The Philippines and the United States have signed an agreement to jointly search for the remains of American soldiers missing in action (MIA) in the Philippines during World War II.
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario and US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. signed the “statement of intent” at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday.
According to the US Embassy, the accord is a necessary first step that would allow the two governments to negotiate the guidelines under which US teams will be allowed make short, periodic trips to the Philippines to search for the remains of the missing US soldiers.
Over 65 years
“Sadly, for over 65 years, many of those Americans who fought alongside Filipinos and gave their lives to liberate the Philippines in World War II have never been accounted for, as their remains have never been found. Their families have not been able to know their final stories nor properly lay them to rest,” said Thomas in a statement.
“Thanks to this new undertaking with the government of the Philippines, we now have an opportunity to address this. We are grateful for this cooperation which will eventually bring closure to so many families,” he added.
Under the agreement, US Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command teams from Hawaii will conduct joint missions with the Department of National Defense for the search.
The missions will include research, investigation, recovery and identification of American military personnel. It will also encourage the training and participation of other relevant agencies on matters involving forensics.
Brothers at arms
In a statement, the DFA said the accord honors the shared sacrifices made by the armed forces of both countries that stood together side by side to defend freedom during World War II.
The Philippines, a US commonwealth at the time, was a major World War II battlefield.
In 1942, the Japanese military forced 78,000 prisoners of war—12,000 Americans and 66,000 Filipino—to walk from Bataan province west of Manila to a prisoner of war camp in Tarlac province in the north.
Bataan Death March
As many as 11,000 prisoners died during the 104-kilometer ordeal that has become known as the Bataan Death March.
The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines has the graves of 17,202 Americans who died in World War II action, mostly in New Guinea and the Philippines. Tablets inscribed with names of the missing list 36,285, including some since recovered and identified, the cemetery website says.
Neither country gave current figures of the missing on Friday, and it wasn’t clear if the cemetery’s figure was exclusive to the Philippines. Tina G. Santos and AP