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Suspected
guerrillas were tortured to confession or killed. Ricardo (Carding) Aguirre was
riding a caritella when Japanese soldiers caught up with him and tortured him to
confess. They let him drink gallons of water and stepped on his stomach to vomit
and beat him.
With
others, they used a pair of pliers to pull their teeth or fingernails or tie
them in an anthill under the sun to be bitten slowly by ants. Sometimes, they
would cut their ears and penis and force them to eat them. They raped a lot of
young women or turn them into sex slaves. To avoid this, Josie and Filipinas
Ramos’ hairs were cut short and were wearing pants to disguise them as boys.
Babies were thrown to the air and catch them with their bayonets. When people do
not bow to them when passing Japanese soldiers, they are either slapped or
hit.
Japanese spy
It
is ironic, but before the war, a highly educated Japanese working for Francisco
Ramos designed the Ramos house in San Narciso. Unknowingly, he was a spy, and
became a captain when war broke out. But he was a gentleman and never reported
on Francisco Ramos or that he never knew the activities of Kikoy.
When
the Japanese discovered that the code name Ram was Kikoy, they rounded up his
family (mother, all his sisters and brothers, incarcerated them, threatened to
kill them if he did not surrender. He learned about this while in Manila. He was
on his way to Fort Santiago to surrender when Ramon Magsaysay caught up with him
in Sta. Mesa in the midst of typhoon and pleaded with him not to give himself
up. In danger was the whole roster of the Zambales Guerrilla Forces.
A
Japanese woman married to a Filipino, Mrs. Almazan convinced the Japanese that
the Ramos family is law-abiding people and they were set free. For this the
Almazan family was never charged for electricity consumption because the Ramoses
owned the Ramos Electric Plant of San Narciso.
Francisco
being the Chief of Intelligence was told of all operations before they were
executed. At one time, the liquidation squad came to San Narciso and passed by
his house. They told Frank that they were there on a mission to execute several
suspected Japanese spies. Included in the roster were the names of Mayor
Sebastian Fogata, Father Dosac, the Catholic parish priest, the Chief of Police,
a Principal Mr. Farrales and several prominent San Narciso residences. He told
the liquidation squad that these people were clear of their allegations. He
later called those in the hit list and told them about it. Mayor Fogata and
Father Dosac kneeled before Francisco begging, and crying to be spared of their
fate.
Governor
Dantes was also suspected as a Japanese Spy but was cooperative to the Guerrilla
Movement and furnished them with vital information and enemy troop
movements.
Francisco
Ramos and Ramon Magsaysay earned their living during the war years fixing cars
and trucks of friends and clients of their fist cousin Luis Abiva who had a
printing shop in Manila. They were of course paid in Japanese money, which was
worthless and had to carry them in large bags (bayong) or sacks.
[top]
Hofoku Maru bombed off La Paz
The
military personnel listed below were survivors from the Japanese ship HOFOKU
MARU carrying prisoners north when it was bombed of San Narciso, Zambales on
September 21, 1944. They were British and the Netherlands Army Personnel.
British
personnel were James Gibson, Capt. 92935, 122 Field Regt. RA; J. Christie, Sgm/m
2365831, Royal Corps of Signals; J. Game Sgm/m 2366249,Royal Corps of Signals;
M. Monk Sgm/m 2350496, Royal Corps of Signals, died 11/21/44; C. Sayer, Pte.
7649990 Royal Army Ord. Corps; Jackman, Pte. 5953092, 5th Beds & Herts
Regt.; R. Money, Pte., 5950587, 4th Suffolk Regt.,Sizer, Pte. 7637212 Royal Army
Ofd. Corps; and Stott Cpl. 3527627, 1st Manchester Regt.
The
Netherlands Army Personnel were J. Neiuwenhuys Pte. 97163, Royal Dutch Air Force; P. Idema
Sgt., 86321, Royal Dutch Army and (Inf); Kooi Cpl., 3886M, Royal Cutch
Marines.
Merrill gathers list
Oct. 8, 1944, Frank R. Loyd, Lt. Col. Infantry 0-16004 (War Dept. Order) Inf. answered a letter of request from Col. Merrill of a report of names, rank etc. of Americans. He believed the reason for this request was to assign the remaining U.S. officers and men on guerrilla units. He strongly recommended against the action for the following reasons: 1) Lack of arms and equipment “I seriously doubt if there is one serviceable small arm per each 100 guerrillas - and very little ammunition. 2) Almost without exception the Americans who were with the guerrillas since the surrender have maintained their guerrilla activity out of dire necessity as a means of obtaining food and shelter rather than for the purpose of resisting the Japs. 3) It will be most difficult to make the necessary changes in command. The youngsters now with guerrillas have been there for a long time, have organized them, nursed them along through the dark period would strongly resent having other officers take over. 4) Under nourished and weakened by malaria or dysentery, barefooted and scantily clad, hiding like animals in the jungle for almost 3 years with nothing to occupy the mind except the monotonous daily routine of providing for their physical needs, the pitiful handful of American officers and men who survived were in no condition physically or mentally to render effective service.
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