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<em>Pastor Martelino</em> was born on the Island of Panay in the town of Kallbo, Province of Capiz, Philippine Islands, on August 8, 1896. In that year his father led a force against the Spanish in the Philippine Revolution and later continued the fight against the Americans in the insurrection of 1898. After surrendering to the American forces his father assisted in the pacification of the insurgents, organizing the first Panay Scouts who were employed as civilians by the American Forces. Later his father served two years in the Constabulary and thereafter entered politics to be elected mayor of Kalibo three times.</p>
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Pastor was the second of seven children. After graduation at the head of his class in high school in Capiz, he won, through a competitive examination, a two year scholarship at the School of Forestry, University of the Philippines. Finishing this course at the head of his class, he was engaged as an instructor and taught for one year in the School of Forestry. During these school years he became accomplished with the violin and also took an active part in athletics, especially in track and tennis. In 1918 he won, again through competitive examination, an appointment to the United States Military Academy and entered the same year, the only Filipino in his class. Here he continued his outstanding scholastic record, graduating number 66 in a class of 271.</p>
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Pastor Martelino endeared himself to his entire class by his modest unassuming manner and his eager embodiment of the highest ideals and traditions of the Corps of Cadets. No American could have more sincerely lived up to our cherished motto “Duty, Honor, Country” than did he as a cadet and throughout his entire service. His engaging personality, combined with his unusual ability, won him a host of true friends, Filipino and American.</p>
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Upon graduation he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant, Coast Artillery Corps, Philippine Scouts, and served efficiently both in the Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays and on Reserve Officer Training Corps duty in the Junior College, University of Philippines, at Cebu.</p>
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In 1923 he was married to Miss Pazlim who was born and reared in his home town. Two sons and three daughters were born. The eldest, Eduardo, served as a guerrilla officer throughout the Japanese occupation.</p>
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In 1924, accompanied by wife, Lieutenant Martelino spent a very pleasant year in the United States attending the Battery Officers course at Fort Monroe, Virginia.</p>
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Pastor Martelino was selected by President Quezon and General MacArthur as the first Superintendent ot the Philippine Military Academy and served in that capacity for four years with the assimilated rank of Colonel in the Philippine Army.</p>
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When the Japanese attacked the Philippines, December 8, 1941, Pastor was under orders to attend the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth and he and his wife had already loaded their baggage aboard ship. During the Bataan campaign he served in the grade of Colonel, A.U.S., as Chief of Staff, 31st Infantry Division, Philippine Army, under Brigadier General Clifford Bluemel.</p>
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Escaping from Bataan with his family on the day of surrender he proceeded to Manila and remained in hiding for several months. Unable to escape with his family from the city or to avoid detection longer, he later surrendered to the Japanese. For ten months he was compelled to serve in the puppet government until he obtained his release by obtaining from a trusted Filipino physician a diagnosis of tuberculosis. During the entire Japanese occupation of the Philippines, Pastor engaged in underground activity under the direction of General Roxas who was to become President of the Philippine Republic on July 4, 1946. So great was the risk that he never confided to members of his family the fact of his association with the resistance movement. With his consent and encouragement his son, Eduardo, joined the guerrillas.</p>
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By selling family personal possessions and engaging in some real estate activity Pastor was able to eke out a living. Surveillance by the Japanese military establishment was continuous and effective and he feared an attempt on his part to escape would surely bring reprisals against his loved ones. For this reason the Japanese found him at home when they came to arrest him the night of December 22, 1944.</p>
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An excerpt from the diary of a fellow prisoner of the Japanese, quoted below, portrays one of Pastor’s last bitter experiences at the hands of the Japanese:</p>
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“At 10 a.m. another prisoner was brought in. It was a surprise for me. The newcomer was the first comrade in sufferings and torments known to me: Colonel Pastor Martelino of the American Army, a West Point graduate.</p>
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“ ‘Strange, Martelino, I believed that you were in the mountains with the guerrilla men.’ I said.</p>
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“ ‘No,’ said he, ‘As you see, I am a prisoner in Fort Santiago.’</p>
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“When I arrived at the cell I found Martelino who had returned after having been submitted to an investigation. He was wasted and unconscious as he had been tortured five minutes before.</p>
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“I removed to a distance as the sentry had been relieved and when arrived at my place I saw that Martelino was awake. He asked me for some water and I gave him four or five small buckets. Then I refreshed with a wet handkerchief the many wounds and scratches he had been inflicted all around his body which was in quick flesh.</p>
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“ ‘How have they treated you, Pastor?’ I inquired.</p>
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“ ‘They hanged me head down and in this position they started to beat me with pieces of electric cables.’</p>
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“ ‘Oh, barbarous,’ I said, ‘And what did they ask you about?’ Martelino looked at me intensely and with a veiled voice he answered: ‘They asked me if a landing inside of the Manila Bay would be possible to which I said that I did not know the secrets nor the plans of the staff of the American Army. This seemed to displease them a little. Then they asked if the Americans could land on Corregidor. I answered that if the Japanese had succeeded, the Americans could land likewise. They asked what kind of defenses could they set in order to make the island inexpugnable as they knew that I had served for a long time in Corregidor. I said that I did not know what kind of defense that they had set up in the island. They asked if by setting mines, torpedoes, guns, machine-guns, wiring, flame throwers, and pill-boxes it would be sufficient to make Corregidor an impregnable fortress. This, I answered, depends on the means and ways that could be used by the attacking Americans. To this I was told:</p>
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“ ‘You know how to defend Corregidor and to make it inexpugnable, but you refuse to tell it. Better you speak out as otherwise it will be so much the worse for you. Naturally I said again that I knew nothing about it.</p>
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“ ‘They insisted and promised to take me to Corregidor a free man to prepare the defense of the fortress, and offered to promote me to the rank of general of the army of the Republic and many other things which I can’t say. Naturally I refused as I am still an officer of the American Army. I could observe that they were anxiously worried about that matter of the defense of Corregidor and my obstinate refusal enraged them and submitted me to the most frightful torture you can imagine.’ Then he added: ‘Del Rio, I can’t endure two more tortures like this one and I know that I am to die as I am sure that I will not speak. My only request to you is that if you are set free don’t forget to tell my wife that I die for the Philippines and for the United States. Tell her that I cannot be traitor to America nor to my country. Tell my wife to explain this to my children when they grow up and can understand it well. I will die with my thought in her, my sons and uppermost, in my country and the United States where I did spend the best days of my life and where I have many good friends. Don’t forget it, Del Rio, don’t forget it.’</p>
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“I promised but tried to comfort him by saying that they would not kill him, but he said: ‘I think that they will’. He was suffering from a high fever as Dr. Jacinto told me.</p>
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“During the second torture, his hands were tied behind his back, he was then suspended from the ceiling by a rope tied to his hands and passed over a pulley in the ceiling of the bathroom in the home owned by Dr. Roxas, within plain view of the Araneta residence. I could distinctly see Colonel Martelino suspended in the bathroom and hear his screams. During his torture, he was repeatedly dropped into a tank of water and submerged until almost drowned. Between periods of immersion and while suspended by his hands tied behind his back, he was beaten with an electric cable till finally insensible.</p>
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“During both periods of torture, the Japanese attempted to gain information regarding the defenses of Manila Bay and force Colonel Martelino to accept a position as adviser on the defenses of Corregidor. His refusal to comply with the Japanese demands resulted each time in a continuation of his torture until he became insensible.</p>
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“On the night of December 28, 1944, the Japanese removed Colonel Martelino and eleven other prisoners from my cell and eighteen from the adjoining cell. The Japanese sentry on duty at my cell entrance told us these prisoners had been removed to another branch of the Fort Santiago Military Police organization in Santa Mesa, Manila.</p>
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“I was released from detention by the Japanese on December 29, 1941 and thereafter did not see Colonel Martelino again.</p>
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“In my association with Colonel Martelino during the time in which we were both subjected to inhuman torture, I became very well acquainted with him. From my knowledge of his staunch refusal to comply with the Japanese demands even though he was tortured into insensibility, I am certain that he remained completely loyal to the United States and the Commonwealth Government and that his refusal to accede to the Japanese demands resulted in his execution. I have the greatest admiration for Colonel Martelino and feel certain that he discharged the highest obligations of a soldier.”</p>
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Pastor Martelino died a hero, acknowledged by the two nations for whom he made the supreme sacrifice so unhesitatingly in the face of cruel torture.</p>
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The “Long Grey Line” has accepted another of whom it is very proud.</p>
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<em>—R. H. K.</em></p>
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