Kid Moro, the Japanese undercover spy of Cebu

There was a Cebuano who during World War II sided with the Japanese Imperial Army. Among those who betrayed its fellow Cebuanos was a Japanese undercover known as Kid Moro.

After the Japanese surrendered to the Americans in 1945, traitors were prosecuted and convicted by the Peoples Court in Cebu. Kid Moro was convicted by the Peoples Court for the crime of treason sentencing him to life imprisonment and a fine of P1,000.

Kid Moro, a boxer before the war, committed the following crimes during the Japanese Occupation:

On May 3, 1943 while Inocencia Mabini and Cristobal Cortes, a cousin of her father, were walking along T. Padilla St., Cebu City they met a party of two Japanese soldiers and three Filipinos among them was Kid Moro who was armed with a revolver and pointed to Cristobal Cortes as a guerilla.

Cristobal Cortes at that time was a guerilla officer with the rank of sergeant who was tasked by his superiors to procure foodstuffs for their supply in their mountain camp. Kid Moro then arrested Sgt. Cortes, and, along with Inocencia Mabini, was brought to Mabolo and questioned and searched. They were then brought to the house of Inocencia along General Lorega St. in Mabolo. Kid Moro and his companions maltreated Cortes and was questioned as to the whereabouts of his revolver.

Cortes was strangled to the point of death that he finally revealed the location of his revolver. Cortes admitted that he requested Inocencia to hide his revolver and it was hidden in the kitchen under the stove.

During the trial of the case before the Peoples Court, the allegation of the treasonous acts of Kid Moro was corroborated by the sister of Inocencia by the name of Cristina who was at that time present when Kid Moro maltreated Sgt. Cortes. Cristina Mabini testified that she witnessed how Kid Moro and his companions inserted bullets between fingers and later squeezing the hand to cause intense pain. After the torture at the house of Inocencia, she and Sgt. Cortes were brought to the headquarters of the Kempetai and they were imprisoned for 47 days. Sgt. Cortes was later killed by Japanese soldiers in a mountain barangay in Cebu City.

Another crime of Kid Moro was committed on August 4, 1944 where he, accompanied by another traitor policeman, went to the house Gerardo Ouano located near the seashore in Barrio Opao, Mandaue. Kid Moro searched the house of Ouano and even took the key from his daughter Jovita Ouano and unlocked a cabinet. The men in the house including Gerardo, his servant Gonzalo Dacuya were maltreated. Gerardo and his son, Alfredo and their servant Gonzalo were taken to the San Carlos Building and there kept for two and a half days. After the war and during the trial Gerardo was already dead. Dacuya during the entire imprisonment was suspended in midair and continuously tortured by his captors.

Kid Moro married a Japanese. He was employed by the Japanese Imperial Army as interpreter. During his trial with the Peoples Court, Kid Moro argued that after the liberation he was investigated by the CIC (Counter Intelligence Corps of the United States Liberation Forces) and was cleared by it and given clearance paper. However Kid Moro was not able to produce the document. After his conviction by the Peoples Court, Kid Moro appealed his case before the Supreme Court assisted by Lawyer Jesus Z. Valenzuela. The Supreme Court affirmed his conviction of the crime of treason. However, Justice Perfecto a member of the Supreme Court dissented to the majority decision affirming the conviction of Kid Moro. Justice Perfecto was joined by Justice Montemayor in dissenting to the majority decision of affirming the conviction of Kid Moro. The majority of the Supreme Court including Chief Justice Moran and Associate Justices Paras, Feria, Pablo, Bengzon, and Tuazon concurred with the decision affirming the conviction of Kid Moro.

The lawyer of Kid Moro, Jesus Z. Valenzuela, was admitted to the Bar on December 20, 1939.