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Lack of initiative to implement its laws on piracy on the high seas and reluctance to prosecute offenders of the crime have renewed efforts to press the Philippine government to address this problem.
The Japanese government sent a special mission to the Philippines last week urging the Philippine government in a mutual cooperation to combat the growing menace of piracy and related sea robbery problems. The mission is headed by the deputy director-general of Foreign Affairs of Japan with representatives from Ministry of Transport, Japan Coast Guard, and its funding agency, the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Rated by the Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau (IMB) as the second hottest spot of piracy in Southeast Asia, the Philippines has been caught at the center of one of the biggest unsolved cases involving the recovery of a cargo of aluminum ingots worth $4M from the hijacked "Alondra Rainbow." Next to Indonesia, piracy incidents in Philippines ports and its territorial waters chalked up annually, according to IMB.
Failure of its government through the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to file charges against possible suspects in the "Alondra" cargo case is said to have prompted the Japanese government to send a special mission to Manila that would solely tackle the issue of piracy.
The 4,000 tons of aluminum ingots were part of the 7,000-ton cargo removed and transshipped by the pirates to the Philippines through Subic Freeport after the Japanese-owned "Alondra Rainbow" was hijacked in October last year.
Despite all evidence of smuggling and piracy the NBI has been unable to take appropriate actions.
The Japanese embassy in Manila, which recently appealed to President Estrada for the probe and speedy recovery of the cargo, has become impatient.
The Japanese mission met Philippine officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Navy, Coast Guard, Maritime Industry Authority, and NBI.
A cabinet committee on piracy, which the Philippine Navy convened, has not provided valuable inputs since its creation several months ago, according to sources within the committee, The committee is composed of maritime related agencies and is supposed to formulate and recommend a national policy and programme of actions that will address the problem.
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