Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez meets with his National Diet of Japan counterpart, Speaker Fukushiro Nukaga, at the Tokyo parliamentary building before noon Tuesday to discuss various issues beneficial to the Philipines and the Filipino people. The issues include fair access to Philippine agricultural products, support for infrastructure projects under the Official Development Assistance (ODA), protection of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), Japanese investments, and security partnerships. Photo by Office of the Speaker
SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez on Tuesday met with his Japanese counterpart, Speaker Fukushiro Nukaga, in Tokyo, where they committed to supporting their governments’ efforts to sustain and enhance the momentum of their bilateral relations.
According to Speaker Romualdez, the bilateral relations between the Philippines and Japan “are at an all time high.”
“We have very strong diplomatic relations, particularly involving defense and economic ties. We express our deep appreciation for Japan’s role in securing, nurturing, and accepting over 300,000 Filipinos who reside here,” Speaker Romualdez told Speaker Nukaga, Vice-Speaker Banri Kaieda, and House of Representatives International Affairs Department Director General Yamamoto Hironori during their meeting at the at the Tokyo parliamentary building.
“Our countries have continually engaged with each other since last year, a clear indication of the firm commitment of both our countries to our decades-long cooperation,” Speaker Romualdez said.
The leader of the 300-plus-strong House of Representatives said Japan has proven to be a reliable partner for the Philippines through various channels, including official development assistance (ODA) and maritime security initiatives, fostering significant progress and stability in the region.
“As the number one provider of official development assistance, you have helped us in our economy in many aspects. You have also helped us in time of disaster, calamities, and we would also like to thank you for the support from the JICA, that continues to bring our economy to fruition,” Speaker Romualdez said. “We thank Japan government and the people of Japan for all the support and the assistance through the ODA.”
“Japan remains one of the Philippines’ most dependable partners,” Speaker Romualdez affirmed. “Our shared universal values, including freedom, democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights, and a free and open economy, underpin our strategic partnership.”
Responding to Speaker Romualdez, Speaker Nukaga thanked the Philippine House leader for recognizing the assistance extended by the Japanese government.
“Thank you very much for mentioning the wide range of good things. I’m very glad that Japan and the Philippines have built a very good bilateral relations,” Speaker Nukaga.
Since elevating their relations to the level of strategic partnership in 2011, the Philippines and Japan have expanded their cooperation beyond traditional areas such as politics, defense, and economics.
The partnership now includes maritime cooperation, the peace process, and people-to-people exchanges, including tourism.
“We have managed to expand our relations to encompass various sectors. These efforts have significantly contributed to strengthening our strategic partnership,” Speaker Romualdez pointed out.
The past year has seen an increase in high-level exchanges, further solidifying the momentum in bilateral cooperation.
These visits include President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s official visit to Japan from February 8-12, 2023, where he met with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and had an audience with Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako. In a reciprocal visit, Prime Minister Kishida traveled to Manila on November 3-4, 2023.
President Marcos visited Japan again on December 16-18, 2023, to participate in the 50th ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit, during which he and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos had another audience with the Emperor and Empress.
The Philippines and Japan celebrated 67 years of normalized relations on July 23, 2023, and 12 years of strategic partnership since September 2011.
From the difficult chapter of World War II, both countries have focused on reconciliation and forward-looking relations, fostering one of the region’s closest partnerships.
