Philippines, Japan agree to resume repatriation of Japanese soldiers’ remains during WWII

May 9, 2018

The Philippines and Japan have agreed to resume retrieval and repatriation of the remains of Japanese soldiers who died in the Philippines during World War II after eight years.

The project was suspended in 2010 due to alleged looting of bones in sacred burial places of some indigenous peoples and public cemeteries and passed them off as the remains of the Japanese soldiers.

"The Philippines and Japan have officially concluded an agreement to cooperate in the humanitarian repatriation of the remains of World War II Japanese soldiers in the Philippines," the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement on Wednesday.

Japanese Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Katsunobu Kato signed the Memorandum of Cooperation in Tokyo, while Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano affixed his signature in Manila, it said.

The memorandum was dated May 8, 2018.

The National Museum, which will be tasked to implement the project, has yet to receive the directive from higher authorities, an official told the Manila Shimbun.

The Japanese government did not push through with the deployment of the fourth mission to the Philippines for its Fiscal Year 2010 from October to November after some indigenous peoples groups, such as the Mangyans in Mindoro and in Ifugao, came out and accused that their sacred burial places were looted by the people allegedly hired by a Japanese non-profit organization.

The Japanese government tapped the NPO to conduct the bone retrieval project during that time. It earmarked 47 million yen for the NPO's operation for FY 2010.

After conducting some studies and tests by the Japanese experts, it was found out that NPO was able to collect bones belonging to women and even children.

The indigenous peoples groups have been seeking justice.

An estimated 518,000 Japanese soldiers perished in the Philippines during WWII.

The Philippines, under President Carlos Garcia, allowed Japan to undertake recovery missions in the country for humanitarian reasons beginning in 1958.

Since then, the remains of roughly 100,000 soldiers have been returned to Japan, the DFA said. Celerina Monte/DMS