Off the wire
• 1st LD: Six killed in helicopter crash in Russia's Far East  • 2nd LD-Writethru: Sodium cyanide "possibly stored" in Tianjin blasted warehouse  • Chen, Marin move within one game of world championship title defense  • 1st LD Writethru: At least 40 illegal immigrants dead off Libyan coast  • China's around 7 percent economic growth in 2015 highly possible: economist  • Truce shaken with fresh mortar attack in Syrian Shiite towns  • News Analysis: Synthetic drugs deadly threat for young Italians  • Cameron marks 100 days at Number 10 with vision for self-governing schools  • 1st LD: Sodium cyanide "possibly stored" at Tianjin blast site  • Oil price slump weighs on Abu Dhabi commercial real estate  
You are here: 　 Home

Philippines refuses to comment on Abe's failure to issue fresh apology

Xinhua, August 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Philippine government was mum on failure of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to offer a fresh apology for the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers during World War II, apparently to prevent any irritant between the two countries.

In an interview over a state-run radio station on Saturday, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte, confined her comment to agreeing on Abe's statement, saying, "We must never again repeat the devastation of war."

She also noted that the relationship of the Philippines with Japan could be characterized by "trust and unfailing support in so many fields."

Valte said that Japan has acted with compassion and in accordance with international law and has actively and more positively engaged with the region and the world after the war.

In a separate statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said that the 70-year post-war history demonstrates to the world that through their relentless efforts, "peoples of two countries can attain a remarkable achievement in overcoming issues of the past and establishing strong friendship."

Pressed if the Aquino administration was satisfied with Abe's remark Friday when he stopped short of offering a fresh apology for Japan's war-time atrocities in his statement to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, Valte said she had not gotten a chance to speak to President Benigno S. Aquino III to get his personal reaction.

"You know, when we discuss this, it's not 'are you satisfied or are you not satisfied,' but rather 'what was really the content of the statement'," she explained. Endi