Nostalgic Japanese revisits RP jungle

Nostalgic Japanese revisits RP jungle

MANILA (AFP): Japanese former army officer Hiroo Onoda
recalled the loneliness of hiding for 30 years in a jungle
hideout in the Philippines, as he made a sentimental visit
back to his former home.

"The strong winds and the rain," the 74-year-old former
lieutenant and intelligence officer told reporters late on
Monday, when asked what he remembered most about his time in the
jungles of Lubang island, near the mouth of Manila Bay.

"As you know I did not have a roof above me," he said.
"There was no contact, no communication at all," he added.

Onoda, who was deployed in the island in 1944, emerged from
the jungle as a 51-year-old man on March 10, 1974, nearly three
decades after his country's surrender.

He flew to Lubang yesterday, 22 years after his surrender, as
a special guest of the provincial government.