Partial List of Victims of Japanese Atrocities in Lipa, Batangas in 1945 (Barrio Tanguay)

Below is a partial list of victims of Japanese atrocities committed in the then-Municipality of Lipa, Batangas in 1945. For Lipa, because of the numbers, the list is presented by barrio. The list was compiled, along with those in other municipalities of Batangas at the time, upon instructions of the Acting Governor of Batangas Fortunato Borbon.

These lists were submitted “in evidence” by the prosecution panel during the trial U.S.A. v Tomoyuki Yamashita¹. Batangas History, Culture and Folklore cannot vouch for the 100% accuracy of the list below nor of the others made in other municipalities which will also be posted here. This is not for lack of trying on the part of municipal and barrio officials at the time, but rather because of the general state of confusion that naturally prevailed soon after liberation.

It was estimated that more than 25,000 non-combatant civilians, including women and children, were massacred in Batangas just before liberation in 1945. Of these, around 18,000 were said to be in Lipa alone Many of these were unaccounted for a variety of reasons, foremost of which was that many individuals simply disappeared and were never seen again. This is probably the reason why the lists are meager compared to the actual number of people massacred by the Japanese.

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NAMES OF PERSONS MASSACRED BY THE
JAPS AT TANGUAY, LIPA, BATANGAS

FULL NAME

AGE

SEX

NATIONALITY

ADDRESS

1. Raymundo Las   2. Estefana de Silva   3. Gil Mester2   4. Clemente Herrera   5. Alipio Zara   6. Felipe Latag   7. Victor Latag   8. Victoria Latag   9. Cristeta de la Peña 10. Maximo Harina 11. Demetria Dimaculangan 12. Consuelo Cueto 13. Conchita Cueto 14. Francisco Cueto 15. Rosario Cueto 16. Consuela Latag 17. Florencia Latag 18. Adoracio3Latag 19. Leon Leynes 20. Exequiel Laynes4 21. Calixto Leynes 22. Juan Mayor 23. Jose Mayor 24. Alfredo de Silva 25. Amando Leynes 26. Natividad Villanueva 27. Arsenio Sabido 28. Ignacio Mendoza 29. Alfonso Mendoza 30. Miguel Latag 31. Crispina Latag 32. Columbia Latag 33. Anita Leynes 34. Lydia Leynes 35. Cirilo Mesca5 36. Agapita de Silva 37. Jacoba Mesca5 38. Jacinta Mesca5

62 58 45 40 40 40 30 49 23 30 45 15 14 8 37 6 4 1½ 56 29 17 45 17 21 17 19 10 mo 47 75 70 38 30 6 3 80 70 45 70

M F M M M M M F F M F F F M F F F F M M M M M M F F M M M M F F F F M F F F

Filipino " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "

Tanguay, Lipa, Batangas " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "

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

Notes and references:
¹ “Prosecution Evidence, U.S.A. v Tomoyuki Yamashita,” Reel Number 70, Files of the United States Military Commission, 1945, online at the Internet Archive.
² Or “Moster.”
³ Likely “Adoracion.”
⁴ Likely “Leynes.”
⁵ Likely “Mosca.”