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Tokyo pledges P400B in aid, investment
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MANILA – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in the Philippines on Thursday, becoming the first foreign leader to visit since President Rodrigo Duterte took office last year and launched his deadly war on crime.
Abe is intent on maintaining Japan’s strong ties with the Philippines as Duterte shakes up his nation’s foreign policy with a shift away from the United States, both nations’ longtime ally, in favor of China and Russia.
After his two-day stay in the Philippines, Abe will head to Australia, Indonesia and Vietnam with a business delegation as he looks to the region to boost Japan’s economy dragged down by a graying and shrinking population.
“I would like to exchange views on bilateral and regional issues and hold frank talks on how we should contribute to the peace and stability of the region,” Abe said before departing for Manila.
While Duterte has pivoted away from the United States, he has gone out of his way to maintain close relations with Japan – the Philippines’ largest donor and top trading partner.
“Japan has really been our biggest helper,” Duterte said on a visit to Tokyo last October when he met Abe.
His warm words for Japan have been helped by Abe and his government offering no criticism of the Philippine crime war, which has claimed about 6,000 lives since Duterte assumed the presidency in the middle of last year.
Duterte has repeatedly railed against US President Barack Obama and his administration for alleging widespread human rights abuses in the crime war.
Duterte has traveled overseas extensively as president. However Abe is the first head of government to visit the Philippines since Duterte took office
During a state banquet dinner on Thursday, Duterte described Japan as a “friend closer than a brother.”
Duterte said the agreements signed between the two countries show that Manila and Tokyo “are moving forward together as only true friends can.”
Abe, for his part, expressed “heartfelt appreciation” for Duterte’s gesture of welcoming the Japanese entourage as “family members.”
Japan has pledged 1 trillion yen (P434 billion) in aid and investments to help the Philippines in its infrastructure projects.
Abe is also slated to visit Duterte’s home town of Davao in the southern region of Mindanao, where Japan has supported the peace process with Muslim rebels through development and poverty eradication programs.
Japan was the Philippines’ top trading partner in 2015, with $18 billion in trade, according to official figures. (AFP)
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