World War II Philippine war crimes trials
Some 45,000 Japanese were then held as Prisoners of War in a number of camps, and were retained by reconstituted government of the Philippine Commonwealth for labor and rebuilding efforts.
From 1945 to mid 1947, the Armed Forces Western Pacific (AFWESPAC) was the convening authority in appointing for the military commission, reviewing of the sentences, and maintained the custody of the suspects.
From 1945 to July 1947, the American authorities put on trial 97 individuals in Manila, with 90% conviction and 92 of these were sentenced to death, which ended in 67 of them executed.
[1][5][6] In early 1947, the SCAP Legal Section were already outlining the turn over of the responsibility of managing the subsequent trials of Class B and C accused.
These Japanese lawyers did not last long, and by the end of 1947 all but one remained in Manila, after facing difficulty and in one incident of a number of them mauling Capt.
This led to the establishment of the Philippine War Crimes Investigation and Coordination Panel in Tokyo early 1948, headed by Capt.
They coordinated with the SCAP Legal Section Tokyo to secure the Japanese witnesses and get their deposition for the use of the Defense and Prosecution in Manila.
The tribunal took an unusual step of adjusting Furuse's sentence by hanging to musketry, given his cooperative attitude during the trial and willingness to accept command responsibility.
Isao Ichimura of the IJA, who was assigned in Bauan, Batangas, and was accused of permitting his subordinate Lt. Saburo Owari and his men to murder 400 of the town's residences during January 1945.
Owari in turn claimed he stayed in the Bauan Municipal Hall, corroborated Ichimura's alibi, while arguing with his co-accused Lt. Takemoto's responsibility over the incident.
Such was the case of Hisamitsu Shimizu, who received support from the townsfolk of Bago, Negros Occidental, as well as Senator Ramon Torres.
Such was the case of Motoaki Deguchi, who was directed by Gen. Yamashita to execute without trial members of the Presidential Guards who were suspected of supporting guerrilla activities against the Japanese.
[1] The first execution happened on August 13, 1948, with the hanging of Chushiro Kudo in the gallows of New Bilibid Prison, after President Quirino confirmed his sentence.
By the end of the year two more war criminals, Shizuo Nakano who was called the "Beast of Cavite," and Tokuji Teramoto also known as "Terror of the Mountain Province" were executed.
On the other hand, Quirino has pardoned a number of convicted, one of whom was Gen. Shigenori Kuroda, who lead the 14th Army, and who found himself with the sympathies of the Filipino political elites whom he befriended during the occupation.
Five of these were of flag officer rank, Lt. Gen. Yoshihide Hayashi who headed the Military Administration Department, and was responsible for the execution of Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos, Lt. Gen. Shizuo Yokoyama, who headed the Shimbu Group during the battles east of Manila in the early days of 1945, Maj. Gen. Kiyotake Kawaguchi, Maj. Gen. Kenichi Matsuoka who was once the Provost General and Supreme Commander of the Kempetai in the Philippines, and Rear Adm. Takesue Furuse, who headed the IJN Detachment of the Manila Naval Defense Force, and was responsible for the Infanta Massacre.
On July 15, the ashes along with the convicted war criminals along with one who was acquitted, two civilians, and two stragglers boarded the Hakusan Maru for their repatriation to Japan.
