Testimony of Ladislau Abrenica on Japanese Atrocities Committed in Bauan, Batangas in 1945

Photo taken during the war crimes trials in Manila. Image credit: U.S. National Archives.

witness for the prosecution, being first duly sworn, testified as follows:

Q State your name.
A Ladislau Abrenica.
Q Where were you living on February 28, 1945?
A The town of Bauan.
Q Do you recall a meeting in the Catholic church in the morning of February 28, 1945?
A Yes, sir.
Q Were you present at that meeting?
A Yes, sir.
Q How long did the meeting in the church last?
A There was no meeting.
Q Did you go to the church on February 28?
A Yes, sir.
Q Were some people at the church at that time?
A There were.
Q Who were the people in the church?
A I know of many, but I do not know their names.
Q What nationality were the people in the church?
A Tagalog.
Q Were there other people in the church that were not Tagalog?
A There were none.
Q Were there any Japanese in the church?

A There were.
Q Do you know whether or not they were soldiers?
A They were soldiers and I know of one Lieutenant.
Q What was his name?
A Of the Lieutenant?
Q Yes.
A Hagino.
Q Do you see him present in this courtroom at this time?
A Yes, sir.
Q Will you please step down and point to the man whose name you have just named.
A Yes, sir. (Indicating.)

MR. MORRISON [This was probably Mr. Guthrie, the prosecutor.]: May the record show that the witness pointed to the accused, Hagino.

Q Would you stand up, so you could see everyone in the courtroom, and tell me whether there are any Japanese soldiers or officers in this courtroom now whom you saw on February 28 in the church?
A Yes, I saw some of them.

MR. MORRISON: May the question be repeated?

(Question read by the reporter.)

A I have seen officers but not in the church. They were in Bautista’s house.
Q Stand up and point them out to the court.
A (Witness pointed.)

MR. GUTHRIE: May the record show that the witness pointed to the accused, Mogami.

Q Tell us what you heard Hagino say or do in the morning of February 28?
A In the morning, sir?
Q Tell everyone what you saw him do, whether it was the morning or any time on February 28.
A Of what happened?
Q Yes, and what he said.

MR. MORRISON: Just a moment, if the Commission please, I object to this witness testifying as to what Hagino said unless Hagino spoke at that time in English and if Hagino spoke in Japanese, I object to the question unless the witness is able to understand Japanese.

COLONEL HAMBY: The Law Member will rule.

COLONEL POBLETE: Objection sustained.

Q Just tell us what you saw Hagino do?
A He ordered all the people to assemble in the church because he said there would be a meeting. When we were all in the church, they asked us to sit down. Then, there came four priests. I could not tell whether the priests were saying mass or not because I am not well acquainted with that. Later on, children and women were asked to leave the church and only men were the ones left.
Q Mr. Abrenica, I will ask you to confine your testimony only to what you saw Hagino do, not what the priests did or anyone else, but just what Hagino did.

A He was the one who ordered us to be conducted to Mr. Bautista’s house.
Q And did you go to Mr. Bautista’s house when he ordered you to?
A Yes, sir.
Q What else did Hagino do?
A When we were already in Mr. Bautista’s house, he ordered his soldiers to explode something in the house.
Q You have referred to a man by the name of Mogami. Where did you first see him?
A When we were in the house of Bautista.
Q What was Mogami doing?
A He was the one arranging us in the house of Bautista.
Q After he arranged you, what did he do?
A He went out and closed the doors.

MR. GUTHRIE: No further questions.

Q When the people were assembled in the church, approximately how many would you say were in the church?
A Three hundred and fifty, more or less.
Q Before women and children were ordered out of the church, approximately how many people were in the church?
A Maybe three hundred.

MR. MORRISON: I don’t think the witness understands.

Q I’ll ask you again, Mr. Abrenica, when the people first assembled in the church, men, women and children, approximately how many people, men, women and children, would you say were in the church?
A I cannot recollect because we were plenty.
Q Approximately how many?
A I cannot estimate, there were so many.
Q Would you say there were 600?
A I cannot tell whether or not there were 600.
Q Do you know of any reason for this Japanese activity against the Filipinos?
A Yes, sir.
Q What is the reason?
A Because they were the conquerors.
Q Was it customary for the Japanese to assemble you in church without any reason?
A That was the second time we were assembled in the church. The first time, there really was a meeting, that was [why] the second time, we went there because we thought there would be a meeting again.
Q Isn’t it a fact that there was a great deal of guerrilla activity in and around Bauan in February 1945?
A No, sir, there were no guerrillas around in our place.
Q Were you ever a member of the guerrillas yourself?
A No, sir, there was no guerrilla activity, the town of Bauan was one of the most peaceful towns in Batangas.

Q Was there any guerrilla activity in the nearby barrios of Bauan?
A I don’t know of any and I cannot tell you anything about guerrillas because there were none.
Q What was your occupation in February 1945?
A I was a gambler.

MR. MORRISON: If the Court will bear with me a few seconds.

INTERPRETER CAMPOMANES: Correction, please, he said it was not really gambling because they were not caught, it was not prohibited, so then it was legal, it was a sidewalk entertainment, but they were betting just the same. Authorized gambling.

MR. MORRISON: I am quite content to let it stand that he is a gambler, that suits me.

Q Do you know, or did you ever hear of Lieutenant Takemoto?
A No, sir.
Q How many Japanese officers were in the church at the time of the meeting?
A Only one. That was Hagino.
Q Did you see at any other time on February 28, 1945, any officers besides Hagino?
A No, sir.

MR. MORRISON: No further questions.

Q Did you see any other officer except Hagino giving orders on that date?

MR. MORRISON: Objected to, if the Commission please. The witness already testified he saw no other officer on February 28, 1945, other than Hagino.

COLONEL HAMBY: The Law Member will rule.

COLONEL POBLETE: Objection sustained; frame another question.

Q What officer was giving the orders during the times you have testified to?

MR. MORRISON: Objected to, if the Commission please, the witness testified there was only one officer, so that officer must have been the one who gave the order. And furthermore, I object to the witness testifying that the officer gave an order if the officer was speaking Japanese, unless the witness speaks Japanese also.

COLONEL HAMBY: The Law Member will rule.

COLONEL POBLETE: Objection sustained.

Q Did you see, after you left the church, were there other Japanese officers besides Hagino?

MR. MORRISON: If the Commission please, the witness testified he saw no other Japanese officer.

MR. GUTHRIE: I object to that, he testified he saw Mogami and went over here and pointed him out.

MR. MORRISON: Then the witness is contradicting himself, if the Commission please.

COLONEL HAMBY: The Law Member will rule.

COLONEL POBLETE: Objection sustained.

Q Did Mogami give any orders?

MR. MORRISON: Object on the same grounds, sir.

COLONEL HAMBY: The Law Member will rule.

COLONEL POBLETE: Objection overruled, the witness may answer.

A I just saw him in Mr. Bautista’s house.
Q What was he doing?
A He was the one arranging the people inside, in the house of Mr. Bautista.
Q How did he arrange them?
A We were arranged in circles.
Q How did he get you to arrange yourselves in circles, what did he do or say?
A I could not understand what he was saying because I do not understand Japanese, but the way he managed so to be in a circle, he was asking us to arrange ourselves in circles.
Q Did he make any motions that made you think that was what he wanted you to do?
A He was the one placing us in a circle.
Q Making motions, is that correct?

INTERPRETER CAMPOMANES: No, he was the one —

MR. GUTHRIE: Alright, no motions.

Q You testified Hagino ordered you to leave the church, how did he give that order?
A We were ordered to stand by groups of 100 and then we were told to line up in twos. When we were already passing the door, we were asked to walk one by one and we were guarded on both sides by Japanese soldiers.
Q And who ordered you and the other people to go into the house of Bautista?

A Through the order of Hagino, the soldiers ordered us to go to Bautista’s house.

MR. GUTHRIE: That is all.

MR. MORRISON: No further questions.

COLONEL HAMBY: Questions by the Commission? There appearing to be none, the witness is excused.

(Witness excused.)

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