“During the trial of Yamashita for his role in the mass rapes and massacre in Manila, his lawyers argued Yamashita was not in Manila”
In part 1 of my column, I wrote about the signal victory of Filipinos in the Battle of Bessang Pass in the North against the Japanese imperial forces led by General Tomoyuki Yamashita who fled from Manila because the American Forces landed in Leyte with General Douglas MacArthur fulfilling his promise of “I shall return.”
That Battle of Bessang Pass was sadly never commemorated because of our damaged culture of celebrating defeats like the Fall of Bataan and the Fall of Corregidor, now commemorated every April 9 in the Day of Valor (Araw ng Kagitingan).
In Bataan there was a three-month battle by the Commonwealth forces of Americans and Filipinos that delayed the timetable of the Japanese to take over the whole of Asia and on to the takeover of Australia.
With the Americans landing at Lingayen Gulf on January 9, 1945, Yamashita knew the US forces would enter Manila and he formed what was known as his triangular defense that included San Fernando in La Union, Manila and the Cordilleras, which included Bontoc, Benguet and Ifugao.
Upon the landing of the Americans in the Lingayen Gulf, San Fernando was soon liberated, forcing Yamashita to leave Manila and go to the Cordilleras with his staff, leaving about 1,000 members of the Japanese imperial forces to defend Manila.
Thus, the American forces tried to liberate Manila with war planes bombing south of the Pasig River.
History tells us the most atrocious happening in World War II was the Rape of Manila, much worse than what the Hitler Nazis did in Warsaw, Poland.
The Rape of Manila was between February 3, 1945 and March 3, 1945, months before the Battle of Bessang Pass when Yamashita and his staff were no longer in Manila but had retreated to the Cordilleras.
Some portions of the Rape of Manila are herein quoted from official sources:
The massacres and atrocities
“The Manila Massacre, also called the Rape of Manila, involved atrocities committed against Filipino civilians in the City of Manila, the capital of the Philippines, by Japanese troops during the Battle of Manila (3 February 1945 – 3 March 1945) which occurred during World War II. The total number of civilians killed was at least 100, 000.
“The Manila Massacre was one of the several major war crimes committed by the Imperial Japanese Army, as judged by the postwar military tribunal.
“The Japanese commanding general, Tomoyuki Yamashita, and his chief of staff Akira Muto, were held responsible for the massacre and other war crimes in a trial which started in October 1945.
“Yamashita was executed on 23 February 1946 and Muto on 23 December 1948.”
The Americans who had penetrated Manila had about 1,000 troops, and there were several thousand Filipino soldiers under the Commonwealth Army and the organized guerillas.
Even women and children became guerillas.
All people on the battlefield, with the exception of Japanese military personnel, Japanese civilians and special construction units will be put to death.
Japanese order justifying the manila massacre
“Before the battle, deciding that he would be unable to defend Manila with the forces available to him, and to preserve as large a force as possible in the rural mountain Luzon region of the Philippines, General Yamashita had insisted on a complete withdrawal of Japanese troops from Manila in January 1945.
“However, Yamashita’s order was ignored by about 10,000 Japanese marines under Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi who chose to remain in Manila.
“About 4,000 Japanese army personnel were unable to leave the city due to the advance of the American and Filipino forces.
“In the Battle of Manila from February to March 1945, the United States Army advanced into the city of Manila to drive the Japanese out.
“During lulls in the battle for control of the city, Japanese troops took their anger and frustration out on the civilians in the city.
“Violent mutilations, rapes, and massacres occurred in schools, hospitals and convents, including San Juan de Dios Hospital, Santa Rosa College, Santo Domingo Church, Manila Cathedral, Paco Church, St Paul’s Convent, and St. Vincent de Paul Church.
“Dr. Antonio Gisbert (recalled) the murder of his father and brother at the Palacio del Gobernador, saying, “ I am one of those few survivors, not more than 50 in all out of more than 3,000 men herded into Fort Santiago and, two days later, massacred.
“The Japanese forced Filipino women and children to be used as human shields in the front lines to protect Japanese positions. Those who survived were then murdered by the Japanese.
“The Japanese conducted mop-up operations north of Manila of guerillas, executing more than 54,000 Filipinos, including children, as they passed through town.
Mass rapes
“The Bayview Hotel was used as designated “rape center.”
According to testimony at the Yamashita war crimes trial, 400 women and girls were rounded up from Manila’s wealthy Ermita district, and submitted to a selection board that picked out the 25 women who were considered most beautiful.
These women and girls, many of them 12 to 14 years old, were taken to the hotel, where Japanese enlisted men and officers took turns raping them.
“Despite many allied Germans holding refuge in a German club, Japanese soldiers entered in and bayoneted infants and children of mothers pleading for mercy, and raped women seeking refuge.
“At least 20 Japanese soldiers raped a young girl before slicing her breasts off after which a Japanese soldier placed her mutilated breasts on his chest to mimic a woman while the other Japanese soldiers laughed.
“The Japanese then doused the young girl and two other women who were raped to death in gasoline and set them all on fire.
“The Japanese went on setting the entire club on fire, killing many of its inhabitants.
“Women who were escaping out of the building from the fire were caught and raped by the Japanese.
“28-year old Julia Lopez’ breasts were sliced off and was raped by the Japanese soldiers before they set her hair on fire.
“Another woman was partially decapitated after attempting to defend herself and (was eventually) raped by a Japanese soldier.”
Death toll
The combined death toll of civilians for the Battle of Manila was about 100,000, most of which was attributed to massacres by Japanese forces.
Some historians, citing a higher civilian casualty rate for the entire battle, suggest that 100,000 to 500,000 died as a result of the Manila Massacre on its own, exclusive of other causes.
“Extensive as were the Japanese atrocities during the battle, American artillery and firepower were most responsible for the destruction of Manila’s architectural and cultural heritage and, according to one estimate, caused 40 percent of the total Filipino deaths during the battle.”
Yamashita defense
“Although Admiral Iwabuchi’s marines had committed the atrocities and General Yamashita had earlier ordered him to evacuate Manila as he had, Yamashita was convicted as a war criminal for the Manila Massacre.
Iwabuchi himself committed suicide in the face of imminent defeat near the end of the Battle of Manila.
Former war crimes prosecutor and author Allan Ryan argued there was no evidence that Yamashita committed crimes there, ordered others to do so, was in a position to prevent them, or even suspected they were about to happen.
During the trial of Yamashita for his role in the mass rapes and massacre in Manila, his lawyers argued Yamashita was not in Manila.
They justified the “chain of command” argument, which was not upheld because he was the overall commander of the Japanese Imperial Forces.
They also argued the Japanese navy marines were the ones that committed the massacres and rapes.
But, this theory was junked that even the US Supreme Court upheld the role of Yamashita in those war crimes.