Sunday
I have just seen the Trial of the Tiger of Malaya (Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita) who surrendered to my unit the 14th Infantry Regiment, USA at Kiangan, Mt. Province in August 1945—as shown in Channel 7. It is a dramatization that overplays the injustice allegedly committed against him, the commentator concluding that of the 12 newspapermen who covered the trial all voted among themselves no evidence had been presented to warrant conviction.
The TV presentation is a part of a series of trial presentations. It made a point of the fact that the presentation falsi1ied evidence in the testimony of Lapus and Galang and the court was ordered to finish the trial in as short a time us possible, so it allowed the admission of hearsay evidence.
The sentence was handed down on Dec. 7, 1945—Death by hanging—for not taking the precautions to prevent the anticipated atrocities.
Gen. Yamashita had said he was not informed of the commission of atrocities otherwise he would not have condoned them or if discovered after commission he would have punished the perpetrators.
We should record the fact that the pillage, the rape and murders started long before the landing of the Americans in the Philippines.
I must order these documented.