Philippines, Japan agree to repatriate WWII soldiers’ remains

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and Japan have signed an agreement to cooperate in the recovery and humanitarian repatriation of the remains of World War II Japanese soldiers in the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Wednesday.

The Philippines and Japan signed a memorandum of cooperation that will facilitate the proper collection, handling, storage and shipment of these remains.

An estimated 518,000 Japanese soldiers perished in the Philippines during World War II.

The Philippines, under then 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 in a statement.

The Japan Times reported that the agreement calls on Japanese teams to collect the remains of Japanese nationals, mostly soldiers, who died in the Philippines during World War II.

The report said the remains will be collected under the supervision of experts from the National Museum of the Philippines. It also requires the two countries to jointly confirm that the recovered bones are those of Japanese soldiers.