PH, US Japan eye trilateral ties

Manila to study such agreement amid ‘tensions’ in Asia, other areas

n By MARICEL CRUZ

THE Philippines is studying a possible tripartite agreement with the United States and Japan amid tensions and uncertainties in the region and in other parts of the world.

“It is something that we certainly are going to be studying upon my return to the Philippines,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in an interview with Kyodo News in Tokyo where he is on a five-day official visit.

Mr. Marcos cited “confusing” and “dangerous” situations such as tensions in the South China Sea as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“It is part of an ongoing process that we are undertaking to make more solid partnerships and alliances that we are beginning to put together in our area,” the President said.

During the meeting between Mr. Marcos

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PBBM: Gains of Tokyo trip to be felt ‘rapidly’

n By VINCE LOPEZ

TOKYO -- President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the effects of the series of business meetings in Japan will be felt "very rapidly" after his five-day working visit in Tokyo. Marcos, who is scheduled to return to Manila today (Sunday), said his trip was "very productive" considering the signing of 35 key investment deals between the Philippines and Japan.

"I think that we will be able to feel the effects of these discussions, of these agreements, very, very soon, very rapidly back home in the Philippines,” Mr. Marcos said in an interview.

The President said his official visit to Japan is "particularly important"

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MIRACLE SURVIVOR. Six-year-old Musa Hmeidi, a Syrian child who was pulled out alive from under the rubble of a collapsed building on February 10, 2023, four days after a deadly earthquake hit the area, in the rebel-held town of Jindari.

Speaker: Top Japan finance exec shows interest in MIF

n By VINCE LOPEZ AND MARICEL V. CRUZ

Tokyo Friday evening, Romualdez said he met the Japanese senior official during a dinner hosted by Mitsui and Metro Pacific Investment Corporation.

RESCUERS pulled children and the elderly from the rubble Saturday as miraculous survival stories coincided with hasty mass burials five days after an earthquake devastated parts of Turkey and Syria, leaving almost 25,000 dead.

Tens of thousands of local and international rescue workers are still scouring through flattened neighborhoods despite freezing weather that has compounded the misery of millions now in desperate need of aid.

The Philippine government has assured help with the repatriation of Wilma Abulad Tezcan, one of the two Filipinos killed in the earthquake.

“As requested by the daughter and with the consent of the husband, the Embassy is arranging the immediate repatriation of the body of Wilma Abulad

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TOKYO—Speaker Martin Romualdez said a high-ranking official of one of Japan’s leading financial institutions has expressed strong interest in the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund and its potential to help the Philippine power sector. In an interview with members of the Philippine media at the Hotel Okura in

“It was during our conversation that he expressed strong interest [in the Maharlika Investment Fund] and in the possibility of investment in the proposed sovereign wealth fund, particularly for the power sector,” Romualdez said.

The MIF, the Speaker said, is

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5 soldiers killed in camp shooting

n By BOBBY LAGSA

FIVE Army soldiers, including the suspected shooter, were killed inside the 4th Infantry Division Headquarters Camp Edilberto Evangelista in Barangay Patag, Cagayan de Oro City early Saturday dawn, February 11, 2023.

Police identified the fatalities as Private Joseph Tamayo, Patrolman First Class Prince Kevin Balaba, Sgt. Rogelio Rojo, Cpl. Bernardo Rodrigo, as well as the suspected gunman, Private Johmar Villabito. Villabito reportedly ran amok inside a barrack within the compound of the Service

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