Before the full withdrawal of the Japanese force in Siquijor, there was a specific unit assigned in the island led by a non-commissioned officer, Sgt. Maj. Naoki Hamasaki, from early August to November 1944.
Sgt. Major Hamasaki was described to be about 45 old, five feet seven inches tall, with a regular build, weighing around 140 lbs., having a slightly dark complexion, and who wore a small mustache with a short-cropped hair.
At the outset, his unit was independent from the 174th Infantry Battalion assigned in Negros Oriental, but later on became affiliated with it after its withdrawal from Siquijor, and transfer to Negros Oriental.
The Hamasaki unit’s role was to “safeguard and protect the interests of the Nippon Mining Company.” This mining company was exploiting manganese resources in Larena, Siquijor, and shipping it to Japan for for their nation’s war efforts.
Consequently from October and November 1944, however, the Hamasaki Unit “undertook a vicious campaign of destruction, murder, and rape in the small island of Siquijor.”
Looking back, one may wonder why the Japanese forces relatively or intermittently went on and off in Siquijor island for the duration they were in the Philippines.
There was no permanent Japanese garrison, and oft-times, there were only less than a hundred Japanese soldiers assigned to the island.
More often than not, what happened in Siquijor, being a sub-province of Negros Oriental, was that Japanese soldiers from Negros Oriental would just be sent to the island to conduct punitive expeditions against guerrilla forces in the hinterlands. These were usually done in retaliation of guerrilla attacks to their garrison forces in Larena.
By and large however, the main reason the Japanese forces maintained a garrison especially in Larena was to exploit the manganese resources from the local mines, to be used for advancing their war efforts.
These manganese mines were under the direct supervision and management of the Japanese commander assigned in Larena.
Local laborers were employed and paid in varying rates from P1.00 to P6.00 daily.
In Larena, the old school building was used by the Japanese forces as their garrison; this was the only garrison of the Japanese troops from June 1944 onwards as the garrisons in Siquijor, Lazi, and San Juan were vacated; this was done upon Colonel Oie’s order to reassign and consolidate a huge bulk of the Japanese troops in Old Tolong (now known as the municipality of Sta. Catalina).
The guerrilla forces in Siquijor Island had reached around 400-500 in total when the Hamasaki unit arrived in Siquijor by August 1944.
Meanwhile, Hamasaki’s unit only consisted of around 30 men, but were fully armed and capable of defending themselves against imminent guerrilla attacks.
It must be emphasized that the latter months of 1944 was a time when Japanese imperial forces– especially those who knew about the inexorable return of the Allied forces – experienced low morale.
The shortage of food supply also added to this deteriorating morale.
It seemed that the main concern of the Japanese forces, at this time, aside from going on expeditions against guerrilla forces in the hinterlands, was to conduct foraging missions for food to be able to survive.
There was no doubt the Japanese forces had felt the end coming, and as they did, became more desperate and violent.
This was the case of the Hamasaki unit, with their spree of violence for the months of October and November 1944 against non-combatant local civilians in Siquijor Island.
It all started on Oct. 4, 1944 with the murder of Saturnino Bihag (54M) and Gavina Kilat (11F) in barrio Mananao, Enrique Villanueva.
Based on the eyewitness testimony of Alfonso Eslit (36M), son-in-law of Saturnino Bihag, they heard a Japanese patrol passing by their house at around 5:30 in the morning that day. He saw that there were around 20 Japanese soldiers, together with five BC members.
Eslit was able to hide in a maguey grove about 25 meters from their house, but his father-in-law, Bihag, was left alone in the house. He saw Bihag “kneeling and pleading to the Japanese,” but even with his pleas, a Japanese soldier shot him point blank without compunction, looted all his belongings, and then set his house on fire.
Shortly after the burning of the house, Eslit saw his wife’s 11-year-old cousin, Gavina Kilat, lying down dead with three bullet wounds – one in the stomach, another one on the right leg, and a third one on the right palm.
His wife, Francisca Bihag (29F) said that Gavina was shot while they were running away from the Japanese forces. She was killed almost instantly.
On the same day, the same patrol passed by Barrio Bagacay in Larena, and kidnapped a 20-year-old woman, Florencia Pacaro.
According to her father, Sixto Pacaro, he and his daughter were separated as they tried to elude the three Japanese soldiers chasing them. He was chased by one soldier, while his daughter was chased by the other two. He was able to escape arrest, but his daughter unfortunately was seized by the two Japanese soldiers.
Florencia was then brought to the Larena garrison, never to be seen again. She is believed to have been executed by the men of Hamasaki.
The next documented incident of murder was on Oct. 10, 1944 at Larena. As the story goes, a Japanese patrol returned to Larena at around 2:00 pm that day. Hamasaki’s unit brought along with them more than a hundred civilians, consisting mostly of women and children.
At least nine able-bodied men were segregated from the larger group. Out of the nine prisoners, Candido Ambalong (19M), who resided in Barrio Datag, Larena, was handpicked by the Japanese forces; thereafter, they tied his hands with a rope, and was brought to Sgt. Hamasaki.
An eyewitness to the incident, George Siton (16 M) narrated what happened next:
“Sgt. Hamasaki…ordered two Japanese soldiers to come forward. One soldier held the cord that bound Candido Ambalong’s hands, while the other solider got ready with his rifle with fixed bayonet. At the command by Sergeant Hamasaki, the Japanese soldier with fixed bayonet immediately thrust his bayonet into the abdomen of Ambalong. The Japanese kept thrusting his bayonet into Ambalong’s thorax until he was downed and killed.”
Thereafter, Sergeant Hamasaki ordered three male prisoners to bury the body of Ambalong, while the rest of the prisoners were told to return home.
On that same day, another young man, Pedro Ponce (21M) was bayoneted by a Japanese soldier near Larena Capitol. He suffered the same fate as Ambalong – his hands tied, and was bayonetted four times.
Both men were not in any way connected to the guerrilla movement in Siquijor; both were innocent civilians, but were suspected of being a part of the US Army Forces in the Far East [or the guerrillas]; and both were ordered to be executed by Sergeant Hamasaki, whom witnesses testified as present – or at least was nearby – during the executions.
The violence did not die down by November as many civilians were either killed or went missing. Some women were raped and abused by Sergeant Hamasaki and his men.
One of those killed was a 74-year-old man named Egmidio Talisayan. According to the eyewitness, Prudencio Cuaresma, he and Talisayan were walking in barrio Datag when they saw four Japanese soldiers – one carrying a saber and the three others carrying rifles with fixed bayonets; without warning, almost immediately after they saw the Japanese soldiers, Cuaresma ran to the nearby bushes to hide.
Shortly after, he saw Talisayan being apprehended by the Japanese soldiers, who then “tied him up and bound his hands behind his back.”
Thereafter, one Japanese soldier bayonetted Talisayan until he fell down; they left his lifeless body on the road, and continued on walking to barrio Tambo.
When Cuaresma checked on Talisayan, he realized that Talisayan was dead due to the “bayonet wound coming from the right side, and going out through the left.”
On Nov. 2, 1944 in barrio Canlambo, Larena, a few civilians were arrested by the Japanese forces under Sergeant Hamasaki as they were suspected of helping feed the USAFFE forces.
Julia Samson, an eyewitness to this roundup, told the military commission she saw four girls being brought up to the house of a certain Santiago Sumaylo. The girls were then raped by around 15 Japanese men, with some of their husbands helplessly listening to what was going on, as they were tied up under the house.
Samson described the aftermath of the incident stating that the girls “were weeping after they had that experience. I was the one consoling them. They told me they were raped by the Japanese. They said to me, ‘You can be happy, and can console us because you have not been used.’”
One of the victims, Praxedes Vicoy, who was around 17-18 years old at that time, stated that two Japanese soldiers threatened to kill her and her baby if she refused to submit to their wishes. As she vividly recalled: “They made me lie down, and one after another, the two Japanese soldiers succeeded in having sexual intercourse with me.”
One of the two men who raped her was no other than Sergeant Hamasaki. This fact was corroborated by many eyewitnesses; in fact, as the lead prosecutor in the trial against Hamasaki said in his closing arguments: Hamasaki was there, Julia Samson said he was there, and Julia Samson identified him without a moment’s hesitation. Praxedes Vicoy was there. Praxedes Vicoy had a great deal of trouble in identifying Hamasaki. Praxedes said she was nervous that she was of the mountain people, and that when she was brought before 10 Japanese, she seemed to become cross-eyed…I believe it is clear Hamasaki was there, and [was the one] who took Praxedes up into a room…unashamed, a little child in her arms crying, and according to her testimony, Hamasaki said, ‘If you resist what I am about to do, I will kill your baby!’”
Between October-November 1944, the Japanese forces were clearly at the losing end of things. A plethora of ships were sunk by American bombing campaigns from September to November. These were relatively big ships weighing around 200 tons that can carry 100 fully- equipped soldiers. Most of these ships were usually in transit, just passing by Siquijor, and were coming in from Cebu and Mindanao.
By that time also, guerrilla campaigns in Siquijor were becoming increasingly intensive as General MacArthur’s return became imminent. Becoming desperate, and wounded in the leg from an engagement with Siquijor guerrillas, Sergeant Hamasaki called for reinforcements from the Oie Butai stationed in Dumaguete.
In response, Colonel Oie sent Lt. Matsumoto on November 1944 to lead a punitive expedition to quell off the guerrillas in Siquijor. Matsumoto was accompanied by 1st Lt. Yaichiro Yamada, the intelligence officer of Col. Satoshi Oie, and about 40 to 50 men. Yamada, however, did not join Matsumoto in the punitive expeditions, and had opted to stay in the Larena garrison with the wounded Hamasaki.
The main purpose, however, of this punitive mission was not necessarily to take over or have full Japanese control of Siquijor; its main mission was to help in the withdrawal of the Hamasaki unit from Larena since they had been surrounded by the guerrillas; not to mention the fact that manganese was impossible to mine [with the presence of guerrilla units in the mining areas], and impossible to ship to Japan.
The Matsumoto punitive expedition was, therefore, a rescue mission for a beleaguered – and the last – Japanese detachment in Siquijor Island.
By Nov. 16, 1944, the Hamasaki unit had fully withdrawn from Siquijor, and had crossed to Dumaguete where they were assimilated to the Oie Butai.
There were no more Japanese soldiers assigned in Siquijor after the withdrawal of the Hamasaki detachment on Nov. 16, 1944.
Eventually, by Sept. 22, 1945, Colonel Oie and what remained of the 174th Independent Infantry Battalion – together with other Japanese military units stationed in Dumaguete – surrendered to the American forces in Zamboanguita. Most of those who were arrested were then sent to Leyte, and from there, were sent back to Japan.
One of the men who was arrested, and sent back to Japan was no other than Sgt. Maj. Naoki Hamasaki, the war crime perpetrator in Siquijor from October to November 1944.
It has been reported that he was sent back to Japan from Leyte on board the USS Jackson on Dec. 16, 1945. However, by April 23, 1946, a memorandum was issued by Brig. Gen. B.M. Fitch, adjutant general for the Supreme Commander for the Allied Power, ordering the immediate apprehension of six suspected war criminals, including Sergeant Major Hamasaki.
After Hamasaki was arrested, he was brought back to Manila, and a trial ensued from Feb. 14 to 24, 1947. In this trial, the prosecution built a case around six specifications:
By wrongfully and unlawfully ordering and participating in the killing of unarmed, non-combatant Filipino civilians, Candido Ambalong and Pedro Ponce on Oct. 10, 1944 near Larena, Siquijor Island;
By unlawfully permitting members of the Imperial Japanese Army, then under his command, to kill unarmed, non-combatant Filipino civilians, Saturnino Bihag, Gavina Kilat, on Oct. 4, 1944 near barrio Mananao, Enrique Villanueva, Siquijor Island;
By unlawfully permitting members of the Imperial Japanese Army, then under his command, to kill unarmed, non-combatant Filipino civilian, Felix Tomapon, on Oct. 27, 1944 in barrio Tacloban, Siquijor Island;
By unlawfully permitting members of the Imperial Japanese Army, then under his command, to kill unarmed, non-combatant Filipino civilian, Egmidio Talisayan, on Oct. 27, 1944 in barrio Datag, Larena, Siquijor Island;
By unlawfully permitting members of the Imperial Japanese Army, then under his command, to rape non-combatant Filipino civilians, Cecilia Padayhag, Praxedes Vicoy, Consolacion Lomongot, Josefina Malanog, Tiaducia Sumingit, Nazaria Bonocan on Nov. 2, 1944 near barrio Canlambo, Larena, Siquijor Island;
And by willfully and unlawfully raping unarmed and non-combatant Filipino civilian, Praxedes Vicoy, on Nov. 2, 1944 near barrio Canlambo, Larena, Siquijor Island.
In the trial, the prosecution, headed by Joseph McLemore, tried to prove Sergeant Hamasaki’s guilt based on his role as leader or commanding officer of the Hamasaki detachment in Larena, Siquijor. McLemore largely relied on verbal testimonies and written affidavits of victims and eyewitnesses of the crimes committed by Hamasaki and his unit.
These testimonies and affidavits included 1st Lt. Yaichiro Yamada’s (Intelligence officer of the 174th Independent Infantry Battalion assigned in Dumaguete) court testimony stating that Hamasaki was the highest-ranking officer in Siquijor Island from August to November 1944.
Moreover, the prosecution was also able to gather and corroborate eyewitness testimonies that point to Sergeant Hamasaki for personally ordering and participating in the killing of Ambalong and Ponce.
By and large, the strength of the prosecution’s case was on their eyewitness accounts that served as evidence of Sergeant Hamasaki participating in the war crimes, the testimony and confirmation of Sgt. Hamasaki’s senior rank from Lt. Yamada, and the affidavit written by Hamasaki himself – using it against him as he said that he was present in Larena, Siquijor when the war crimes were committed.
On the other end, the Defense, led by chief counsel Frank Springer, argued that Hamasaki should not be tried since only a commanding officer or army commanders – that is to say, commissioned officers – can be tried for command responsibility. According to them, his limited authority somehow mitigated his guilt.
Furthermore, they tried to put into context the actions of Hamasaki – that he was doing so due to the intensive or chaotic environment and heightened sense of insecurity as a result of pressure from guerrilla attacks.
By Feb. 24, 1947, more than a week after the trial, the military commission found Sgt. Naoki Hamasaki guilty on the charge of violating the laws and customs of war.
Specifically, he was found guilty on Specification 1 (except for Pedro Ponce), Specification 5 (except for the names Cecilia Padayhag, Consolacion Lomongot, and Josefina Malanog), and Specification 6 (no changes or modifications).
The military commission sentenced him to death by hanging. Thereafter, he was transferred to the stockade in Mandaluyong, Rizal where he was executed on Sept. 3, 1947.
The Japanese occupation of Siquijor, therefore, only lasted for roughly a year and a half – from June 1943 to November 1944. But the bulk of the atrocities committed by the Japanese troops [known as the Hamasaki Unit] occurred from October to November 1944.
These atrocities were done without compunction, and it only showed how desperate the Japanese forces were during the latter months of 1944, which was also when the American forces were advancing towards the Philippines.
In hindsight, there are still a cornucopia of atrocities committed by the Japanese soldiers all throughout the Philippines, especially in the provinces, that have yet to be written about – since most of the historical works on Japanese atrocities often are about experiences of American prisoners of war in Luzon, and of civilians mostly in Manila, especially during the Battle of Manila.
There is still a lot of work to be done, and hopefully, the historical gaps in this subject area [i.e. Japanese Wartime Atrocities] will be filled by more historians in the future.
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Author’s email: [email protected]
