Testimony of Saturnino Lorzano of San Jose, Batangas on How the Japanese Murdered His Wife and Child in 1945
![]() |
The ruined Municipal Building in San Jose in 1945. Image credit: United States National Archives. |
[p. 53]
Q Please state your full name, age, address and nationality.
A Saturnino Lorzano, 38 years old, Barrio Banaybanay II, San Jose, Batangas Province, P.I., Filipino.
Q What is your occupation?
A Merchant.
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 I lost my wife, Encarnacion Ona, aged 38, and one child, Nelia Lorzano, aged 6.
Q Please tell us exactly what happened relating to the killing of your wife and child.
A About eight o’clock in the morning of March 18, 1945, I went from the house of my father-in-law, Nicomedes Ona, aged 60, in Banaybanay II, San Jose, Batangas Province, to get some food for my family. At about nine o’clock that same morning, I met someone, whose name I do not now remember, who told me that the Japanese were killing my family. I decided to get a companion and go back to my father-in-law’s house. I found one Perfecto Villafando, aged 27. We two went to the house of my father-in-law which is about 1½ kilometers west of the National Road. I arrived at the house at about 9:30 o’clock same morning.
I saw 14 persons, nine in the house and five beneath the house. They were all bayoneted to death. The nine dead persons in the house were: my father, Luis Moog, aged 50; my mother, Dorotea de Moog, aged 45; Nicomedes Ona, aged 60; Maria Ona, aged 30; Encarnacion Ona, my wife, aged 37; Consolacion Atienza, aged 22; Jose Ona, aged 28; Rogelio Ona, aged 5; and Eufemia Ona, aged 37. The five dead persons under the house were: Lucinda Ona, aged 50; Conchita Atienza, aged 14; Regina Ona, aged 50; Nelia Lorzano, my six-year old daughter; and Librada Ona, aged 7.
About two o’clock in the afternoon of that same day, Perfecto Villafando and I buried nine bodies, whose names and ages are among those I already mentioned, in our dugout. The rest were buried by their relatives in their respective dugouts.
There are five survivors of this massacre. They are Sofia Moog, aged 23; Rosenda Moog, aged 20; Paciano Hernandez, aged 5; Catalina Endaya, aged 80; and Jaime Lorzano, aged 1. They are all from Barrio Banaybanay I, San Jose, Batangas Province, P. I., and of Filipino nationality.
Q Do you know the names of any of the Japanese responsible for this massacre?
[p. 54]
A No, I was not an actual witness to the massacre.
Q Do you know the unit or organization they belonged to?
A No, as I have already said, I was not an actual witness to the massacre.
Q Do you know what provoked the Japanese to commit this atrocity?
A No.
Q Have you anything further to add to this statement?
A No.
/t/ SATURNINO LORZANO
COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES
PROVINCE OF BATANGAS
TOWN OF SAN JOSE
/t/ SATURNINO LORZANO
/t/ ALLEN H. PEOPLES
Capt., CAC
Investigating Officer, War Crimes
Investigating Detachment.
Municipal Bldg., San Jose, Batangas Province, P.I. |
/s/ Allen H. Peoples /t/ ALLEN H. PEOPLES, Capt., CAC |
1st November 1945 |
/s/ Charles C. Thompson /t/ CHARLES C. THOMPSON, Capt., TC |
1 “Documents Pertaining to the Testimony of Saturnino Lorzano in U.S.A. v Tomoyuki Yamashita,” part of the U.S. Military Commission compilation of war crimes documentation, online at the Internet Archive.