Special joint session will honor Japanese PM
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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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
The Philippine Congress will convene a joint session for Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio's address on Saturday, 4 November, an honor accorded to a foreign head of state only five times in Philippine history.
In a statement on Wednesday, Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri said it is "all systems go" for the Congress special session which will happen at the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City.
Earlier this week, Malacañang announced the visit of Kishida to the Philippines to further enhance Japan and the Philippines' bilateral cooperation.
Highlighting the significance of Kishida's speech, the Senate chief said the last time the House of Representatives and the Senate convened to hear and receive a message from the head of a nation was last February 2006 during the visit of President Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam of India.
The other four instances were: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in April 2005; China President Hu Jintao also in April 2005; US President George W. Bush in 2003; and US President Dwight Eisenhower in 1960.
At 9 a.m. on 4 November, both the Senate and the House of Representatives will convene separately to pass two resolutions: one to invite Prime Minister Kishida and another to convene the joint session.
Zubiri said the scheduled 11 a.m. address at the Batasan Complex is a result of his personal invitation to Kishida during a Philippine Senate delegation's visit to Tokyo in April this year.
"We are honored that the good Prime Minister accepted our invitation for him to address the Filipino people through Congress," he said.
Zubiri was on two official visits to Japan this year: first as part of the delegation of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. in February and second as head of a delegation from the Philippine Senate in April for a parliamentary visit.
On both occasions, it was the Senate chief who broached the idea of the possibility of a Reciprocal Access Agreement with Japan, an enhanced security arrangement.
For Zubiri, Kishida's visit to the Philippines will "strengthen cooperation between two allies in confronting common challenges."
"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," he said.
Deeper than government ties, he said, are "people-to-people relations nurtured by tourism where citizens of one country enjoy the hospitality and culture of the other."
Zubiri said he expects government officials to brief Kishida on the progress of Japanese-supported big-ticket infrastructure projects, especially on rail such as the Manila subway.
Japan remains to be the country's largest bilateral source of official development assistance or ODA.
Citing data from the Department of Finance, Zubiri said the ODA from Japan amounted to $14.139 billion or P7.77 trillion over a 20-year period spanning three presidencies from 2001 to 2020, accounting for 72 percent of all $19.656 billion total bilateral loan portfolio for the same period.
Security aid talks
Meanwhile, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the Philippines and Japan are in the final stages of negotiations on an official security assistance program with Manila.
According to Hirokazu, Tokyo, and Manila are finalizing equipment details and agreement signing.
He announced the development ahead of Kishida's visit to the Philippines this week.
Japan is among the countries that are actively condemning China's unlawful maritime activities in the West Philippine Sea, which is within the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.
During the 7th anniversary of the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award, Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshima called on China to recognize the arbitral ruling that cemented Manila's claims in the West Philippine Sea.
"As the Tribunal's award is final and legally binding on the parties to the dispute under the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the parties to this case, the Philippines and China, are required to comply with the award," Hayashi said.
"The claim by China that it will not accept the award is against the principle of peaceful settlement of disputes under international law, in particular UNCLOS, and undermines the rule of law as a fundamental value of the international community," he added.
On 12 July 2016, the Philippines won the arbitration case it filed against China in the PCA. China, however, rejected the arbitral ruling and stood by its historic rights nine-dash line claim.
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