US Army Documentation and Photos of the Pamintahan, Lipa Massacre of 1945 - Batangas History, Culture and Folklore US Army Documentation and Photos of the Pamintahan, Lipa Massacre of 1945 - Batangas History, Culture and Folklore

US Army Documentation and Photos of the Pamintahan, Lipa Massacre of 1945

The 27th of February in the year 1945 was one of the darkest days in the history of the now City of Lipa in Batangas. Inevitably, with the passage of time, people in the city are talking less and less of this day. There are still, however, those who have vague recollections from stories told by parents and grandparents of this day people refer to simply either as the “Lipa massacre” or the “Pamintahan massacre.”

In a nutshell, at least 500 male civilians from the barrios of Anilao and Antipolo in Lipa were rounded up by Japanese forces that fateful day on the false pretext that they would be issued passes allowing them to move around in Japanese-controlled area. Initially, the men were marched to a minor seminary, presumably a holding center, and subsequently brought presumably by batches to the banks of the Pamintahan brook where they systematically bayoneted. Their bodies were then dumped into the brook below1.

For a more comprehensive discussion on the Pamintahan, Lipa massacre, READ: The Pamintahan Massacre in Lipa, Batangas in February 1945.

World War II in the Western Pacific having been concluded with the surrender of Japan in August 1945, the United States Army could focus its attention on the prosecution of war criminals, including those responsible for the massacre at the Pamintahan Brook in Lipa.

The Judge Advocate General Services of the United States Army Forces Western Pacific, based in the Philippines after the war, compiled a comprehensive dossier on the perpetrators of the “massacre of approximately twenty-two hundred and ninety-eight2 Filipino civilians and the looting and destruction of Lipa, Batangas, P.I. in February 19453.”

Excerpts from this dossier are presented below, including photographs related to the Paminahan Brook massacre along with signed certifications by United States Army officers assigned to investigate and document the incident.

CAUTION: SOME OF THE PICTURES MAY BE DISTURBING TO SOME PEOPLE.

Minor Seminary Lipa
Ruins of the Minor Seminary, on the Rosario Rd. near Lipa, Batangas, P.I. Photo from the US National Archives. Caption from the JAGS dossier.

C E R T I F I C A T E

We certify that the above photograph was taken in our presence on September 25, 1945 at Lipa, Batangas, by Pfc. Robert Wilsonof the 168th Photo Signal Battalion; that it accurately represents the ruins of the Minor Seminary where the victims of the Japanese atrocity were kept for a while before they were killed.
[Sgd.] HERBERT C. LIKINS, Capt., TC
Investigating Officer, War Crimes
Investigating Detachment.
[Sgd.] NEIL OLIVER, 2nd Lt. Inf.
Investigating Officer, War Crimes
Investigating Detachment.
House of Massacre Lipa
Photograph of the house where the victims were taken.  Photo from the US National Archives. Caption from the JAGS dossier.

C E R T I F I C A T E

We certify that the above photograph was obtained from exhibits attached to the investigation report made by the Office of the Inspector General, First Cavalry Division; that it accurately represents the house where the victims were taken before they were bayonetted and shoved over the bank of the brook.
[Sgd.] HERBERT C. LIKINS, Capt., TC
Investigating Officer, War Crimes
Investigating Detachment.
[Sgd.] NEIL OLIVER, 2nd Lt. Inf.
Investigating Officer, War Crimes
Investigating Detachment.
Santos Bautista at Massacre site
Photograph of Santos Bautista pointing to the spot where many Filipinos were killed.  Photo from the US National Archives. Caption from the JAGS dossier.

C E R T I F I C A T E

We certify that the above photograph was taken in our presence on September 25, 1945 at Lipa, Batangas, by Pfc. Robert Wilson of the 168th Photo Signal Battalion; that it accurately represents the spot where one of the survivors, Santos Bautista, was bayonetted and then kicked over the bank, as it appeared on that date.
[Sgd.] HERBERT C. LIKINS, Capt., TC
Investigating Officer, War Crimes
Investigating Detachment.
[Sgd.] NEIL OLIVER, 2nd Lt. Inf.
Investigating Officer, War Crimes
Investigating Detachment.
Pamintahan massacre
Photograph of the bottom of the Pamintahan Brook taken from above.  Photo from the US National Archives. Caption from the JAGS dossier.

C E R T I F I C A T E

We certify that the above photograph was taken in our presence on September 25, 1945, at Lipa, Batangas, by Pfc. Robert Wilson of the 168th Photo Signal Battalion; that it accurately represents the spot where the skeletons of the victims were strewn about, as it appeared on that date.
[Sgd.] HERBERT C. LIKINS, Capt., TC
Investigating Officer, War Crimes
Investigating Detachment.
[Sgd.] NEIL OLIVER, 2nd Lt. Inf.
Investigating Officer, War Crimes
Investigating Detachment.
Pamintahan Massacre
Photograph of the scene where victims were bayonetted.  Photo from the US National Archives. Caption from the JAGS dossier.

C E R T I F I C A T E

We certify that the above photograph was obtained from exhibits attached to the investigation report made by the Office of the Inspector General, First Cavalry Division; that it accurately represents a scene where victims were bayonetted.
[Sgd.] HERBERT C. LIKINS, Capt., TC
Investigating Officer, War Crimes
Investigating Detachment.
[Sgd.] NEIL OLIVER, 2nd Lt. Inf.
Investigating Officer, War Crimes
Investigating Detachment.
Notes and references:
1 The details of this story are taken from “Mother Figured: Marian Apparitions and the Making of a Filipino Universal,” by Deidre de la Cruz, published 2015 by the University of Chicago Press.
2 The word “approximately” is crucial to the statement. The number is much lower than the number given by author Deidre de la Cruz in her book and most other estimates of the total number of people killed by the Japanese in the town of Lipa. The relatively low number provided by the United States Army dossier probably refers to those that had, at the time (1947) been accounted for.
3 “Report #84,” Major E. P. F., Chief, Review Division, United States Army Judge Advocate General Services. Online at Bataan Legacy.
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