Japanese envoy always wanted Manila posting, says embassy

The Japanese embassy belied yesterday reports that Ambassador Kojiro Takano had said he did not want to be assigned to Manila.

Tetsuya Ishii, the embassy’s general affairs minister, clarified that Takano never uttered this comment whether expressly or impliedly at any Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) meeting, or at any other occasion both private and public.

"The ambassador has always felt close to the Filipino people. It is common knowledge among those who deal closely with the Japan-Philippines relations that the Ambassador had always wanted to be posted to the Philippines ever since he was a young diplomat, and was quite happy when he learned that he would be assigned in the country," Ishii said in a statement.

"This feeling towards the Philippines and the Filipino people has not changed nor wavered and never will," he added.

But an Asian diplomat, who asked not to be named, earlier told DFA reporters Takano said he did not like to be assigned in Manila because he thought it was a backward country.

The Japanese ambassador earlier apologized to the Philippine government for his statements before the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) where he criticized the peace and order situation in the country as well as its inconsistent economic policies.

Takano did not retract his statement, though, saying he had no intention of harming the country and what he stated were only his impressions.