Cops, Japanese embassy to examine World War II-era remains

MANILA, Philippines – Manila policemen and Japanese embassy officials are set to open today a car full of reported skeletal remains of World War II Japanese soldiers intercepted at a checkpoint in Ermita, Manila.

The skeletons, wrapped in white linen and stuffed in the back seat of a green and silver Mitsubishi Pajero (CSN-102), have been impounded at the Manila Police District compound since April 25.

MPD officer-in-charge Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay said the bones will also be subjected to carbon-dating to determine their age.

Japanese embassy officials will be asked if they have a permit for the exhumation of the remains of their World War II soldiers in Mindoro province, Magtibay said.  

Superintendent Rizaldy Yap, chief of the MPD’s District Mobile Force, said his men had stopped the Pajero at a police checkpoint along Finance Drive in Ermita for a routine check.

Kazuya Tomita, 41, told police that the car contained bones of World War II Japanese soldiers dug up in Mindoro. When asked for pertinent documents for the transport of the cargo, Tomita only showed his driver’s license, according to Yap.

Tomita was brought to the MPD headquarters for further questioning while his vehicle and its cargo were impounded.

Tomita was temporarily turned over to the custody of Japanese consul Kenichi Horii pending the filing of appropriate charges against him, Magtibay said. – Nestor Etolle