Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 25) — Philippine authorities will help repatriate the remains of Japanese soldiers who died in the country during World War II, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said on Sunday.
“Japan remains one of the closest partners and allies of the Philippine government and we are ready to assist them in the recovery of the remains of their fallen soldiers,” Abalos said in a statement.
Abalos met with the officials of Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) on Thursday. He said the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Foreign Affairs assured the MHLW that the “recovery and repatriation of the Japanese war-dead remains will be carried out smoothly.
In 2018, the Philippines and Japan signed a memorandum of cooperation on the “collection, handling, storage, and shipment” of the Japanese solders’ remains.
According to the memorandum of cooperation, should the remains not be confirmed to be that of a Japanese soldier’s “based on evidence available on the spot, the MHLW may collect a sample of the remains and conduct scientific DNA analysis in Japan.
