Closer PH-Japan ties

We welcome the two-day visit of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the Philippines that starts today.

This is another important milestone in our longstanding bilateral relations.

In October last year, Kazuhiko Koshikawa, ambassador of Japan to the Philippines, described our bilateral ties as “bright and dynamic.”

In fact, he said, “defined by diverse and grounded ties,” relations between our two countries now stand at a ‘Golden Age.’

Both our countries have “worked hand in hand and through close cooperation and friendship to reach this remarkable state of relations, and it continues to show promise for the future.”

It is true, as Ambassador Koshikawa has pointed out, our two countries, “sharing universal values and principles of freedom, democracy and the rule of law,” are striving to “open new avenues for our linkages to grow even stronger.”

At present, Japan is one of our major trade and investment partners.

It is also the Philippines’ biggest source of bilateral Official Development Assistance since 2001, with its ODA loans to the Philippines accounting for 72 percent of the Philippines’ total bilateral loan portfolio as of 2021.

Japan disburses ODA to the Philippines through the Japan International Cooperation Agency. We also have strong people-to-people ties.

Earlier this year, Kishida oversaw the signing of several defense pacts and investment deals between the two countries during the visit of President Marcos.

The two leaders are scheduled to hold a meeting to discuss security issues in the face of growing tensions between Manila and Beijing in the South China Sea.

They are likely to discuss the outcome of negotiations for a Reciprocal Access Agreement, a bilateral defense and security pact between Japan and other countries that provides shared military training and operations. Japan has an existing RAA with the United Kingdom, Australia and France.

The two leaders are also expected to touch on areas of mutual concern, such as expanded economic and development cooperation, and to reaffirm the close ties between the Philippines and Japan, which was elevated into a strategic partnership in 2011.

The importance that we attach to our bilateral ties with our close neighbor to the north is that the government has even invited Kishida to address a joint session of Congress tomorrow.

This, according to Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, is an “honor only accorded to a foreign head of state only five times in Philippine history…We look forward to the address of a leader of a nation that is a robust trading partner, a strong security ally, a lending hand during calamities, and an investor in Philippine progress.”

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