.  She stayed with me until the next day.  When I met the other two girls, Esther and Priscilla, they explained to me what had happened to them the previous night. Afterwards about eight in the evening I felt hungry and thirsty, but they gave us water with salt. We drank it, but it made us crave more.  At one time they gave us a biscuit, two pieces to each, one for noon time and the other for night.  When they came to choose girls for night I tried to hide them but did not succeed.  After that we left the Bayview Hotel when the building was set on fire.  They wanted us to stay inside so as to get all burned, but we protested and went out on the street to find shelter.  We found a house owned by Mrs. Felix in the street of Arquiza.  We stayed there until the house caught fire from a mortar shell which was thrown to us by the Japanese.  We fled again, looking for shelter from one ruins to another.  There in the street my son, eleven years old and named Joaquin, was hit by shrapnel in the leg cutting it off.  I carried him, looking again for some shelter.  Two hours later my boy died in my arms.”  (See Exhibit "B-58".)    

     52. On 9 February 1945, Jose Christabal and his family were forced to evacuate their home because the Japanese were burning homes in the neighborhood.   Mr. Christabal saw people being shot in the streets so he and his family of mother and sister escaped from the back of their house to the Philippine General Hospital.  He was then separated from his mother and sister, for men were placed in the nurse’s home while women were left in the hospital.  All families coming to the hospital were met by the Japanese and men and women were separated.   About twilight one Japanese with a submachine gun and twenty soldiers with fixed bayonets surrounded the men.  When the soldiers began firing at them, Mr. Christabal dropped as if dead.  While they were lying there, the solders bayoneted those still moving.  Some tried to run, but the soldiers shot at them.  After the Japanese had left, Mr. Christabal crawled over the dead bodies, and escaped to a house where he was able to wash the blood from his hands and hair.  (See Exhibit 1”B-6l".)

   53. On the morning of 9 February, as Miss Mary Bechara Manila, was getting water from a well in the street, the Japanese started shooting people in the street without warning.  She saw one Filipino shot and killed on Arquisa and Mabini Streets, and an old man wounded that day.  She took cover in the house of Mrs. Rafaela Cucurry who was killed later, but not outright by the Japanese.  She jumped from wall to wall until she got to her house at Mab1ni and Arquisa.  There she stayed for the afternoon.  At about 4:00 PM the Union Church was blown up.  She was about to cross the street to save her family, consisting of her mother, a younger sister, age l8, and her invalid father, age 71, whom they had to carry across the street to the Ermita church.  The, Japanese were shooting at them and at all people who took cover.  Two or three were killed at one time, and four or five at another.  When the Ermita church started to burn, they decided to take a chance and run for the last house in Cardata street, and made it.  There they slept for the night. The next day two Japanese came and told us to go away as they, were going to burn the place.  From there they ran to the ruins of Ermita church.  There were thirty of them.  They crawled along the street to the Astoria Apartments as it looked safe there.  They found 280 people there, as it was a four story building with about seventy people per story.  Then they were subjected to about fifteen days of shelling.  When they went out to get water, the Japanese shot at them repeatedly.  They had heard what was done to women and girls at the Bayview Hotel, so the people in the building kept very quiet and stooped when going from room to room so that they would not be seen in the windows.  They were rescued when the Americans came.  (See     Exhibit “B-62”.)

     54. On Friday, February 9th, the Japanese began putting fire to the Singalong Subdivision.  They started the fire about five blocks from the home of Mr. Eustacio Barros, age 25, 1448 Calle Estrada, Manila.  As the Japanese were going down Calle Estrada toward Pasay, Mr. Barros had to leave the house as the fire was pretty hot and getting closer.  At about nine o'clock in the morning my father decided to leave the house because he wanted to defecate.  Upon putting on his pants two Japanese soldiers tied his mouth with the handkerchief and also tied his hands behind his back.  They put a rifle to his heart and shot him.  Then the two Japanese left, and Mr. Barros and his cousin approached the father and found that he was dead.  Not one of the persons there, about two hundred more or less, wanted to accompany the son to carry the body back, as the Japanese were still shooting. (See Exhibit "B-65”.)

     55. Dr. Rodolfo B. Escosa, Physician at Canlubang Sugar State Hospital, testified that he supervised the burying of people who were bayoneted in Calamba.  Thirty-four were buried that had been dead for three days when he first saw them.  The thrusts were very clear on their chests.  Some of their hands were tied.  Most of them were children arid their mothers. (See Exhibits “B-66" and “F".)

     56. Mr. Carlos Borsoto, age 14, Mabato, Calamba, was bayoneted in the back by a Japanese soldier about 3 March 1945, when he tried to run across the street.  The bayonet thrust went clear through him, but he survived.  (See Exhibit “B-67”.)

     57. On Saturday, 10 February 1945, a squad of Japanese entered the Philippine Red Cross building and began to shoot and bayonet everybody they found in the building.  That day there were no cases of major operations and several other bed-ridden patients.  In the late afternoon Dr. de Venecia, on duty with the Red Cross as volunteer surgeon, was preparing, with an attendant two cases for operation.  Miss Rosario Andaya, a nurse on volunteer duty, was out in the main corridor keeping order among the large crowd that filled the building to overflowing. As the noise of rifle fire was heard in every section of the building, Miss Andaya screamed for mercy to spare the lives of a mother and children beside her.  Then a Japanese soldier with drawn bayonet came into the temporary combined office-operating room-ward where Mr. M. Farolan and Dr. de Venecia were.  Misses Loveriza and De Paz, both nurses, and an attendant ducked into their respective corners for safety.  First Dr. de Venecia was shot twice while he was seated in his corner.  The soldier next aimed at the refugee attendant beside him, but missed her as she threw herself over to where the two nurses had covered themselves with mattresses beside a desk.  The soldier overturned the two cots in front of the desk, and saw two patients crouching underneath.  One bayonet thrust killed each of them.  Another bayonet thrust at the girl that had escaped the first shot aimed at her, caught Miss de Paz.  The soldier fired two shots at Mr. Farolan as he hid under his desk, but- the bullets passed between his feet.  The soldier then shot a young mother with her ten-day baby and the baby's grandmother, Mrs. Juan P. Juan, who was attending the two.  From the room in which Mr. Farolan and his associates were attacked, more shooting could be heard in the rest of the building, and the shrill cries of children and sobs of dying mothers and girls.  About ten o’clock Mr. Farolan and others began to inquire of each other to determine who survived.  It was then found that Miss Loveriza was unhurt while Miss de Paz had a bayonet thrust and was bleeding.  Mr. Farolan further investigated the room and in moving from one cot to another found both dead and living. The latter were too frightened to talk to him until they found out who he was.  At the corridor in front of the pharmacy room he heard Miss Alldaya moaning and saying goodbye to everyone of those whom she addressed by name, urging them to look after the others and to leave her alone as she was dying soon.  Investigation of the other rooms in the building revealed additional dead and some survivors.  Mr. Farolan, in conference with ether survivors, came to the conclusion that about twenty of some sixty refugees and patients had been killed.  Among these who were bayoneted, but could escape were Corazon Noble, film artist, who had come as a refugee to the Red Cross building; Tito Duran, another artist, together with the family of Juan Juan; a German Jew by the name of Fritz and Corazon Abellera.  Friday morning a squad of Japanese marines came to the building and asked why so many people were being taken in. It was explained to them that the people in neighboring houses had no home because their homes had been destroyed by fire and that the Red Cross building was the only building intact in the entire neighborhood.  The fact that only three shells out of many fired into that part of the city for an entire week had hit the Red Cross building testified to the accuracy of American fire and American respect for the Red Cross sign.  Thus, it was the only safe place for refugees.  The  Marines told us not to take any more people, particularly if they were not Filipinos or Germans, and that nobody should be allowed to go upstairs.  They examined the baggage of the refugees, but apparently did not find anything they liked, and left.  In the afternoon another Japanese squad came and wanted to use the back yard for a place in which to make those infernal mechanical noises that serve to confuse American artillery about the number of pieces the Japanese had.  All around, such devices were being used and Mr. Farolan stated that until he finally observed what they were and what they were for, they sounded like artillery volleys or the thud or explosion of landing shells.  The Japanese were invited by Mr. Farolan to see what was going on- operations every minute of the day, patients suffering in bed, children and women flattened against the walls during artillery barrages.  They saw him ordering Marcelino, their boy, and a volunteer attendant to replace two Red Cross flags that had been blown down, and they told Mr. Farolan not to replace them saying in broken English: "No good, Americans very bad, no like Red Cross. Japanese okay.”  They also saw on a desk a temporary card-board sign which read "Philippine Red Cross Emergency Hospital - Operations Going on - Refugee House - Women and Children.  The Japanese gave instructions not to hang it and one soldier threw it from the desk at the point, of his bayonet.  The first Filipino scout of the advanced columns of the Americans, already in Paco cemetery, reached the Red Cross area at seven in the morning of February 13th and warned everyone to clear the area for street fighting. Mr. Farolan and his associates began to run calling upon everyone to leave.  As they ran, the Japanese came from the Esaac Peral side and began machine gunning them indiscriminately.  Mr. Farolan stated he was not able to tell how many perished in this fresh massacre.

     58. a. On 2 June 1942, Mrs. Margaret Utinsky, Santo Tomas Internment Camp, was near the post office when two Japanese chased her and struck her several times with the butt of a rifle, beat her over the face with their fists and kicked her on the shins.  This lasted about ten minutes.  During that time a truck load of American prisoners was halted and forced to look on.  On another occasion she was brutally whipped with a rope when leaving the Tutuban RR station.  She does not know why.  No questions were asked.  She was the only white person in sight on both occasions.  On October 1, 1943, at 2:00 AM, fifty Japanese officers and men came to her apartment.  As many as could, stayed in the apartment and on the stairs, and the rest on the street in front of the building.  They searched everything in the place, taking everything out of the desk, looking through all books, trunks, drawers, tearing the bed apart, looking at the bottoms of the chairs, under the mats, and taking the pictures out of the frames.  They left at 7:00 AM telling her that she must not move from that apartment.  Two days later eight of them came to the hospital where Mrs. Utinsky was working and took her to Fort Santiago.  After eight hours of questioning she was put in a hot, dark dungeon with two Filipino girls, one American woman, and a French woman.  They were not supposed to talk to each other, and when Mrs. Utinsky talked to one of them she was called to a hole in the wall where the guard struck her on the head with a club.  The dungeon was five feet wide and about eight feet long.  There was no toilet, only a bucket which was emptied once a day.  There was a can of drinking water and a tin saucer that they all drank from.  They were given a saucer of rice three times a day and nothing more. Every day she was taken out of the dungeon for questioning, and she was hanged by the wrists or made to kneel on a rack and sit back on her heels while being questioned.  When the answers did not suit them (the Japs), she was whipped ,with a leather belt. On two occasions she was struck with an iron bar and several times with a bayonet.  At the end of a month she was released and had lost twenty-eight pounds and was hospitalized for forty-five days.  Her right arm and leg were injured so that for six months she had to walk with a cane and for a year her arm was still very sore.  The French woman, one of Mrs. Utinsky’s cellmates, was given the water treatment.  They would fill her with water, then make her lie on the floor with a board across her stomach and a Japanese would jump up and down on it.  In the next cell to Mrs. Utinsky were five Jesuit priests.  They were allowed no clothes, only a G-string or loin cloth, and they were brutally beaten.  Their backs were bruised and scarred.  There were blisters showing that they had been burned.  One of them was thrown against the stone wall one day when the Japanese were beating him and his arm was broken at the elbow.  It was never set.  Two months later he was released.  He weighed one hundred pounds, although he was nearly six feet tall.  He had to have blood transfusions and was in the hospital for several weeks, and then sent to Santo Tomas.  One of the first American women to be sent to Fort Santiago was Mrs. Christensen, wife of Captain Christensen who died at Cabanatuan.  Mrs. Christensen was so horribly abused that she was a patient in the Psychopathic Hospital for one year.  On April 11, 1944, three Mary Nole sisters were taken to Fort Santiago.  After four months one of them was released to the Philippine General Hospital.  Mrs. Utinsky went to see her.  She looked like a little skeleton in the bed.  She was a nervous wreck.  While Mrs. Utinsky was in Fort Santiago she saw a man brought in with his hands tied behind him, his feet chained together so that he could step just about six inches at a time, being pushed along by two Japanese while others were striking him with bayonets.  As he would pass, other Japanese would kick and strike him.  The man had been shot, or bayoneted in the shoulder, his coat sleeve and his whole side covered with blood.  He was put in a dungeon very near her and she could hear him groan as though in great pain.  Some time about midnight he became delirious.  The Japanese captain took him out of the dungeon, hands and feet still tied, and in front of her, beat him unmercifully with the buckle end of a heavy leather belt, and told the man over and over that he was going to kill him.  This was repeated for three days and nights, and then late one night he was dragged out and never came back.  The same captain would stand in front of Mrs. Utinsky’s dungeon and call her name and that of the French woman and when they answered he would tell them they were to be taken to the grave yard the next day.  Mrs. Utinsky stated that at the time the Japanese entered Manila they began to tie people in the sun for hours – sometimes for days.  She saw five boys tied facing the sun in front of the Rizal Memorial Stadium.  Two small boys were lying on the sidewalk.  The next day the five who were tied, looked as though they were unconscious.  Their tongues were protruding, their eyes glazed and they were burned black from the heat of the sun.  The next morning after she saw them, they were all taken away to be buried.  The youngest of these boys was nine years old and the oldest sixteen.

         b. Soon after the surrender of Corregidor, Mrs. Utinsky was informed that an American who had escaped from Bataan, was hiding a few blocks away, and that he was very sick.  She went to see him, and found him suffering from malaria and dysentery.  She took him to her apartment as the Japanese were living very near him.  She took care of him until he was well and then moved him to a small apartment in Paco.  She obtained papers stating that he was a Spanish Mestizo.  She returned to her work in Bataan, and several weeks later returned to Manila and learned that he had moved to another part of town and the Japanese had taken him to Fort Santiago.  He was there for two months and then released.  He would never admit that he was an American, but he had been brutally beaten with saber and bayonets while his wrists were tied behind him.  He was given the water treatment.  His knee cap was broken by the blow of a saber.  She had him taken care of this time by one of her friends as it was too dangerous for her to have him in their apartment.  In July, 1944, he was again taken to Fort Santiago and killed the same day.  He was Captain Burzon, 45th Infantry, and this was his second time on duty in the Philippines.

         c. Mrs. Utinsky was in the Barrio of Camachile, Bataan, soon after the surrender of Corregidor.  The Japanese were issuing passes and forcing the people to evacuate, leaving their belongings behind.  She saw the bodies of two men who had been shot when they were caught trying to catch fish from their own fish ponds.  Many of these people were suffering from malaria and dysentery.  One woman was on the ground under a tree unconscious.  She had given birth to a still-born child early that morning.  Her husband was one of the men who had been shot.  She had to leave before they were all moved, but she met them on the road a few days later.  Some of them could walk no further and were sitting under the trees hoping that someone would give them a lift, but the Japanese were the only ones with trucks and passed them by.  Most of the trucks were empty.  She saw many families with small pushcarts with their few belongings and children, some carts carrying the dead bodies.  She helped some bury their dead after dark.  The Japanese Would not let them stop for long at a time.  They sent the people to the mountains; when they were there they were told to go back to the low lands, thus they wandered until most of them were dead. (See Exhibit "L".)

     59.  On about 22 February 1944, Mr. John H, Blair, an internee of the Santo Tomas Internment Camp, manila, at the time it was administered by the Japanese, was informed by Mr. Ohashi of the Japanese Commandant’s office that he wanted at the front gate for investigation, supposedly he thought, in connection with his activities as a camp buyer.  The questioning, however, revealed that the Japanese suspected, Mr. Blair of receiving KGEI transcripts through a Mr. Johnny Harris, whom the Japanese at that time had under investigation.  During the questioning Mr. Blair was severely beaten on the head, neck, shoulders and kidneys with a rubber garden hose.  The investigation continued for approximately two hours, after which he was tied with a rope at the mess hall.  During this investigation Mr. Blair did not admit receiving the transcripts, but after his release and after talking with other men who were being investigated for the same reason, it was being decided among them that it, would be better to admit their guilt.  When next questioned, Mr. Blair did admit receiving transcripts from KGEI broadcasts and was court martialed on July 1st and sentenced to three years in Muntinlupa prison.  Mr. Blair was so badly beaten during his first questioning in connection with the investigation that he was admitted to the hospital and remained there until April 1st.  The examination at the hospital showed blood in his urine and minor body injuries.  Mr. Blair further testified that during his period of detention at the military police station and at Bilibid prison, he considers that the Japanese violated many of the clauses of the Geneva Convention, by such acts as face slapping, beatings on the head with swords, shoes, and sometimes bakias; refusal of reading material, prohibition of communication with relatives, absence of recreational activities and exercise, and feeding of a starvation diet to the prisoners.  (See Exhibit “B-69”.)

     60. Mr. Frederic H. Stevens, and internee of the Santo Tomas Internment Camp, was taken from the camp on 7 October 1942, by two Japanese secret service men to Fort Santiago where he remained until Good Friday, 1943.  He was questioned concerning the character, membership and extent of activities of Freemansory, particularly with reference to the present war, and concerning his activities in sending funds to Camp O’Donnel and admitted sending money to prisoners, and to guerrilla leaders.  Mr. Stevens admitted sending money to prisoners, but denied having sent any funds to guerrilla leaders.  In the Japanese attempt to force Mr. Stevens to reveal information regarding Freemansory and the furnishing of funds to prisoners of war, the following types of punishments were inflicted upon him:  Small splits of bamboo were inserted under the finger and toe nails.  His feet were placed on a small electric stove and the current turned on.  As he jerked his feet off the plate when it got hot, the investigator would strike him on the shins with a heavy ruler.  A bit of skin was sliced from the back of his hand and put into his mouth.  he was ordered to eat it.  The loose skin on his face and arms was twisted with a pair of wooden pliers.  The hitting of the testicles with a stick was a frequent form of punishment used by the Japanese guards.  His hands were tied behind his back and one end of the rope placed over a beam.  He was then hoisted until his toes barely touched the ground.  In this position he was slapped, kicked and punched.  During one of the investigations he was hit with a fist clenched over wooden pliers, and one tooth was knocked out as a result.  On a number of these occasions he lost consciousness.  After recuperating from one of these spells of unconsciousness he was taken out of the cell, tied to an iron fence where, as the guards passed and re-passed, they would grind his bare toes under their hob-nail boots.  Mental torture was included, such as stories affecting his son and family.  (See Exhibit “E”.)

     61.  Taguchi Hiroshi, a Japanese prisoner of war, testified that three or four days before the Americans took Fort McKinley, or on about 13 February 1945, a part of his platoon was ordered out for the purpose of burning Filipino homes, and that they were also instructed to shoot any Filipinos who came out of those homes.  This group of Japanese burned two or three houses, and the men who went on the mission told Hiroshi that each killed three or four civilians, including women.  When Hiroshi was asked by the Inspector General conducting the investigation why he thought the men were sent on such a mission, he testified that he did not know what higher officials had in mind when they ordered these deeds, but the enlisted men in the lower ranks believed that, because of a cooperative attitude toward the Americans and an ill feeling toward the Japanese on the part of the Filipinos, and because of the rise of prices of food and other commodities during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, the Japanese higher officials ordered the destruction of Manila and its inhabitants.  (See Exhibit “B-72”.)

     62. When Mr. Benigno S. Aquino, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of the Philippines (Japanese Puppet Government), left for Baguio on the night of 5 January 1945, to join the President Laurel cabinet, he and his wife decided that his wife and family should be left behind in Manila, believing at that time that Manila would be the safest place in case of any eventuality.  As the wife of a high official in the Philippine Government, it was Mrs. Aquino’s understanding that the central government was transferred to Baguio purposely and precisely to save manila from the possible ravages of war.  (See Exhibit “M”.)

     63. Before Dr. Laurel, president of the Republic of the Philippine Government, left the city of Manila, accompanied by members of his own family and a large number of the presidential guards, together with the members of his cabinet including General Manuel Roxas, General Capinpin, General Francisco and some three Vice-Ministers and their respective families, Mr. Nicholas Roxas, Assistant Executive Secretary to President Laurel, had occasion to confer with President Laurel in his private office, to receive last minute instructions before President Laurel’s departure.  Mr. N. Roxas was directed to take charge of the executive office and other offices directly under the President, in lieu of Executive Secretary Abello who had to leave with the party.  President Laurel told Mr.  Roxas that he and his cabinet had to move to Baguio primarily because he wanted to save the inhabitants of manila from the sufferings and ravages of war, and that he felt it was his patriotic duty to save the important public buildings of Manila, as well as the commercial sections, for in President Laurel’s own words, “Manila represents a population equivalent to one-eight (1/8) of the entire Philippines and the city of Manila is the repository of Filipino culture and everything Filipino.”  It was intimated to Mr. Roxas on that occasion that it was necessary for the civil administration to leave Manila because there was an understanding on the part of the Japanese military authorities and the Philippine Government that all military installations in Manila would likewise be transferred to other places out of Manila and that no military operations would be undertaken within the city limits.  A publication was even made to this effect.  However, immediately after the departure of President Laurel and his cabinet, Japanese garrisons and several navy units occupied the most important public buildings in the city, planted dynamite in all important places, especially in the southern part of the city, barricaded streets with barbed wire, and constructed pill boxes within the city limits.  Mines were planted in the principal bridges in Manila, such as the Jones, Santa Cruz, Quezon, and Ayala bridges.  Things were such that during the last days of the Japanese occupation, the traffic movement in the city was very much restricted and government employees, as well as businessmen and pedestrians, could no longer cross the bridges and attend to their daily activities. During the last conversation that Mr. Roxas had with President Laurel, he said that, according to the orders received from General Yamashita, the highest commander of the Philippines he (Yamashita) had orders from Tokyo to protect the lives of the President and his cabinet and that it was his (Yamashita’s) duty to obey the orders of his Imperial government.  Apparently this was a sudden order, for even the members of the cabinet were given only twenty-four hours to prepare for the trip to Baguio which took place on 22 December 1944.  Families of the party were not eager to leave Manila, although no protestations seemed possible.  The families of Minister Paredez, General Francisco and General Capinpin were left behind for reasons unknown to Mr. Roxas.  On or about the 4th or 5th of January, Speaker Aquino, accompanied by Minister Paredez and Colonel Utunomiya, a Military Attache, left also for Bagnio, but the members ofthe Aquino family were not taken along.  The reason for this was that one of the officers of the Presidential guards, who returned to Manila after the first trip, informed Mr. Roxas that he had instructions to get in touch with Speaker Aquino to advise him not to take his family to Bagnio because of lack of accommodations.  Minister Sison of the Home Affairs had been appointed chief delegate of the President and was supposed to  represent the President, during his absence, in the capital. Minister Sison was unable to return to Manila from Baguio, because immediately after his last trip to Baguio the bridges leading to Bagnio were blasted and it was impossible for him to make the return trip.  Because of this situation Mr. Roxas received telegraphic instructions from the President directing him to inform Vice-Minister Pio Duran of the Home Affairs of his appointment as Chief Delegate to the President in the third, fourth and fifth military districts.  Mayor Guinto of Manila was to remain Military Governor for the city, the 8th military District.  Vice-Minister Duran assumed his new office until the eve of the American entry to the capital on 2 February 1945.  On this last day, Vice-Minister Duran asked, Mr. Roxas to close all government offices, as he alleged that he was sure the Americans were coming to Manila in a day or two.  He even conferred personally with the other Vice-Ministers about leaving Manila, but none of them wanted to follow Duran's advice.  In his own case, Mr. Roxas expressed to him reasons why he did not want to leave Manila.  Vice-Minister Duran, however, retorted in seriousness and with vehemence that, in the first place, he did not want to be captured by the Americans, and secondly, he was sure that once the Americans entered the city everything would be destroyed and Manila left in ruins.  Duran said, "You do not know, but I know, that once the city is captured by the Americans everything will be destroyed by the Japanese.  I know that all around Manila as far as the hills of Antipolo and Montalban, gun emplacements have been set towards Manila and nothing will be left of this city."  Mr. Roxas stated that Duran, being the second supreme head of the Makapili, must have known in his own heart at the time that there were orders that would result in the destruction of Manila.  Mr. Roxas adds in his statement that as a matter of historical truth, and as proved by recent deve1opements, the Makapilis went on record as being those who accompanied Japanese soldiers and civilians spreading and pouring gasoline in various sectors of the city and burning everything on their way.  (See Exhibit "N".)

     (The statement of Mr. Roxas as a high official in the Republic Government, was obviously taken by the Inspector General conducting this investigation to demonstrate that the atrocities committed in connection with the destruction of the city of Manila was the result of deliberate intent and a preconceived plan by the Japanese to execute that destruction.)

     64. During the battle for Manila, a Japanese order was captured, paragraph two of which stated in part that all people on the battlefield, with the exception of Japanese military personnel, Japanese civilians, and Special Construction Units, would be put to death.  (See Exhibit “H".)

 

     IV. DISCUSSION.

     65. The facts shown above are based upon the sworn testimony or sworn statements of witnesses considered to be reliable because they were eye witnesses or victims of the type of atrocities testified to by each.  Many witnesses included in their testimony material which had been told them by another person.  Many of these statements are considered to be true, but have nevertheless not been included under the statements of facts shown above because of the possibility of exaggeration or inaccuracy.  For example, much contained in the statement of Mrs. Margaret M. Utinsky, a civilian internee in Santo Tomas Internment Camp and formerly a first lieutenant in the U. S. Army Nurse Corps, refers to atrocities cited to her through letters from her officer friends in the service.  Only that part of her statement of her own personal experiences and observations is included in facts above.  Mrs. Utinsky has been repatriated to the United States.  Again, in the testimony of Dr. Rodolfo B. Escosa, Physician at the Canlubang Sugar Estate Hospital, which was taken as a result of the letter signed by Major Carl T. Grounds, Headquarters XIV Corps, (see Exhibit “I”), coming to the attention of the Inspector General conducting investigation, which reports that 2,500 civilians were slaughtered in Calamba, Laguna, it is revealed that Dr. Escosa, himself, buried a number of dead, but there is no definite proof of the large number originally reported as having been killed.  Also, he testifies that one of the women, whom he buried had been raped, and bayoneted but that this information was given him by the girl's suitor.  It is, therefore, not considered to be reliable enough to be stated as a fact.  The reliability of the testimony of the Japanese prisoners of war is tempered somewhat by the fact that they might not have the same understanding of "swearing," or of statements given under oath, that we have, because of the different standards of religion, the difference being unknown to the Inspector General conducting the investigation.  Furthermore, the informing of the witness of his rights under the 24th Article of War or the Constitution was attempted by merely explaining to the Japanese witness the spirit and meaning of these quotations and that the meaning applied to him.  This procedure was also followed when Japanese witnesses were sworn.  Except for this technicality, it is the opinion of the Inspector General conducting the investigation that the testimony from this source may be considered reliable.

     66. The sworn statement of Mr. M. Farolan was given the Inspector General conducting this investigation by Mr. H. Ford Wilkins whose testimony is also included in this report.  At the time Mr. Farolan’s signature was obtained on his statement, he was found to be confined at Bilibid Prison, Manila, as a suspected Japanese collaborator.  Nevertheless, his account of the atrocities which occurred at Headquarters of the Philippine Red Cross, of which he was at the time acting manager, are considered to be reliable since he was an eye witness.

     67. The comparison between the intended meaning and difference in understanding of Mr. N. Roxas (see Exhibit “N") and Mrs. Aurora A. Aquino (see Exhibit “M”) from their statements is interesting to note.  From Mrs. Aquino's statement it will be seen that, if what she says is true, she understood that the reason for the movement of the Republic of the Philippines Government (Japanese "puppet" Government), of which her husband was Speaker of the House of Representatives, to Baguio, was for the purpose of, and with the understanding that, military operations wou1d not take place in Manila and that the city would be preserved.  This may have been emphasized to her and families of other high officials in the government because the Japanese high command also moved its Headquarters from Manila to Baguio, and evacuated a number of Japanese army troops to the North from Manila in December 1944.  That Manila would be destroyed and civilians killed were withheld from some high officials of the Filipino government by the Japanese military authorities is obvious.  However, from a study of Mr. Roxas’ statement, it is apparent that certain officials such as Vice-Minister Duran did know of the intended destruction of Manila, and the fact that General Yamashita, Commander of Japanese Armed Forces in the Philippines, had orders to save the life of the President and his cabinet, which he elected to do by moving them from Manila, emphasizes that General Yamashita, himself, knowing of his orders to destroy Manila, could only insure the saving of the lives of the President and cabinet by evacuating them with him.  It is Interesting also to note from Mr. Roxas’ statement that Vice-Minister Duran, who knew of the plans to destroy Manila, was the second supreme head of the Makapili.  The Makipili is an armed organization of pro-Japanese Filipinos which was established and recognized by the Republic of the Philippines Government (Japanese "puppet" Government of the Philippines.)  They are comparable to the Philippine army established under the Commonwealth of the Philippines Government, the only difference being their faith in and collaboration with the Japanese forces.  It was brought out in Mr. Roxas’ statement that the Makapilis were responsible along with the Japanese army for the burning of the buildings in Manila, and this was also brought out in the testimony of other witnesses.  Nevertheless, sufficient evidence has not been procured to make them equally responsible with the Japanese for the destruction of Manila and the killing of civilians, and it is considered that they may have been under a great deal of dorsa by the Japanese army to commit these deeds.

     68. In some cases testimony discloses that Germans and Spaniards were shown some consideration, and excluded from the mass killings.  In other instances, however, nationality was apparently ignored as in the case of the execution of German priests and Spaniards during the massacre at De LaSalle College. Since the pattern of the plan of the Japanese to annihilate Filipino people in large numbers and to destroy all public and private buildings, seems, in general, to have been to put large numbers of people in inflammable buildings and then to set fire to them, machine-gunning and bayoneting any who tried to escape, it becomes apparent that the Japanese intended to prevent the disclosure of these murders by the burning of the bodies of those killed, and therefore the destroying of the evidence of the atrocities.

     69. From the facts above, concerning the many atrocities committed by the Japanese, in particular those of mass murders of the civilians and the destruction by fire and dynamite of public buildings and dwellings, there leaves no question in the mind that the Japanese did commit atrocities on a grand scale, but no doubt the imaginative reader has by now asked himself, "For what purpose was the greater part of Manila intentionally destroyed by the Japanese?  Why did the Japanese attempt so energetically to massacre, as far as possible, the whole civilian population of Manila?  Since the Japanese are fighting the Americans, what advantage to the Japanese war effort evolves from the mass murder of a population with whom Japanese are not at war?  How Can the Japanese soldier, who must also be considered a human being, behead defenseless civilian men and bayonet women and children?”

     70. These questions were asked the Japanese prisoners of war by the Inspector General conducting this investigation, and an answer was obtained from one prisoner which verifies the opinion expressed invariably by every Filipino with whom the investigating officer has talked informally, both from personal curiosity and in connection with this investigation.  It must be concluded from the answer of the Japanese prisoner of war, which is the same expression of opinion from all Filipinos, that the reason for the furious assault of the Japanese armed forces against the city of Manila and its inhabitants was because of the Filipino's partiality toward and cooperation with the Americans, and the ill-feeling and unfriendliness of the Filipino toward the Japanese during their occupation.  The Japanese prisoner of war cited only one example as the cause of this unfriendly attitude - the rise in prices of food and necessities to the extent that Filipinos found it difficult to live- but the feeling goes deeper than this.  Many open acts of violence were committed against the Japanese war effort in the Philippines, both by, Filipino guerillas and even other Filipinos who did not call themselves guerillas, but nevertheless resisted the Japanese whenever possible.  Both open and subtle acts of non-cooperation and passive resistance were committed against the Japanese by the Filipinos, and the sworn testimony of victims of atrocities taken in this investigation includes many expressions of thankfulness and relief at the timely arrival of the Americans and their deliverance from the hands of the Japanese.  It is well known that, in the early years of the Japanese occupation, the Japanese made every effort to become friendly with the Filipinos, but when they realized the Filipinos retained their friendly attitude toward America and Americans, their reversal of attitude toward the Filipinos was climaxed by the destruction of Manila and the attempted murder of its civilian populace.  This seems to be the only explanation offered from any source.

     71. Concerning the question as to how the Japanese soldier, as a human being, can bayonet women and children, an answer is given by one of the Japanese Prisoners of war from whom testimony was taken.  The answer is, "because it is an order." It is difficult to try to reconcile this blind obedience of the Japanese soldiers to such an order by their officers when it is realized that, with few exceptions, an order given by an American officer to an American soldier to bayonet women and children would more likely result in that officer's being bayoneted.  Therefore, it maybe assumed that the Japanese soldier must have as a part of his military training, not only an ingrained belief in complete subjection to his officers and the carrying out of his officer's orders, but he has no doubt been taught that at times it may be necessary for him to murder defenseless civilians, no matter how distasteful it may be to him.  The knowledge that the Japanese soldier may be expected to behave in this manner may be of some tactical advantage in future military operations against the Japanese, particularity in localities in which a civilian population my be encountered.    

 

     V. CONCLUSIONS.

     It is concluded:

72. a. That numerous atrocities were inflicted upon American soldiers, Filipino, Spanish, Chinese, British, German, Syrian, and civilians of other nationalities, not only in Manila, but throughout many other parts of Luzon, by members of the Japanese Imperial Forces, and that these atrocities are of such a savage, inhuman, malicious, and unwarranted nature as to appear unbelievable to the average individual who has not seen or heard of these atrocities from victims themselves.

           b. That these atrocities assumed in general the following forms:

             (1) The bayoneting and shooting of unarmed civilians - men, women and children- with rifles, pistols, machine guns, and the throwing of grenades at them.

             (2) The herding of large numbers of civilians - men, women, and children - in to inflammable buildings, the barring of doors and windows, and setting fire to the buildings.

             (3) The throwing of grenades into dugouts where unarmed civilians were taking cover, burying alive those who were not, killed by the grenades.                      

             (4) The assembling of men in large groups and the tying of their hands and then bayoneting, beheading, or shooting them.

             (5) Theft from civilians of money, valuables, food, and the looting and burning of their homes.

             (6) Tying the hands and blindfolding of Chinese and Filipino men and then beheading them with a sabre on a chopping block.

             (7) Torturing both military prisoners of war and civilians by beating, kicking in the face, burning, and making them assume contorted positions for long periods of time until they lost consciousness in the attempt to make them reveal information which the Japanese desired.

             (8) General disregard of the rights of prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention. 

             (9) The taking of large groups of girls, as many as a hundred, to a hotel and the systematic raping of all of them, the attention of an average of three or four men being forced on each girl.

             (l0) The massacre of refugees, doctors, and nurses at the Philippine Red Cross Headquarters ,and general disrespect for the rights of the Red Cross under the Geneva Convention.

        c. Because of the number and extent of the killings of civilians and the destruction of public and private buildings in Manila and other towns and cities in the Philippine Islands, the systematic dynamiting of buildings, the methodical herding of defenseless civilian men, women and children in large numbers (over 1,000 in some cases) into inflammable buildings, the firing of these buildings and the shooting and bayoneting of those who attempted escape, the use of the chopping block and saber in beheading large numbers of defenseless civilian men, the indiscriminate shooting of men, women and children in the streets, the testimony of a Japanese prisoner of war that members of his platoon were ordered on a mission to burn civilian homes and kill civilians, the text of the captured Japanese order to put to death all people on the battleground with the exception of Japanese military personnel, Japanese civilians, and Special Construction Units, the statement of Mr. Pio Duran, Vice-Minister and second in command of the Makapili, to Mr. Nicholas Roxas, Assistant Executive Secretary to President Laurel, that he (Duran) knew that Japanese gun emplacements had been turned toward Manila and that the city would be destroyed, and the admission of President Laurel to Mr. Roxas that the Republic of the Philippine Government was moved to Baguio because General Yamashita, Commander of Japanese forces in the Philippines, had received orders from Tokyo to protect the lives of President Laurel and his cabinet, it is concluded with unmistakable certainty that the wanton destruction of the greater part of the city of Manila and the mass murdering of large numbers of the defenseless civilian men, women, and children, the majority of whom were Filipino, was not the result of caprice or impulsiveness of individuals in the confusion of battle, but was instead the consequence of a preconceived plan executed by the commander of Japanese Armed Forces in the Philippines, under orders from higher military command in Tokyo.

        d. That the reason and purpose of the Japanese in committing these many atrocities against primarily the Filipino people was because of their partiality, cooperation and friendliness toward America and Americans, the inability of the Japanese during their period of occupation to win that same cooperation and friendliness and the taking of revenge, as a result, upon the Filipino people by wholesale slaughter of the inhabitants of and the destruction of the city of Manila.

 

     VI. RECOMMENDATIONS.

         It is recommended:

     73. a. That disclosures and information revealed in this report that might jeopardize the safety of American and allied prisoners still held by the Japanese, and the names of women who testified to their having been raped by the Japanese, be held in the strictest secrecy.

         b. That information contained in this report which condemns the Japanese nation in their atrocious prosecution of war in the Philippines be given the widest publicity so that Japan may be properly exposed as a nation which is truly an enemy of the civilized world.

         c. That three (3) copies of this report be forwarded to the War Department for review and such action as is deemed necessary and appropriate.

                                                                        (Signed)

                             R. GRAHAM BOSWORTH,

                           Lieutenant Colonel, IGD,

                      Assistant Corps Inspector General.

                                          9 April 1945.

 

I concur in the conclusions and recommendations of the Investigating Officer.

 

                                                                        (Signed)

                         FRANK B. JORDAN,

                             Colonel, I.G.D.

                         Corps Inspector General.

 

 APPROVED:

 

                                                                        (Signed)

 

          O. W.GRISWOLD,

     Major General, U. S. Army

          Commanding.