Takano didn’t want to be assigned to ‘backward’ RP – sources

Japanese Ambassador Kojiro Takano has indicated that he did not want to be assigned in the Philippines, which he thought was a backward country, diplomatic sources said yesterday.

Sources said the envoy, who was summoned to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday, mentioned to Acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Franklin Ebdalin that he disliked to be assigned in Manila after completing his tour of duty in Saudi Arabia last year.

"He said he never wanted to be assigned here because he thought the Philippines is a backward country," the source said.

Sources also said Takano might cancel his trip to Japan this week in time for President Arroyo’s working visit to Tokyo.

Takano has been in hot water because of a statement he made before the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) last Thursday that he had had sleepless nights since he arrived in Manila last year.

He blamed his insomnia on the peace and order situation and the constant threat against civilians like bomb explosions.

Takano offered an apology to the government but did not retract the statement. He told the DFA that those were only his impressions and he had no intention to harm the government.

Mrs. Arroyo will discuss with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi the envoy’s statement and the problems of Japanese investors in the country, which were also cited by Takano.

Takano, who did not show up at the briefing given by the DFA yesterday to foreign ambassadors on the state visit of Mrs. Arroyo last month, reportedly received a tongue-lashing from Ebdalin last Friday and was reminded by DFA officials of the "cardinal rule" in diplomacy that ambassadors are not supposed to criticize their host government.

"You are the ambassador to an economic superpower. The moment you open your mouth that is good copy (to the media)," another source quoted Ebdalin as having said to the envoy.

According to the DFA, Takano may be recalled by Japan if he is no longer effective in his post because of the uproar he created in criticizing the peace and order situation in the country and the inconsistent economic policies of the Philippine government.

Shuhei Ogawa, the Japanese embassy’s second secretary, declined to comment on Takano’s dislike of the Philippines.

"The Japanese embassy has no comment on this issue," Ogawa said in a telephone interview.