INTERIM AGREEMENT ON REPARATIONS CONCERNING THE SALVAGE OF SUNKEN VESSELS BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES AND JAPAN

Note: The Agreement entered Into force, March 13, 1953.

Reference: This Agreement Is also published in H DFA TS No. 2, p. 51.

WHEREAS the Government of Japan is ready to make available to the Government of the Philippines the services o{ the Japanese people in the salvaging of the sunken vessels located in the mine-cleared areas of the Philippine territorial waters, with a view to assisting to compensate the cost of repairing the damage done by Japan during the war;

THEREFORE, the Government of the Philippines and the Government of Japan, in order to define conditions for providing the said services, have agreed as follows:

ARTICLE I

The Japanese Government shall, in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement, provide the Philippine Government with the services of the Japanese people including the necessary operating equipment and supplies for salvaging sunken vessels located in the Philippine territorial waters.

ARTICLE II

The Philippine Government shall cooperate with the Japanese Government to the extent permitted by Philippine laws in providing such facilities as are readily available locally in performing salvage operations and in procuring ordinary minor operational supplies that may be acquired locally.

The Philippine Government shall take adequate measures for the protection of the life and property of the Japanese nationals engaged in the salvaging operation. However, this responsibility shall not include risks arising from normal operational hazards.

ARTICLE III

Details for the execution of the present Agreement shall be agreed upon through consultation between the two Governments.

ARTICLE IV

The present Agreement shall be approved by each Government in accordance with its constitutional procedures, and the present Agreement shall enter into force upon the exchange of diplomatic notes indicating such approval.

The present Agreement shall become an integral part of final arrangements on reparations which will be concluded between the Philippine Government and the Japanese Government.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the representatives of the two Governments, duly authorized for the purpose, have signed this Agreement.

DONE at Manila, in duplicate in the English and Japanese languages, both being equally authentic, this twelfth day of March, One Thousand Nine Hundred and Fifty Three.

FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC
OF THE PHILIPPINES:

(Signed) FELINO NERI
Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs

FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN

{Signed) TORU NAKAGAWA
Chief Japanese Mission in Manila