Testimony of Dominica Maralit of San Jose Batangas on the Murder of Her Husband by the Japanese in 1945 - Batangas History, Culture and Folklore Testimony of Dominica Maralit of San Jose Batangas on the Murder of Her Husband by the Japanese in 1945 - Batangas History, Culture and Folklore

Testimony of Dominica Maralit of San Jose Batangas on the Murder of Her Husband by the Japanese in 1945

[TRANSCRIPTION]

This page contains the testimony of one Dominica Maralit of San Jose, Batangas on how the Japanese killed her husband, Dr. Lorenzo Maralit. The pages contained herein are now declassified and were part of compiled documentation1 of war crimes trials conducted by the United States Military Commission after the conclusion of World War II. Most of the testimonies were translated from Tagalog and have been corrected for grammar by Batangas History, Culture and Folklore where possible. The pagination is as it was contained in the original document for citation purposes.

Manila War Crimes Trial US Army
Photo taken during the war crimes trials in Manila.  Image credit:  U.S. National Archives.

[p. 36]

R E S T R I C T E D

DOMINICA M. MARALIT, after having been duly sworn, testified at the Municipal Building of San Jose, Batangas Province, P.I., on 4 October 1945, as follows:

Q Please state your full name, age, address and nationality.
A Dominica M. Maralit, 44 years old, Poblacion, San Jose, Batangas Province, P.I., Filipino.

Q What is your occupation?
A Elementary school teacher.

Q Do you intend to remain at your present address, and if not, how can your whereabouts in the future be ascertained?
A I intend to remain at my present address.

Q Did you suffer any mistreatment at the hands of the Japanese?
A No, but my husband, Dr. Lorenzo Maralit, D.M.M., was murdered by the Japanese.

Q Will you please relate to us fully the incidents leading to his murder?
A During the Japanese occupation, my husband, a physician, treated professionally the Japanese because he was a graduate of the Tokyo Imperial University, and he could speak Japanese. Because of these, together with the fact that he was a paralytic, it was presumed that the Japanese would not molest him, so he did not evacuate to the

On February 23, 1945, he visited us in Kalansayan, and that was the last time I saw him alive.

On February 28, 1945, our maid, Cresenciana, I forgot her family name, learned that there was a body of a man between Poblacion and Taysan. She went to the bridge and discovered the body of my husband, half of his body in the water and half on the ground. She went immediately to the barrio of Kalansayan to inform me about it.

I offered 28 cans of husked rice to Cirilo Japor and four other men whose names I do not know to get the body of my husband and bury him in Kalansayan. They took the body from under the bridge and carried it to Kalansayan, which is about two kilometers south. I saw the body and recognized that it was his. He had a wound, possibly from a bayonet, on the back which went through his chest. Cirilo Japor and his companions, who removed my husband’s body from under the bridge, told me that it was bound with barbed wire to a bamboo pole. This I verified when I saw the body. However, I was too grieved to pay close attention to all the details.

Q Do you happen to know any of the Japanese who killed your husband?
A No.

Q Do you know the names of any of the Japanese to used to be treated by your husband?
A No.

[p. 37]

Q Can you describe any of them?
A Aside from the fact that they wore greenish-khaki uniforms, I cannot describe those Japanese. To me, they all look alike.

Q Do you know what unit they belonged to?
A No.

Q Have you anything further to add to your statement?
A No.

/s/ Dominica M. Maralit
/t/ DOMINICA M. MARALIT

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES

PROVINCE OF BATANGAS

TOWN OF SAN JOSE

I, DOMINICA M. MARALIT, being duly sworn on oath, state that I have read and understood the foregoing transcription of my interrogation and all answers contained therein, consisting of two (2) pages, are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.
/s/ Dominica M. Maralit
/t/ DOMINICA M. MARALIT
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 29th day of October, 1945.
/s/ Allen H. Peoples
/t/ ALLEN H. PEOPLES, Capt. CAC
Investigating Officer, War Crimes
Investigating Detachment.

CERTIFICATE

We, ALLEN H. PEOPLES, Capt., 0249524, CAC, and CHARLES C. THOMPSON, Capt., 01000484, TC, certify that on the 4th day of October, 1945, personally appeared before us DOMINICA M. MARALIT, and gave the foregoing answers to the several questions set forth; and that after the testimony had been transcribed, the said DOMINICA M. MARALIT read the same and affixed her signature thereto in our presence.
Municipal Bldg., San Jose,
Batangas Province, P.I.
/s/ Allen H. Peoples
/t/ ALLEN H. PEOPLES, Capt., CAC
29 October 1945 /s/ Charles C. Thompson
/t/ CHARLES C. THOMPSON, Capt., TC
Notes & References:
1 “Documents Pertaining to the Testimony of Dominica M. Maralit in U.S.A. v Tomoyuki Yamashita,” part of the U.S. Military Commission compilation of war crimes documentation, online at the Internet Archive.
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