Kunio Bando, a key member of the Japanese Red Army militant group who is on an international wanted list, may have been in the Philippines around summer 2000, according to sources.
Bando, 56, is believed to have taken refuge in a banana plantation in Negros, the sources said, adding that he left indications behind of heading for China after that.
Bando is wanted in connection with the 1977 hijacking of a Paris-Tokyo Japan Airlines jet to Dhaka.