Testimony of Egmedio Palmes of San Jose Batangas on his Escape from Japanese Atrocity
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The ruined Municipal Building in San Jose in 1945. Image credit: United States National Archives. |
[p. 55]
Q Please state your full name, age, address and nationality.
A Egmedio Palmes, 45 years old, Barrio Banaybanay II, San Jose, Batangas Province, P.I., Filipino.
Q What is your occupation?
A Farmer.
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. However, it was sheer luck that I was not killed by them.
Q Please related fully what happened.
A It was on March 28, 1945, about three o’clock in the afternoon, when Marcelino Ona, aged 24; Mariano Ona, aged 27; and I, all from the barrio of Banaybanay II, San Jose, Batangas Province, went along the National Road to give some bananas to the Americans. However, we could not see any Americans around.
We went to the house of Miguel Macalinga along the National Road in Banaybanay II to rest and wait for the Americans there. We had barely entered the gate when we heard the door downstairs open, followed by some Japanese words which we did not understand but whose import we could not mistake.
We all turned and fled. I heard shots. I managed to escape unscathed. Next day, March 27, 1945, I found the body of Marcelino Ona about ten meters from the house. He was shot in the back which went through the chest. I found the body of Mariano Ona four days later about seven meters from the house.
Q Do you know the names of any of the Japanese who shot your two companions?
A No, I did not see them. When I heard the door open, I did not look at it anymore, I just ran as fast as my legs could carry me.
Q Do you know what unit or organization they belonged to?
A No. As I said before, I did not see those Japanese. I am sure that they were Japanese because I heard Japanese words being spoken behind the door and the shots came from the direction of the door downstairs.
Q Have you anything else to add to your statement?
A No.
/t/ EGMEDIO PALMES
[p. 56]
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES
PROVINCE OF BATANGAS
TOWN OF SAN JOSE
/t/ EGMEDIO PALMES
/t/ ALLEN H. PEOPLES, Capt. CAC
Investigating Officer, War Crimes
Investigating Detachment.
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES
PROVINCE OF BATANGAS
TOWN OF SAN JOSE
/t/ ALFREDO CUEVAS
/t/ ALLEN H. PEOPLES, Capt. CAC
Investigating Officer, War Crimes
Investigating Detachment.
[p. 57]
Municipal Bldg., San Jose, Batangas Province, P.I. |
/s/ Allen H. Peoples /t/ ALLEN H. PEOPLES, Capt., CAC |
31 October 1945 |
/s/ Charles C. Thompson /t/ CHARLES C. THOMPSON, Capt., TC |
1 “Documents Pertaining to the Testimony of Egmedio Palmes in U.S.A. v Tomoyuki Yamashita,” part of the U.S. Military Commission compilation of war crimes documentation, online at the Internet Archive.