Philippines, Japan To Forge Stronger Bilateral Ties

Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Japan's Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamikawa Yoko reiterated the affirmation of the two countries' bilateral ties during a meeting in Washington ahead of the trilateral meeting among the leaders of the US, Japan, and the Philippines.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Japanese counterpart, Kamikawa Yoko, during their recent bilateral meeting. I Photo: Enrique A. Manalo X

In his opening remarks, Secretary Manalo emphasized that the bilateral meeting with Japan comes at an opportune time amid the trilateral meeting between the Philippines, the US, and Japan in Washington, DC.

“So, I’m very happy to meet you again personally. I think the last time we met was in December of last year. And, I believe that since then, our bilateral relations have really expanded and grown much stronger,” Secretary Manalo said.

“I think it’s also very opportune and I thank you for proposing this meeting that, this is a good chance to go over the progress of our relationship, and also, think ahead on how to strengthen it further,” the Foreign Affairs Secretary added.

Secretary Manalo held a bilateral meeting with Kamikawa Thursday morning in Washington, DC ahead of the trilateral meeting between President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and US President Joe Biden.

For her part, Kamikawa lauded the Philippine government for extending its commitment to strengthening the bilateral ties with Japan, which the two countries have celebrated 67 years of normalized relations since July 23, 1956, and strengthened strategic partnership since 2011.

"As the world is facing a complex set of crises, it is extremely important to strengthen a multilayered network of cooperation through Japan-Philippine bilateral and Japan-US-Philippine trilateral cooperation in order to both maintain and strengthen a free and open international order based on the rule of law and promote regional economic and regional development as well as address the world issues together,” Kamikawa said.

Kamikawa said that the Japanese government is open to discussing ways to further deepen international cooperation with the Philippines, including bilateral cooperation and trilateral cooperation with the United States.

WEEKLY FEATURE : Jose Mari Chan And The Christmas Anthem