Testimony of Leovigilda Macapagal of San Jose, Batangas on Massacre of her Family by the Japanese in 1945

This page contains the testimony of one Leovigilda Macapagal of San Jose, Batangas on the massacre of her family by the Japanese in 1945. 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.

The ruined Municipal Building in San Jose in 1945.  Image credit:  United States National Archives.

[p. 16]

R E S T R I C T E D

Q Please state your full name, age, address and nationality.
A Leovigilda Macapagal, 51 years old, Lapulapu I, San Jose, Batangas Province, P.I., Filipino.

Q What is your occupation?
A Housekeeper.

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 Yes

Q Please relate to us fully what happened.
A It was Wednesday, February 14, 1945. About 5:30 P.M., while I was preparing our supper, four Japanese soldiers came to our house. Then, they went downstairs and guarded the place.

About 6 o’clock, half an hour later, eight more Japanese. They had MP armbands. These eight took my husband, Roman Umali, aged 69; my son-in-law, Diosdado Aquino, aged 34; and my son, Florentino Umali, aged 17. Two Japanese tied them together with their hands behind their backs. I kneeled down so that they would be spared. Instead, one Japanese kicked me. Two other Japanese set our house on fire. I kneeled down again. The Japanese who kicked me then slapped my face when I tried to put out the fire. My husband and son-in-law were blindfolded but my son was not, and then the Japanese, 12 altogether, took them to a lot north of our place.

Next day, February 15, 1945, at 9 A.M., my son Estanislao Umali, aged 27, and I went to that lot north of our house. There, we found the three bodies. My husband had a bayonet wound on the left chest which went through the back; my son-in-law had a bayonet wound in a similar place and my son had three bayonet wounds, one on the left chest, one on the left shoulder and one on the right chest. We buried them in our shelter at the yard of Benito Oblea.

Q Do you know the names of any of these Japanese?
A No.

Q Can you describe any of them?
A There was one officer, I think he was an officer because he had a saber. He was about 5 feet 6 inches tall, medium built, about 25 years old, wore a cap so I did not see his hair, smooth-shaven, I think he spoke English, because I heard him say, “very old” when the other Japanese took my husband.

Q Can you describe their insignia?
A No.

[p. 17]

R E S T R I C T E D

Q Do you know to what unit they belonged?
A I believe eight of them were MP’s.

Q Do you know what provoked the Japanese to commit this atrocity?
A No.

Q Have you anything more to say about this case?
A No.

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES

PROVINCE OF BATANGAS

TOWN OF SAN JOSE

COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES

PROVINCE OF BATANGAS

TOWN OF SAN JOSE

[p. 18]

R E S T R I C T E D

and that after being transcribed, I truly translated the foregoing deposition containing two (2) pages, to the witness; that the witness thereupon in my presence affixed her signature thereto.

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 and references:
¹ “Documents Pertaining to the Testimony of Leovigilda Macapagal in U.S.A. v Tomoyuki Yamashita,” part of the U.S. Military Commission compilation of war crimes documentation, online at the Internet Archive.