Marcos stresses PH ties with Japan notably in agriculture, defense, infra

By Maricel V. Cruz

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has underscored the importance of sustaining strong bilateral relations with Japan specifically in the areas of agriculture, infrastructure and national defense.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution seeking to strengthen mutual cooperation between the Philippines and Japan through the Philippines-Japan Parliamentarians’ Friendship Society, and to designate the organization’s officers and members.

The President made the statement in a meeting with officials of the Japan-Philippines Parliamentarians Friendship League (JPPFL) led by its chairman Moriyama Hiroshi at Malacañang.

“The support that we are receiving from Japan in this regard, in terms of our equipment, in terms of our inter-operability operations, are valuable, I think, for both our countries and I believe that we should strengthen that,” the Chief Executive said.

“We should continue that and continue to be in partnership as we face the different, the volatile situation that we have in our region,” he added.

Marcos noted that over the years, Japan has been the Philippines’ partner in terms of infrastructure and agricultural development, citing assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as well as loans and financial support from the

Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The President said the Philippines and its Japanese partners, especially in infrastructure development, could reap benefits from several arrangements such as publicprivate partnership (PPP), and governmentto-government (G2G) arrangements.

Marcos also reiterated that his administration would prioritize agriculture to ensure food security and boost the Philippine economy.

“It is something that we feel is important, not only for the survival of our populace, the food supply of our populace, but also it is necessary….. If the rest of our industrialization can continue, if the rest of our digitalization can continue, it must be based on a strong foundation of agriculture sector,” he said.

“In this regard, certainly Japan has been a very strong partner of the Philippines, in terms of transfer of technology, in terms of support that has been given by Japan to

Filipino farmers and the Philippines’ agricultural sector,” the President added.

For his part, Moriyoma expressed support for the Philippines’ development initiatives, particularly in agriculture, infrastructure, defense and security, as well as the Mindanao peace process.

“We’d also like to see government-togovernment cooperation on strengthening the defense industry, which is a priority. That’s why regarding the OSA, Official Security Assistance, the Philippines is one of the first candidate countries for OSA,” Moriyoma said.

He said Japan was pleased to see Philippine achievements in defense, particularly the implementation of joint training in the past months.

Marcos said the trilateral agreement with the United States is also “another very important step” to guarantee the peace and safety of the shipping lanes, as well as to protect territorial rights and sovereignty.