(Eagle News) — Japan did not cease its search for the 36 Filipino seafarers who remain missing after a cargo ship sank more than two weeks ago.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Locsin said Japan in fact continued its search that Saturday “against protocol.”
According to Locsin, he, the Philippine ambassador to Japan, and the Japanese government “are on this.”
“On the other hand, I refuse to ask other Asian powers to join in the search because that is an attack on the sovereignty of Japan,” he said.
The Foreign Affairs secretary was responding to Senator Risa Hontiveros, who sent him a letter urging him to “call upon the Japanese government and expand search and rescue efforts” for the Filipino seafarers.
The seafarers were on board Gulf Livestock I when the vessel capsized off southwest Japan amid inclement weather on Sept. 2.
So far, two Filipino survivors have been rescued.
One, however, was declared dead in a Japanese hospital.