Historian Ernesto De Pedro with statues of Dom Justo UkonTakayama who was beatified in early 2017.

As Pope Francis visits Japan, an 83-year-old Filipino historian is hoping the pontiff will recognize a Japanese samurai who once offered his life for the faith.

Dom Justo UkonTakayama, or “Justus Ucondono” as missionaries fondly called him, was a warrior who fought under the banner of the cross in the land of the rising sun.

He was an eminent Japanese feudal governor who served under Japan’s three hegemons — Oda, Hideyoshi, and Toshiie — who unified Japan.

In 1587, Chancellor Toyotomi Hideyoshi took drastic steps against Takayama, who declined to obey the chancellor’s order to renounce the faith.

Takayama was baptized a Christian in Sawa Castle on June 1, 1563, when he was 11 years old.

For refusing to renounce his Christian faith, Takayama was sent to Manila as an exile on Dec. 21,1614. Months after his arrival, he died on Feb. 3, 1615 in the old walled city of Intramuros.

The faithful of Manila promptly presented the Japanese warrior’s case to the Vatican for beatification. But after centuries passed, Takayama seemed to have been forgotten.

In 1963, Cardinal Rufino Santos of Manila endorsed the cause of the samurai to the Church in Japan. But there were no updates as church officials came and went.

Then one day, a Filipino history enthusiast passed by a statue of a Japanese man in the Plaza Dilao in the old city of Manila where the samurai supposedly baptized Japanese converts.

Historian Ernesto De Pedro wondered why a Japanese figure would standing as such in the Philippines. He did not give it much attention until a group of Japanese Protestant pastors came to inquire.

The Protestants were researching about a certain Takayama whose statue stands in the middle of Manila. They found nothing.

De Pedro wondered. “Why nothing?” he asked. He did his own research. He found out later that in Manila Takayama “Dom Justo Ukon Don.” In the papal archives, he was identified as “Ukon Don.”

Thousands of Tamil in northern and eastern Sri Lanka have commemorated their relatives who died during and after the country’s civil war, which lasted more than a quarter century.

The main ceremonies were held last Wednesday, Maaveerar Naal (Great Heroes’ Day), as Tamils remembered those who died or went in missing in battle.

The Sri Lankan government has always opposed the remembrance. Under former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, brother of the current president, memorial ceremonies were banned as an apology for Tamil independence ideology.

For their part, Tamil com-plain that under the first Rajapaksa the graves of thousands of Tamils were destroyed, whilst war monuments, luxury buildings and other structures were built on top “in an attempt to erase our memory and control us.” “The graves of our children were in a row in the cemetery of Kopai,” some Tamil told Asia-News. “At least 2,000 people were buried there, but in March 2011 soldiers arrived and demolished everything.”

A human rights group in the southern Philippines has welcomed a  government statement announcing the imminent lifting of martial law across Mindanao, but it called for an international probe into alleged atrocities committed by the military while it has been in force.

The group BarugKatungod (Stand for Rights) said two and a half years of martial law in the region had resulted in more than 162 killings. At least 704 cases of “fabricated charges,” 284 cases of illegal arrest and detention, 1,007 victims of aerial bombardments and the forced evacuation of at least a million people were also reported.

“This announcement to end martial law will ultimately not bring relief for all the victims,” said Bishop Redeemer Yanez of the Philippine Independent Church, convener of the rights group. The presidential palace announced on Dec. 10 — International Human Rights Day — that President Rodrigo Duterte will not seek another extension of martial law in Mindanao.

At least 629 Pakistani girls sold as enslaved brides to Chinese husbands. This is the official number of the recent phenomenon of trafficking in women from the South Asian country to the Chinese giant. This was revealed by an investigation by the Associated Press, which managed to have the original reports of the complaints filed since 2018.

However, according to investigators, the phenomenon is far more extensive, if only the judicial authorities had continued to register the complaints at the same pace as the first few months. After an initial investigative momentum, there is a progressive slowdown in the registration of cases.

People “informed of the facts” motivate this contraction due to pressure and interference from the Islamabad government. In fact, it would have exercised its influence to curb investigations so as not to damage the “profitable” link with Beijing.

Proof of this is the acquittal of 31 Chinese in a single case of trafficking in human beings, freed by the court of Faisalabad in October. According to some family members of the victims, who speak under anonymity, the accusing victims later refused to testify against their torturers because of threats or for compensation received to keep silent.