Scores of Japanese mediamen await development of stagglers report

By Ronron
May 28, 2005

General Santos City - Almost a hundred newsmen and crew, some of whom coming from Japan, are still awaiting here on Saturday the supposed turn over of two Japanese soldiers who have been in hiding and living in the mountains of this city for 60 years since the end of the second World War in 1945.

Despite several contacts made with a Japanese mediator since Thursday until yesterday, officials of the Japanese Embassy in Manila who were deployed here remains clueless as to when the turn-over of the two will take place.

Embassy spokesperson, Shuhei Ogawa, cited, among many things, the overwhelming presence of media practitioners here as a concern of the Mindanao-based mediator who is supposed to facilitate the turn over of the two war soldiers.

"We don't know the reason why they have not come out yet. But we hope to resolve this as soon as possible," Ogawa told reporters in an interview yesterday morning here at the East Asia Royale Hotel where the turn-over was supposed to take place.

Asked if they doubt the report, Ogawa replied: "It's too soon to judge. But we (embassy officials) were told to stay put here."

Four embassy officials arrived here last Friday morning to meet supposedly the mediator and the Japanese war soldiers, who are described to be in their 80's. But while some returned to the Japanese Consular office in Japan yesterday, officials from Japan's Ministry of Welfare are expected to arrive today.

"They will be coming here to help us in our operation here," Ogawa said of the Tokyo-based officials.

Ogawa said the purpose of their coming here is to verify the claim of the mediator who first called the Japanese Embassy in Manila last Thursday . According to the mediator, the two Japanese war veterans are seeking help to be able to go back to Japan.

"We are not asking for evidence from the mediator to support his claim. It's enough that he brings the two to us," said Ogawa. The mediator reportedly has not yet seen for himself the two stragglers.

The spokesman said he learned that the Ministry of Welfare of Japan has received letters from someone regarding the Japanese stragglers.

Until yesterday, Ogawa said they were still working out ways to bring out the alleged stragglers, even without the help of Philippine authorities.

"We will ask help (from the Philippine government) only when it is necessary," he said.

In separate interviews, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) District office here, the Army division in control of the area, and the city government admitted they still have to receive an official communication from the Japanese Embassy about its current undertaking. These agencies claimed of having no knowledge about the presence of Japanese stragglers here.

"The Philippine Army's sixth infantry division has been operating in the area of Mt. Matutum once in a while. We did not hear those names there, nor do we know the existence of Japanese war veterans," Army 6th ID Commander Maj. Gen. Raul Relano told Manila Shimbun in a phone interview.

The police, on the other hand, took the initiative of verifying the report through intelligence gathering.

It also warned the mediamen, especially those who came from Japan, not to proceed to the mountains because of the prevailig security threat brought about by the presence there of the Islamic secessionist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the communist New People's Army (NPA), said Ogawa.

The arrival of several mediamen here has stirred excitement among local people, especially those who happen to pass by the hotels where reporters are on stand by. It also sent all hotels and lodging establishments here to full occupancy level./DMS