Overstaying Japanese Man Arrested In Southern RP

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 27 Mar) – Philippine authorities have arrested a Japanese national allegedly wanted in his own country.

Police on Tuesday said Yoshimi Hori was nabbed at the weekend in Davao City by a joint team of Filipino immigration agents and members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

The 58-year old Japanese is facing criminal charges in Japan and has been hiding the past two years in the southern Philippines.

Police did not say what charges the Japanese is facing in Japan.

But the official Philippine News Agency said Hori was implicated in a robbery at the Wakayama Prefecture Restaurant in Japan on Dec. 6, 2004. More than 2.2 million yen or about P800,000 had been taken from the restaurant, it said.

Japanese police sought the help of the International Police after Hori fled the Philippines in January 2005. Police said Hori, who denied the charges against him, has been overstaying in the Philippines.

He stayed the San Antonio Village in Davao City’s Belisario Heights and later moved to Compostela Valley province where he put a small restaurant, but frequented Davao City, where he was arrested, local police said.

Hori has a daughter and is staying with a Filipino woman. Police said the Japanese man would be deported this week. (With a report from Romy Bwaga)